Round 2, Pick 45

Jonathan Taylor, RB, Wisconsin

Height: 5-10

Weight: 226

Class: Junior

D.O.B.: 1/19/99

Statistical Profile: Few players have ever been as productive as Taylor in college football history, as the Wisconsin RB hit the 2,000-yard mark twice in three seasons with the Badgers. The season he didn’t? A 1,977 campaign as a true freshman. As a receiver, Taylor wasn’t really impactful until this past season, when he totaled 26 catches for 252 yards and five touchdowns.

Scouting Taylor: Despite his absurd production, Taylor’s tape is less splash than you’d expect against most top competition, but then that is more or less the life of a running back in the Big Ten. A true collegiate workhorse, Taylor had at least 18 carries in every game except one this past season, doing a healthy portion of his running against loaded boxes.

Because of how little space he has to work with on a consistent basis, especially this season, Taylor’s vision and decisiveness are his best traits. He gets downhill quickly, rarely loses yardage and always falls forward. A lot of his carries may be for 2-5 yards, but very few are negative results. And when Taylor gets more than a sliver of space up front, he can really make a defense pay.

Still, I found myself wanting to see a little bit more nastiness from Taylor as a runner, as he doesn’t punish tacklers and goes down a little easier than expected a good deal of the time. He’s plenty powerful and keeps his legs churning through contact, but on a consistent basis Taylor doesn’t make tacklers miss and isn’t an ideal space player. He sometimes appears in shock when he has a lot of room to work, as it slows his process rather than speeds it up.

Great vision to find the cutback here, but then instead of mashing the gas, Taylor stutter-steps and hesitates before covering up and going down.

Fumbles are another concern. Taylor put the ball on the turf 18 times over his three years in college, averaging a fumble every 54 touches. That’s a really troubling rate that originate from Taylor being too loose with the football when changing directions. The issue hasn’t really improved much over the years either, with Taylor posting eight, four and six fumbles over each of the past three seasons, respectively. Not all resulted in turnovers, however.

Taylor doesn’t have many true weaknesses, and while he isn’t quite as physically or athletically dominant as you’d expect given his build and NFL Scouting Combine testing, the junior’s traits do show up in the passing game, especially this past season.

Finally utilized as a receiver in 2019, Taylor made some impressive catches and showed some ability to separate as a route runner. Consistency and detail are still needed however, and his hands still need more work as well; too many drops or double-catches, even on simple routes. I think his best is yet to come in this area.

Taylor was seldom used in pass protection, but was fine in limited exposure. This is the biggest learning curve for almost every back in college football, and Taylor will be no different, but the size and physicality are already there. He’s also said to be of high character, strong leadership and a coachable mindset.

The upside may not be there for Taylor to develop into one of the league’s top 3-4 running backs, but he’ll be a reliable, productive rusher with a greater passing downs impact in the NFL than he had in college.

Bucs Fit: It’s no secret the Bucs are looking for pass-catching abilities in their backs in 2020, and Taylor’s increased role as a receiver this past season bodes well for his draft stock. There is no question that Taylor checks the size, athleticism and production box for Tampa, and I don’t think his heavy collegiate workload will be an issue.

There are a few more developed receiving options in this year’s class of backs, but Taylor has upside in this area that was clear in his first season of true usage in the pass game. As long as the Bucs believe that growth can continue, I think Taylor will be atop their wish list at the position in Round 2 – if he’s there – perhaps even ahead of LSU’s Clyde Edwards-Helaire.