STRENGTHS
Jonathan is a powerful, in between the tackles, running back. He has good balance and vision and has just enough wiggle to make tacklers miss him at the line of scrimmage to gain the needed yardage on those third and short downs. He does a good job catching the ball out of the backfield and in open space and will break tackles of players not as big as he is. Jonathan has been the main running back for his team and has helped to carry the offense and because of his quick feet and solid breakaway speed, has been the offensive weapon opponents have had to game plan for because of his impact. Jonathan is the type of running back that falls forward on almost every tackle to gain yards in spite of being met at the line of scrimmage.
CONCERNS
Jonathan has to stay square to the line of scrimmage to gain yardage because he lacks the explosion to go east/west and outrun opponents to the sideline. This makes him predictable and easy to stop at the next level for attacking defenses. If Jonathan wants to be more than a two-down back he also has to improve his blocking.
BOTTOM LINE 2.86
In the right offensive line blocking scheme Jonathan can be as impacting at the next level as he was at the college level. That being said not every team will rate him high on their boards and not every GM who is looking for the style of back who can play and be effective in any style of offensive scheme will rate him high on their boards also. Jonathan Taylor reminds me of a lot of Running Back Jonathan Howard formerly of the Bears and as of this writing with the Eagles and like Howard, Taylor can be an effective running back in the right system. If Jonathan shows hidden skills at the combine than he could move up on team’s boards but, his poor pass blocking skills will still have to improve before he can become the impact player his talents suggest.
