Looking at the 2020 NFL Draft prospects for Arizona’s J.J. Taylor

After another solid season with the Wildcats, Arizona running back J.J. Taylor is heading to the NFL, and we break down his draft prospects.

We’re unfortunately all too familiar with how the Arizona Football season panned out this past year. Despite high hopes again under head coach Kevin Sumlin, the Wildcats have failed to make a bowl game. However, one of the few bright spots of the program has been J.J. Taylor.

Flashing back to 2016, who would have thought the then 5-foot-6-inch, 165-pound running back from Southern California would blossom into an electric and severely underrated back in college football.

Arizona Wildcats

Although small in stature, since coming to Arizona, Taylor’s play has been anything but small.

It didn’t take long for Taylor to break on to the college scene and quickly dazzle fans with his supreme athleticism, shifty moves, speed and his deceptive power and durability.

After a tremendous game against Hawaii in his true freshman season, Taylor would then break his foot the following week against Washington.

Taylor would unfortunately redshirt after the injury, but would luckily return even strong the following season, being an instrumental piece to the explosive Arizona offense.

Then a coaching change would happen, which would ultimately lead to Taylor’s best season as a Wildcat.

Hoping for even bigger things in 2019, the Wildcats would end the year on a rather unfortunate seven-game losing streak. To make matters worse, Taylor would see a significant dip in production, in part due to the diminished play of the offensive line, as well as missing a game this past season.

However, following a tremendous three-and-a-half year career in Tucson, Taylor announced he would be leaving the Wildcats and would be taking his talents to the NFL.

In his 40-games played at Arizona, Taylor would finish with over 3,700 yards from scrimmage and 21 total touchdowns (one on a kick-off).

Provided by CFB at Sports Reference: View Original Table

Now after an amazing career, will Taylor be able to find similar success at the next level?

As it stands, Taylor is considered to be the No. 14 overall running back in the 2020 draft class according to Walter Football, and is receiving an overall draft projection between the 3rd and 5th round.

Hard to say just how reliable that ranking is, since we don’t know what NFL executives, general managers and scouts are thinking.

However, from a fairly biased perspective, here are a few ‘Pro’s and Con’s’ regarding Taylor’s draft prospects and overall play.

Pros: Even at 5-foot-6 and 185-pounds, Taylor is incredibly durable and uses his size to his advantage. He packs a lot of power, is incredibly elusive and explosive and has excellent body control and quickness.

He is an incredibly versatile football player that can run, catch and even block and will be a great asset to any team that can fit him into the right offense!

Cons: His size. Although size isn’t necessarily everything in football, it does help, especially at a position that takes a lot of hits.

Taylor is not going to be an every down back in the NFL and he is the not the type that is going to get or require 25+ touches per game. He also will struggle in goal line situations and isn’t going to be a power running back.

NFL Comparison: Tarik Cohen or Darren Sproles. Granted a lot of these comparisons are because of their similar statures, however, Cohen and Sproles have proven you can be incredibly successful at this level if utilized appropriately and of course are incredibly versatile.

Should Taylor be able to end up with the right team/ offense, he can find some good success with the skill and talent and he already possesses!

Here is a little reminder of why J.J. is so incredibly special!

At Zona Zealots, we’re happy for J.J. and are certainly hopeful that he can get drafted! As always Bear Down, Arizona!