Jonathan Taylor’s 2024 Fantasy Football Outlook Analysis

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00:00Joe, I'll let you talk about the player and do the dot.

00:08Everyone's chasing 2021 when it comes to Jonathan Taylor, and I'm not sure why.

00:13I understand it was a great season in 2021.

00:15He had 1800 rushing yards and 360 receiving yards and 20 touchdowns.

00:22How magnificent.

00:23But that was also playing with Carson Wentz as a quarterback.

00:27Shane Steichen's the coach, Anthony Richardson is the QB, and the Colts offense is not going

00:32to run through Jonathan Taylor the way it did a couple years ago.

00:36Is Jonathan Taylor still set up to be a high-end running back?

00:39Of course he is.

00:40But this idea that he somehow could end up being the best running back, I think is tough

00:45because his own quarterback is going to take away many attempts from him.

00:49He's going to take away many goal line touches from him if he is healthy.

00:55And good luck trying to tackle Anthony Richardson.

00:58He's as big as a linebacker, as fast or even faster than Jonathan Taylor possibly.

01:02So you've got to understand the dynamic has changed.

01:05So sure, 1200 yards rushing, RB4 currently off the board, that all makes sense.

01:12But if you're looking for a first-round talent, I would still be looking at the AJ Browns,

01:16the Justin Jeffersons, I would still be looking at Marvin Harrison Jr., we spoke about that

01:20last week too, since 2020, three of the highest rookie wide-receiving totals ever have been

01:28established.

01:29Jamar Chase, Justin Jefferson, and then Puka Takua last year.

01:33Again, all 1400 yards.

01:35I think Marvin Harrison is set up to have that kind of season, and if he does, you'd

01:38rather have him than Jonathan Taylor.

01:40And let's not pretend like Jonathan Taylor hasn't missed time the last two years.

01:43Let's not pretend like he's had two surgeries and that means nothing.

01:46So my concern here with Jonathan Taylor isn't so much the durability, so much as his role,

01:52and that I think everyone keeps chasing a couple years ago, and don't really, I think,

01:58fathom and understand that the dynamic of this team has changed considerably.

02:03How this offense is going to run is much different, and it's going to have much more balance to

02:07it, and you have a rushing quarterback.

02:09So again, it's not that Taylor is a bad pick.

02:11It's just a matter of, at his ADP, do I necessarily want to take him in the first round?

02:16Maybe in a standard league, sure.

02:18In a half PPR, okay, I can be sold that way, but I think there's better investments that

02:23are safer than Jonathan Taylor in PPR, and in half PPR, too.

02:27I mentioned some of those wide receivers.

02:29That's where I'd rather be going.

02:30But Matt, what about you?

02:31Are you somebody that thinks that Jonathan Taylor is going to go back to having an 1800-yard

02:36rushing season like he did a couple years ago, or maybe something closer to 1100, potentially,

02:42which will be under the projection this year?

02:45You do the deep dive, and I'll come up for air and look around and look at the entirety

02:49of Indianapolis' offensive ecosystem, and I think there's a lot to be excited about,

02:53and I think that Jonathan Taylor can actually be a compliment and not necessarily a detriment

02:58or not necessarily suffer because of the presence of Richardson.

03:01Remember, Richardson is still young.

03:03It's going to take him time.

03:04I don't care how well-built he is, and I don't care about all this athletic talent he has.

03:08It's going to take the young man time to understand the National Football League.

03:12As we look across the landscape of sports, most sports are skewing to being a young man's

03:16game with the exception of really two, the NFL and the NBA, because to understand the

03:22game, it takes a maturity from the neck up, then the body develops.

03:27So I think that Jonathan Taylor could flirt closer to his upside than to a floor that

03:32we're starting to create.

03:33Although regression, I do believe, is coming, I think there's an excitability there, Joe.

03:37If you're part of an offensive ecosystem with a good, young player, perhaps you begin to

03:41evolve. Jonathan Taylor begins to evolve and becomes something different, but still effective.

03:47So yeah, I'm still in on Jonathan Taylor.

03:50Yeah, effective, sure.

03:52And if you can get him in the second round, great.

03:54I'd rather be starting teams with Amon Ra, with A.J. Brown, with Garrett Wilson, with

03:59Marvin Harrison is my number one pick.

04:01Garrett Wilson over Jonathan Taylor?

04:03Really?

04:04It opens up the bigger conversation, too.

04:06But still for me, yeah.

04:09So what do you do then?

04:10You grabbed Wilson, now you're looking to fill in your running back slots.

04:14I think we have about a minute left in this segment.

04:16This is a great conversation.

04:17So you've faded Taylor at that spot, you've taken Wilson.

04:20What do you do now?

04:22As a fellow named Derrick Henry is going as the 20th overall pick that I'm pretty sure

04:26around the turn I can also get.

04:28So I think that's what it comes down to.

04:30You know, it's like, OK, do I want the elite wide receiver and then take Derrick Henry

04:34or take a shot on Devon Achan or Jameer Kibbs or one of those guys?

04:38Or do I want to take Taylor?

04:40And then all of a sudden, when it gets around the corner wide receiver, I'm looking at Drake

04:44London, I'm looking at Chris Olave in ADP.

04:46I think that is a different set of questions.

04:48I'm sorry.

04:49There's a drop off from those elite guys to those 1A number twos.

04:53I want to make sure I get a clear number one.

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