LA Chargers: Three potential draft fits that the team should avoid
By Jason Reed
Jonathan Taylor, RB, Wisconsin
Jonathan Taylor was an early favorite to be the Heisman Trophy winner last season and while he was not a finalist for the award, he has a tremendous junior season that finished off an overall great career with the Wisconsin Badgers.
Taylor carried the ball 320 times in his junior year for 2,003 yards and 21 touchdowns. Overall, in three seasons, Taylor carried the ball 926 times for 6,174 yards (6.7 yards per carry) and 50 touchdowns.
Despite the numbers, Taylor is likely going to be a second-round selection that maybe slips into the third round, but that is doubtful. If the Chargers were going to draft Taylor, it would likely have to be with the second-round pick.
As impressive as his numbers are, it simply would not be worth it for the Chargers to give up early draft capital to bring in Taylor. For one, the team already has two running backs and needs a change of pace running back, not someone who needs the majority of the workload to be successful.
The Chargers can find someone who better fits that role in the later rounds. Taylor is someone who would need to be the RB1 to be successful, and as talented as he is, the team has already committed to Austin Ekeler.
The second reason to be wary is his workload thus far. 926 carries in three years is a lot of miles on his legs already and using an early-round selection with bigger pressing needs on a running back with this much mileage already would not be the smartest move.
If he somehow slipped into the third round and there was no other good fits available then you could make the case for the Chargers considering him, but even that is unplausible.