Jonathan Taylor – 2021 #2 Dynasty Running Back

#28 Jonathan Taylor, IND

bio:

Jonathan Taylor is IDPE’s #2 dynasty RB in 2021. Drafted by Indianapolis in the 2nd round (#41 overall) out of Wisconsin in the 2020 draft. He was a two-time unanimous first-team All-American in 2018 and 2019.

attributes:

A talented 2nd-year running back, he does most of his damage between the tackles but is a better receiver than he gets credit for. He has a solid BMI and high-end athleticism, posting a 90th-percentile pSPARQ score per 3sigmathlete.com.

Taylor has an elite College Prospect Score (CPS). He has the 2nd highest CPS out of all active players, behind Saquon Barkley. He has no major weaknesses as a prospect, though he wasn’t used as a receiver much in college.

player grades:

Taylor graded out as the #10 running back out of 70 qualified players in 2020, per PFF.com, which is rare for a rookie. He will need to improve as a pass blocker to become a full-time three-down back.

Year	Overall	Rushing	Receiving	Pass Block
2020	80.7	82.9	65.1	19.4

injury:

He has not missed a game due to injury in his young career.

stats:

Taylor had 232 rush attempts (#8), 1169 rushing yards (#3), and 11 rushing touchdowns (tied for #7) in 2020. He also had a decent year as a receiver.

He had over 1400 yards (rushing and receiving) in his first year. Therefore, he has a high floor in fantasy. He also had 36 receptions and 12 total touchdowns over the same period. Therefore, he has a high ceiling in fantasy.

His workload increased significantly in Week 11. His fantasy points per game (FP/G) increased from 10.9 in his first 9 games to 23.1 over his final 6 games. I projected his final 6 game stats over a whole season and you can see he has elite upside if given a workhorse role (370 prorated total fantasy points).

Year	Rush	RuYd	RuTD	Rec	ReYd	ReTD	TFP*	Games	FP/G**	A4GM***
2020	119	741	7	14	96	1	139	6	23.1	370

strength of schedule:

Indianapolis has the 12th easiest RB schedule in 2021, per PFF. The bye week is Week 14, and the most difficult matchups are Weeks 2 and 12. Chicago, Baltimore, and New Orleans RBs currently look like solid options if you want to stream based on RB matchup those weeks.

contract:

Taylor is playing on his rookie contract. He will be an unrestricted free agent in 2024.

summary:

Jonathan Taylor is an elite talent, but there is some risk primarily due to workload. Taylor is a poor pass blocker, which could limit his 3rd down and passing down work. This is not uncommon for a rookie, so expect him to improve with time.

Nyheim Hines is a good back and will get some work in this offense, especially on 3rd down (though he also earned poor pass blocking grades in 2020). Marlon Mack was also resigned after tearing his Achilles last year. He is not expected to have a large role, but he is a decent back and could steal some work down the stretch.

Expect Taylor to compete for a Top 5 RB finish in 2021 and overall #1 RB dynasty next year.