After trading starting running back Kenyan Drake at this year's trade deadline, the Miami Dolphins are in desperate need of talent. With Drake's departure, running backs such as Wisconsin Badgers star Jonathan Taylor should be a top priority for a team looking for playmakers.
Miami owns three first-round picks in this year's draft (Miami, Pittsburgh and Houston). Depending on whom they get with their first pick, Taylor — the Wisconsin junior running back — seems like a perfect fit.
Jonathan Taylor has been one of the best running backs in college football ever since he arrived in Madison in 2017. At the time of writing this article, Taylor is No. 7 all-time on the FBS career rushing list and has accrued 12 games of over 200 rushing yards, more than any player in FBS history and an accomplishment earned in under three years.
Taylor, who has 281 touches for 1,847 total yards from scrimmage and 22 touchdowns, will likely have to compete with Georgia's D'Andre Swift to be the first running back taken in the 2020 draft. However, most experts have Taylor ahead of Swift as a projected late first-rounder.
Taylor's projected draft position could fall perfectly in line with Miami's pick, which it received from Houston as a selection in the early to mid-20s.
Raiders rookie running back Josh Jacobs was selected late in the first round last year and is already making a significant impact on a team that desperately needed it. Taylor's impact could be similar for Miami.
At 5-foot-11 and nearly 220 pounds, Taylor has the size to run the ball between the tackles while also possessing the speed and quickness to bounce the ball outside. The junior has the ideal blend of speed, power, balance and patience to be an immediate impact player in the NFL. Nobody needs those players more than the Dolphins.
Currently on the roster, Miami has two second-year backs, Mark Walton and Kalen Ballage, who have struggled mightily with the opportunities they have been given. The Dolphins currently rank dead last in the NFL in rushing yards per game with a paltry 63.2. They could definitely use a back of Taylor's caliber, especially if he slips to the late first or early second round.
Ballage, a fourth-round pick out of Arizona State, came into 2019 with expectations to possibly be the running back of the future for the team. However, despite getting 71 carries in 11 games, Ballage has only 135 rushing yards (1.9 YPC). It is clear he doesn't have the potential the franchise had originally thought.
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