DYNASTY HERO CLASS SERIES: JONATHAN TAYLOR
JONATHAN TAYLOR (RB) Indianapolis Colts
Earliest: 1.01 Latest: 1.03
2020 15.39 FPPG (14) Indianapolis Colts (21)
2019 29.11 FPPG (14) Wisconsin Badgers (20)
2018 25.34 FPPG (13) Wisconsin Badgers (19)
Rivals: 4-STAR (5.8) 247: 4-STAR (91) ESPN: 3-STAR (79) NFL: 3-STAR (6.41) 100M: 10.49 (12th Grade)
PROSECUTION
Fumbled 18 times during his three years at Wisconsin.
Very low reception totals in high school and over his first two seasons of college.
Has major wear and tear for his age, carrying an increasingly heavy load of volume.
His combined junior and senior year of high school averaged 20 touches per game, followed by over 23.5 touches per game on average throughout his three seasons at Wisconsin.
“Anything else?” asks the judge.
Prosecution rests.
DEFENSE
Where to begin……got a few minutes? ;-)
Jonathan was born and raised in the small town of Salem (pop. 4774) New Jersey, graduating high school with honors in a class of only 69 students.
For those like myself who value durability, Taylor’s drool-inducing stats from the four years prior to moving up to the NFL are legendary.
Senior season in high school: 2923 yards from scrimmage in 12 games. (243 yards per game, 12.70 yards per touch, 36 touchdowns.)
Freshman season at Wisconsin: 2072 yards from scrimmage in 14 games. (148 yards per game, 6.75 yards per touch, 13 touchdowns.)
Sophomore season at Wisconsin: 2254 yards from scrimmage in 13 games. (173 yards per game, 7.16 yards per touch, 16 touchdowns.)
Junior season at Wisconsin: 2255 yards from scrimmage in 14 games. (161 yards per game, 6.52 yards per touch, 26 touchdowns.)
Four consecutive seasons surpassing 2000 yards from scrimmage. Makes you wonder what kind of goals (and records) he could set in a 17 game season. (wipes away drool)
When asked in high school to devote himself to Track and Field in order to take his explosive speed more seriously, he dedicated himself to the point of winning two state titles in the 100 meter dash. That 4.39 second 40 yard dash he ran at the NFL Combine was as legit as they come.
With so few receptions on his resume after two years of college, Taylor focused on improving his hands. The extra hours spent with a JUGS machine paid off his junior season when he went from a career high of 8 receptions in a season, to 26 receptions and 5 touchdowns receiving.
He surpassed that his rookie year with the Colts, setting another career high with 36 receptions (and a TD) while catching an impressive 36 out of his 39 targets with a healthy (8.3) yards per reception. That is in the same ballpark as Christian McCaffrey (8.4) and Alvin Kamara (8.7), and better than the (7.2) career average of teammate Nyheim Hines.
Although he grew up with his siblings and mother, both parents were strict and involved in his upbringing (just never married) so he takes the surname from his mother Elizabeth Taylor. :-)
Jonathan has an extremely high functioning and curious mind. He considered majoring in Physics or Astronomy before settling on Philosophy, thanks in part to his admiration for the great Immanuel Kant.
Had the opportunity to play football for Harvard University, but after much thought (and his father pointing out how few players from Harvard make it to the NFL vs. the many that get there via the Wisconsin route) he decided to become a Badger. He still holds the idea of returning to Harvard in the future to pursue Astrophysics.
His fascination with the semantics of questions seems to contribute to his own strategies for answering or sidestepping difficult current affair questions posed by media.
His curiosity for subtle improvement leads him (along with all of the commonly practiced football training) to utilize everything from hot yoga and pilates (for injury prevention and recovery) to mindfulness and breathing techniques (for calm and focus) in order to gain an edge mentally, physically and spiritually.
Humble and wise for his age, having already set up a partnership with Toppers Pizza as a franchise owner.
VERDICT
Jonathan Taylor set the New Jersey state high school single season rushing record his senior year, then followed that up by setting a new NCAA record for rushing yards in a season by a freshman.
He also tied the freshman record for fewest games needed to reach the 1000 yards rushing mark, sharing such honor with past superstars like Emmitt Smith, Marshall Faulk and Adrian Peterson.
He went on to set the NCAA record for most career rushing yards by a sophomore, and set it once again as a junior.
Being drafted by Indianapolis with their young, road grading offensive line was a match made in heaven. Jonathan started the year off slowly, as most rookies do, then gradually ramped up the workload, finishing the season third in rushing yards in the entire NFL, even while missing a game.
His finish to the year (in what we call the MONEY WEEKS) was especially impressive, placing first overall among running backs in fantasy scoring from Week 13 through 17.
Although our game does not include Week 17, it was still very impressive to me that he outscored every non-quarterback other than TE Darren Waller over those final five weeks.
Taylor’s upside in the NFL can only be matched by his curiosity and imagination.
I doubt I could rate anyone higher.
SIGNAL FOCUSED DYNASTY HERO CLASS RATING:
JONATHAN TAYLOR: S-CLASS HERO!!!
Link to origin of this article series.