Jonathan Taylor ranked as the 16th best RB in the NFL

[EastStreet]

I'm sure some will have a melt down over this.

And the PFF haters will make their usual "PFF is XXX" comment.... lol

 

 

[2006Coltsbestever]

I haven't studied up enough to rank these RB's or any position based on what goes into it heading into 2021. Having said that, just based on eye test alone you would think Taylor would be ranked top 10 at worse right?? He was very good the last half of the season in 2020 and had a couple of great games.

[Four2itus]

Not a PFF hater....but that ranking sucks. 

[EastStreet]

17 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

I haven't studied up enough to rank these RB's or any position based on what goes into it heading into 2021. Having said that, just based on eye test alone you would think Taylor would be ranked top 10 at worse right?? He was very good the last half of the season in 2020 and had a couple of great games.

I think he's top 10 easily, but I also know we had one of the best run blocking OLs in the league. I also know his big games came against some very very bad run Ds. 

 

As long as he's healthy, he'll be a top 10 RB in yards, simply because he'll get a lot of carries. Much like last year though, I think he'll have a slow start, and then ramp up a lot when we play some lesser run Ds. 

 

If he gets off vs some of the early teams he can have a top 3 season. Rams will be tough. 

[EastStreet]

3 minutes ago, Four2itus said:

Not a PFF hater....but that ranking sucks. 

I have not dissected the stack, but I did look at RBs in general a few weeks ago. There are a lot of guys who had similar AVGs behind much worse OLs. And then there are guys like Dobbins, who had a better AVG, similar TDs, but 100 carries less.

 

I disagree he should be outside the top 10, but I can see a factual case for 6-10 off the top of my head. I'll probably dig into the stack tomorrow.

 

 

[tweezy32]

Chris Carson and David Montgomery?! Lmaoooo 

[Rolltide_gocolts]

The way I see it.. there’s only 3 RBs that’s better than JT 

 

Henry 

dalvin……

 

……… well 2 RBs better than him

[EastStreet]

2 hours ago, tweezy32 said:

Chris Carson and David Montgomery?! Lmaoooo 

huh? 

 

Carson has the best rush success rate in the NFL. He's got a very average OL but an AVG (yards/attempt) that is close to JT's. His YAContact and Broken Tackle % are both better than JT's. Before injury last year, he was averaging 1200/year.. 

 

And Montgomery I agree might be debatable, but he's running behind a poor OL with a horrible passing game (no balance) yet has 2000+ yards in 22 starts, and a much better YAC and Broken Tackle % than JT.

[Smonroe]

Player rankings, power polls, predictions…they’re all just opinions.  Most of the time they’re put out just for reactions - good or bad.

 

Best case - it fires him up.  

[luv_pony_express]

21 minutes ago, Smonroe said:

Player rankings, power polls, predictions…they’re all just opinions.  Most of the time they’re put out just for reactions - good or bad.

 

Best case - it fires him up.  

Yeah, they’re like draft grades.  It’s all hot air until the guys take the field.  It would be interesting to compare somebody’s mock draft to their draft grade and their hypothetical redraft some years later.

 

JT has only played one year.  And, for half of that year, he was clearly still getting acclimated.    I think he has the potential to be a top 5-6 RB in the NFL.  But he’s got more work to do to get there.

[Myles]

Off the top of my head, I'd put him in the 8-14 range.

[Nickster]

6 hours ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

I haven't studied up enough to rank these RB's or any position based on what goes into it heading into 2021. Having said that, just based on eye test alone you would think Taylor would be ranked top 10 at worse right?? He was very good the last half of the season in 2020 and had a couple of great games.

Taylor was poor in the first half,  good for about 5 to 6 games and exploded v JAX.  The JAX game skews his effectiveness.  The ranking is fine for body of work.

[indykmj]

Taylor's RB ranking matters....why ?

[funktacious2]

I really don't think the ranking is all that bad. Taylor took a decent chunk of the season to really get going. Hopefully if we revisit this in a year there will be no question he belongs higher.

[runthepost]

4 hours ago, Rolltide_gocolts said:

The way I see it.. there’s only 3 RBs that’s better than JT 

 

Henry 

dalvin……

 

……… well 2 RBs better than him

Chubb

CMC

Jones

Carson

Zeke

Kamara

Jacobs

Hunt

 

[runthepost]

54 minutes ago, Nickster said:

Taylor was poor in the first half,  good for about 5 to 6 games and exploded v JAX.  The JAX game skews his effectiveness.  The ranking is fine for body of work.

He gained like a 1/5th of his yards that season against the Jags. 

[Myles]

14 minutes ago, runthepost said:

He gained like a 1/5th of his yards that season against the Jags. 

23.5% of his yards.   That's with only 9 carries for 22 yards in game 1.

