1. Jonathan Taylor, Wisconsin
Size: 5-10. 226
The Good: As if running for over 2,000 yards in each of the last two seasons wasn’t enough – and coming 23 yards away as a freshman from going 3-for-3 – and if 50 career rushing touchdowns doesn’t give him the right entry on the resumé, and if his improvement as a receiver as a junior doesn’t add enough to the mix …
4.39.
The guy hit the combine and ripped off the fastest 40 time of all the backs. There wasn’t any real question mark about his speed going into the workout, but add that to all the other positives and he’s got star potential right out of the box.
Tough, able to handle a huge workload, and a pro’s pro at being able to know how to set up his blocks – he’s a Wisconsin running back, after all – he’s more than ready.
2️⃣3️⃣Thank you Madison!❤️2️⃣3️⃣ #onwisconsin pic.twitter.com/P95PFTMxlS
— Jonathan Taylor (@JayT23) January 4, 2020
The Not-So-Good: Hang … on … to … the … ball. His 50 rushing touchdowns could’ve and should’ve pushed past 60, but he had to be taken out early in his career because of a strange fumbling quirk around the goal line. That was fixed last year, but a key cough up tuned into a big problem in the loss to Illinois. Yeah, he’s tough, and yeah, he’s durable, but he handled the ball 968 times in his three seasons.
NFL Draft College Perspective Thought: Had he returned for his senior year and stayed healthy, he would’ve ended up breaking Ron Dayne’s NCAA all-time leading rushing record. He had to leave early, considering his body didn’t need another 300 touches in college. As if every other aspect to his game wasn’t great, he’s also got the smarts and character to be the ideal face of a franchise.
Projected Round: First
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