ProFootballFocus’ Mike Renner ranked the situations for the 2020 class of rookie running backs yesterday and put Jonathan Taylor and the Indianapolis Colts at No. 1.
Behind Taylor was Clyde Edwards-Helaire in Kansas City, J.K. Dobbins in Baltimore, Ke’Shawn Vaughn in Tampa Bay, Cam Akers with the Rams, D’Andre Swift in Detroit, Zach Moss in Buffalo, Anthony McFarland Jr. in Pittsburgh, Joshua Kelley with the Chargers and finally A.J. Dillon with the Packers.
“He became the first Colts running back drafted before the fourth round in Chris Ballard’s tenure as general manager,” the paragraph on Taylor reads. “That and the fact that Ballard traded up to do so for only the third time in his career tells me all I need to know about how many carries Taylor will command in 2020. He also goes to a Colts offensive line that finished last season ranked third in PFF’s offensive line rankings and is the only one of the top five to return all five starters. It’s hard to be in a much better situation than that.”
I wrote after the draft about Taylor’s fit and gave it an overall grade of A-. This latest PFF article is the next in a long line of NFL writers, analysts and more sharing the sentiment and explaining why the Colts’ selection of Taylor puts him in a great position to find success as he transitions to the NFL.