 

[shasta519]

Saw people complaining about this over on SB. I don't agree with this PFF writer's ranking of Taylor...I have him closer to that 10-12 range (if they give him the targets I hope they will). But I also don't agree that's it all that crazy.

 

RBs get very subjective past the top 6-7. Lots of similarly-talented players in different situations which add context. Really depends on what metrics you value as well. PFF has their own apparently.

 

There's a lot of recency bias because of his 5-game stretch to end the season, but Taylor is a second year RB who had an up-and-down rookie season from a production standpoint. I put some of that on coaching and usage, but I can understand why that might cause some hesitation on putting him really high.

 

Also in that stretch, 4/5 of those games came against really bad run defenses in HOU (x2), JAC and LV (not to mention JAC and HOU ended up picking #1 and #3). That was half of his season's production...culminating with a 253 rushing yards in Week 17 against the worst team in the NFL. 

 

I love Taylor and his upside...and that stretch put him on the map as a potential top 12 RB. But now he has to build off that. He does that...and he will rise on a list on this list pretty quickly. 

 

Also, if we are going to object to Taylor being #16...then we should acknowledge that this list gets real goofy in the 25-30 range (and that includes another Colts RB being ranked ahead of some very good second-year RBs). I mean...last year's RB group was loaded...there's a chance that Taylor is a top 10 RB, but not even the best one in that class.

 

[shasta519]

1 hour ago, Nickster said:

Taylor was poor in the first half,  good for about 5 to 6 games and exploded v JAX.  The JAX game skews his effectiveness.  The ranking is fine for body of work.

 

Right. It's about body of work. Just look at their WR rankings...they have Jefferson at #10 even though he was clearly a top 5 WR last year after he took over starting in Week 3. 

 

 As a second-year player, Taylor's body of work is already small...and his body of work with great RB production is even smaller since it's mostly comprised of a 5-game stretch to end the season.

[runthepost]

19 minutes ago, shasta519 said:

 

Right. It's about body of work. Just look at their WR rankings...they have Jefferson at #10 even though he was clearly a top 5 WR last year after he took over starting in Week 3. 

 

 As a second-year player, Taylor's body of work is already small...and his body of work with great RB production is even smaller since it's mostly comprised of a 5-game stretch to end the season.

My fantasy team loved Jefferson 

Michael Thomas on the other hand..

 

[shasta519]

1 minute ago, runthepost said:

My fantasy team loved Jefferson 

Michael Thomas on the other hand..

 

 

I had one of those two players and still won the championship...somehow.

 

I can't imagine any of the rookies this year coming close to Jefferson's stats. Maybe Chase if one of Higgins or Boyd gets hurt.

[throwing BBZ]

 

 Taylor is a lot like Chubb but with more speed. Ranking shmanking!
We have a great back that we get to watch every week. 
 Stay healthy my Colt RB friend. 

[JediXMan]

There’s only 4-5 RBs I’ll take over Taylor. Even that is a struggle due to his potential, talent and age on his side.

[twfish]

PFF hates running backs so i dont hold this ranking in high regards.

[philba101]

With just one season under his belt it is hard to say where JT should rank. If he continues on the tear he was on in the final half of the season last year, he could definitely work his way into the top ten.

[BlackTiger]

I like JT, but tbh his numbers were boosted a lot by playing the jags and their awful run defense.  Not sweating this ranking right now

 

he went from outside that top five, to third in yards during that last game of the season where the jags phoned it in 

[Rolltide_gocolts]

2 hours ago, runthepost said:

Chubb

CMC

Jones

Carson

Zeke

Kamara

Jacobs

Hunt

 

Nahh I can’t see it!! maybe CMC…  but that’s the only One I’ll add 

[gspdx]

4 hours ago, indykmj said:

Taylor's RB ranking matters....why ?

 

It doesn't.  But it gives people something to talk about.  We like to compare.

[TonyBungee]

If Mack stays healthy all year, then in terms of overall production 16th might not be too far off for JT.  In fact, if both stay healthy I could see both in the top 20 RBs in yards & TDs.  If Mack had signed with someone else in the off-season, I would definitely have JT in the top 10.

[Four2itus]

If all RB's were made available to every GM in a selection process......he does not make it to 16. 

[LJpalmbeacher2]

After Henry, I would say you could put a blanket over half and inter-change their rankings. Their all pretty good and I think circumstances like system, OL, health,  etc... separate them and production.

[runthepost]

8 hours ago, Rolltide_gocolts said:

Nahh I can’t see it!! maybe CMC…  but that’s the only One I’ll add 

Taylor is not better than anyone on that list. A fourth of his yards came against the Jags

[Superman]

8 hours ago, twfish said:

PFF hates running backs so i dont hold this ranking in high regards.

 

It's a ranking of RBs...

[King Colt]

If he plays in the coming next Super Bowl who cares where he is ranked..........

[rock8591]

Top 3 easily.

