(Photo: Fox Sports)
I was all in on Jonathan Taylor back to his college days playing for the Wisconsin Badgers. What’s been the recipe for Badgers football? Strong Offensive Lines, stingy defenses and running the ball. Those have been their three key ingredients for success for many years. Do you want to know how good he was during his college days? Jonathan finished his college career as the sixth-leading rusher in the NCAA and became the first player in history to rush for more than 6,000 yards in any three-year span. He also finished in the top ten of the Heisman voting three times. The Indianapolis Colts selected him in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft with the 41st overall pick. This year, the talk of the league has been running back and contract extensions. Josh Jacobs was franchised and so was Saquon Barkley. Yesterday, the Colts announced they were extending their star Running Back. A three-year, $42 million deal to be exact.
When healthy, he’s one of the best playing his position. Jonathan has the complete package as a Running Back. He has the quick feet to shift himself away from tacklers, the vision and the power to run you over. If you don’t angle yourself properly to make a tackle on him, he will make you miss and you will pay for it. People don’t understand just how quick he is. Jonathan has phenomenal breakaway speed and knows how to turn in when he’s in each tier of the defense. I see a football player who plays with a quiet confidence. He may not say much because he lets his play do all the talking for him. I refer to him as a quiet assassin and he leaves everything on the field. Many of his counterparts have said he’s so difficult to tackle and have even said he’s as tough to tackle as Derrick Henry which is saying something. Jonathan has the ability to burst through arm tackles and he shows his 4.3 speed when he’s free in the open field. He shoots gaps and always runs downhill. I’ve seen him also attack defenses as a receiver as well. Don’t be surprised when you look at his stat line and he’s close to 150 scrimmage yards. Two games I remember very well of his both came in 2021. The first was against the Buffalo Bills and he ran around and through a pretty good Buffalo defense and torched them for five touchdowns. The other game was against the New England Patriots on a Saturday night. When the Colts needed a first down to clinch the game, they gave the ball to Jonathan and not only did he get the first down, he scored the touchdown.
The Colts placed him on the PUP list to begin the season, but now he’s back. I didn’t think he’d get this deal because of everything that’s taken place with Running Backs and the lack of extensions. Jonathan has now become one of the highest paid players at his position and he’s also the first Running Back to receive an extension since Nick Chubb back in 2021. I’m glad these two finally came to an agreement.
