2020 Jonathan Taylor Fantasy Football Player Profile

As we gear up to the start of the NFL season, Football Absurdity is going to bring you a comprehensive breakdown of every notable player that will be available in fantasy football drafts. The Colts added Jonathan Taylor in the second round of the NFL Draft. What can we expect from the rookie with incumbent Marlon Mack futilely trying to hold him off?

Jonathan Taylor ADP and AAV:

Standard Scoring ADP: RB25, 63 overall
PPR Scoring ADP: RB23, 49 overall
Average Auction Value: $20

Jonathan Taylor Statistics:

The easy move here, since he is a rookie, is to do a Jonathan Taylor Thomas joke. I’m better than that. I’ve been working on bettering myself and my area, with a study called Home Improvement. I am trying to better myself in all aspects, from the personal jungle to the professional jungle. It’s a real Jungle 2 Jungle betterment campaign. And if I said that it was working, I’d be Lyin’, King.

Jonathan Taylor Overview:

Jonathan Taylor was a consensus top-two running back in this draft class. His playerprofiler.com physical comparison is Ezekiel Elliott. I will repeat that. Taylor’s physical comparison is Ezekiel Elliott. Taylor comes in at 5’10” and 226 pounds, and put up a 98th-percentile 40-yard dash and a 99th-percentile aggregate speed score. He’s an elite athlete, but he’s not jus an athlete.

Jonathan Taylor has some great body control and short-area elusiveness, allowing him to get to, and snake through, the second level with ease. Taylor has good, but not great, hands, but still carries that as a part of his game. He also moved piles several yards on a regular basis with ease. He creates extra yards by going through would-be tacklers. The long and the short of it: plug-and-play starter who has a chance to lead the league on picking up first downs on first-and-ten… Just like Ezekiel Elliott, who led the league in picking up first downs on first-and-ten (or greater) rushes last season.

Jonathan Taylor Draft Strategy:

Jonathan Taylor Auction Value: $16
Draft Ranking: Find out for your league settings in a Beersheet! (coming late June)

I am going out and getting Jonathan Taylor wherever I can. His upside is a top-ten running back and his downside is already baked into his price. Right now, you can snag Taylor in the fifth-round in PPR leagues and the sixth-round in standard-scoring leagues. If you snagged a couple running backs, then went a couple of wide receivers, then rounding out with JT is an amazing way to solidify your roster. Taylor will likely start off slow, given that the Colts are likely to give Mack more touches than he deserves at this point.

I’m in on Taylor as a break out candidate in his rookie year. You’re paying up for him, but the last time we saw a guy exactly like Jonathan Taylor come out, he squeaked into the first round in drafts his rookie year. Take the discount; get Taylor onto your roster.

Best Case Scenario:

The Colts come to their senses and give Jonathan Taylor the lion’s share of the workload his rookie year. He works his way into the first-round conversation next year.

Worst Case Scenario:

Philip Rivers falls madly in love with Nyheim Hines, and audibles all running plays into passing plays to Hines. Taylor ends the year with seven carries for 29 yards.

[Statistics are sourced from pro-football-reference.com and airyards.com]