 

Other than Derrick Henry possibly, there is not a single RB that I would take over him. And I'm not saying that with blue and white goggles either.

[ADnum1]

I would put Taylor in at 10 right behind Josh Jacobs

[2006Coltsbestever]

14 hours ago, Nickster said:

Taylor was poor in the first half,  good for about 5 to 6 games and exploded v JAX.  The JAX game skews his effectiveness.  The ranking is fine for body of work.

[twfish]

13 hours ago, Superman said:

 

It's a ranking of RBs...

Yes................ But it is by an outlet that pretty well goes out of their way to devalue that position. If someone hates ice cream but ranks their top flavors I'm not going to hold it in a very high regard.....

[Myles]

11 hours ago, rock8591 said:

Top 3 easily.

 

Other than Derrick Henry possibly, there is not a single RB that I would take over him. And I'm not saying that with blue and white goggles either.

I might take him first as well.   Not sure though.   His age and his rookie contract would be a big part of it.   However, if I needed a RB for just 1 game, I wouldn't take him first.  Not yet.   Let's see what his second season brings.  

[EastStreet]

23 hours ago, shasta519 said:

Saw people complaining about this over on SB. I don't agree with this PFF writer's ranking of Taylor...I have him closer to that 10-12 range (if they give him the targets I hope they will). But I also don't agree that's it all that crazy.

Good post. I dug into all the RBs listed before Taylor by looking at various stats. I have yet to try and rank him among those, but my gut says 8-13 after looking at all the other guys. I might post data a bit later in a standalone thread and pole.

Quote

RBs get very subjective past the top 6-7. Lots of similarly-talented players in different situations which add context. Really depends on what metrics you value as well. PFF has their own apparently.

Yup. RBs can be good or elite in several areas, and subpar in some. The metrics I like are AVG and Success Rate (with the context of their OL ranking), and then yards after contact and broken tackle % (both of which aren't OL dependent).

Quote

 

There's a lot of recency bias because of his 5-game stretch to end the season, but Taylor is a second year RB who had an up-and-down rookie season from a production standpoint. I put some of that on coaching and usage, but I can understand why that might cause some hesitation on putting him really high.

 

Also in that stretch, 4/5 of those games came against really bad run defenses in HOU (x2), JAC and LV (not to mention JAC and HOU ended up picking #1 and #3). That was half of his season's production...culminating with a 253 rushing yards in Week 17 against the worst team in the NFL. 

Yup, this is why I try to temper my expectations. The last 4-5 games against horrible run Ds were what people remember, and what jacked up and inflated his stats. We start this year with a few good run Ds, so I'm preparing myself for some folks to act like the sky is falling if he's limited. 

Quote

 

I love Taylor and his upside...and that stretch put him on the map as a potential top 12 RB. But now he has to build off that. He does that...and he will rise on a list on this list pretty quickly. 

 

Also, if we are going to object to Taylor being #16...then we should acknowledge that this list gets real goofy in the 25-30 range (and that includes another Colts RB being ranked ahead of some very good second-year RBs). I mean...last year's RB group was loaded...there's a chance that Taylor is a top 10 RB, but not even the best one in that class.

 

I love Taylor too. Did great for a 1st year guy, and has a durable history. That matched with our OL should mean he's top 10 in at least yards for years to come.

22 hours ago, throwing BBZ said:

 

 Taylor is a lot like Chubb but with more speed. Ranking shmanking!
We have a great back that we get to watch every week. 
 Stay healthy my Colt RB friend. 

I don't see a lot of similarity to Chubb at all. Chubbs an all around beast in YAContact and broken tackles, on top of his high AVG. He does has a great OL like Taylor does, but Taylor isn't near as good in YAC and BTs. 

22 hours ago, twfish said:

PFF hates running backs so i dont hold this ranking in high regards.

So do you not think they hated all the RBs equally? lol

20 hours ago, gspdx said:

 

It doesn't.  But it gives people something to talk about.  We like to compare.

I'm totally shocked that people are discussing on a discussion board in the off season... 

Shocked I tell you!

19 hours ago, Four2itus said:

If all RB's were made available to every GM in a selection process......he does not make it to 16. 

I agree, but a lot of that would have to do with age and contract. 

11 hours ago, rock8591 said:

Top 3 easily.

 

Other than Derrick Henry possibly, there is not a single RB that I would take over him. And I'm not saying that with blue and white goggles either.

So what specifically (stat wise) puts Taylor in your top 3 as opposed to the others?

10 minutes ago, Myles said:

I might take him first as well.   Not sure though.   His age and his rookie contract would be a big part of it.   However, if I needed a RB for just 1 game, I wouldn't take him first.  Not yet.   Let's see what his second season brings.  

Bolded is a huge part of it. 

If I had my choice of any RB (healthy) for just one game, there are at least 5 I'd take prior to JT. Now if I had to think long term, I'd go back to the bolded.