Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor showing off receiving skills to boost NFL Draft stock

Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor is arguably the best running back in college football, but he’s adding to his game with an eye on the NFL.

Over his first two seasons at Wisconsin, running back Jonathan Taylor averaged 6.9 yards per carry with 29 rushing scores as he led the Big Ten in rushing yards and yards from scrimmage in each campaign. In 2018 he led the country in rushing yards (2,194) and carries (307), and he entered this season as a top Heisman Trophy candidate.

Taylor is clearly a dynamic runner, and another season like his first two will put him in some rare air among all-time great college running backs. That said, there was a notable hole on his stat sheet in 2017 and 2018.

Over those first two seasons, Taylor totaled just 16 catches for 155 yards. A conservative, run-oriented Badgers’ offense didn’t help, but it was worth wondering if Taylor had something to offer as a dual-threat.

Taylor had a typical outing against South Florida in last week’s season opener with 135 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries (8.4 yards per carry). But he added two touchdown catches for 48 yards, which were the first two receiving touchdowns of his career.

During the Week 2 game against Central Michigan, Taylor had three scores on the ground as part of his 102 yards on 19 carries. He continued to show off his budding receiving skills with another receiving score to go with his three catches for 17 yards.

If only due to the short shelf life of running backs, it’s practically a foregone conclusion Taylor will forego his final season at Wisconsin and enter the 2020 NFL Draft. He’ll have a strong case to be the first running back drafted with Clemson’s Travis Etienne in consideration, and he’s almost surely going to get first-round consideration. Now, he is proving to be an asset in the passing game too.

As with a lot of Badgers’ running backs over the years Taylor’s workload, with 606 carries over his first two seasons and another push toward 290-300 carries surely on the radar this year, will be a concern for NFL teams. Shifting some of his touches away from the trenches will naturally lessen the wear-and-tear on his body while allowing him to put his pass-catching ability on tape for scouts at the next level.

In an NFL environment where running backs are being devalued, Taylor is managing to boost his stock by turning what had been a latent skill into real production. He’s showing he can be an every-down, total package back at the next level.