This Jonathan Taylor pre-draft take aged horribly
Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor has developed into an elite player despite pre-draft critics.
One of the biggest attractions in the NFL world is draft season. The NFL’s process is unlike any other sports’. Highly anticipated workouts, infinite mock drafts, and terrible takes.
Everyone believes they’ve unlocked a secret formula to discover which players will be perennial Pro Bowlers and which will be a bust. They then scream their prediction from the mountain top.
In a couple of years, this prediction either comes true and they look like a genius, or they’re completely wrong and look foolish as everyone watches their old take get exposed.
The latest people to be left looking foolish are two Pro Football Focus podcast hosts who predicted Jonathan Taylor would be overdrafted. They felt he kind of looked “slow” at Wisconsin and duped scouts at the combine, ultimately arguing he wouldn’t be worth a mid-first round pick.
https://twitter.com/pff/status/1235588378617233411?s=21
Boy were they wrong. This take aged like sliced avocado. Taylor is completely dominating the NFL, just two seasons in, and it turns out that he was actually under-drafted.
Jonathan Taylor proving to be steal of draft class
Taylor was ultimately drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the second round with the 41st overall pick. He was the third overall running back, selected after Clyde Edwards-Helaire and D’Andre Swift.
While this is probably where PFF felt he should be selected, Taylor’s early resume says he should have gone much higher.
With two games remaining in his second season, Taylor has amassed 2,795 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns. That’s more than the two running backs taken ahead of him combined. Taylor has also added 635 receiving yards and three additional touchdowns.
In year two he has already been selected to a Pro Bowl, has a legitimate shot at rushing for 2,000 yards in a season, and winning MVP.
If the 2020 class was to be redrafted, plenty of teams within the top 20 would pick Taylor over their original selection. If PFF could re-record this podcast they would speak more glowingly of Taylor. But, they can’t, so they’ll just be wrong forever.
