Wisconsin legend included in ESPN's list of top running backs entering 2025 season
In a survey of dozens of NFL league executives, coaches and scouts, the outlet ranked the upper echelon of candidates based on their vote totals, composite average position and what was shared during interviews. After the process, ESPN's hierarchy pegged Taylor as the No. 7 running back in the NFL entering this coming season.
At No. 7, Taylor found himself between Green Bay Packers star Josh Jacobs (No. 6) and Buffalo Bills back James Cook (No. 8). Reining Offensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl champion Saquon Barkley earned the top spot, followed by Baltimore Ravens' workhorse Derrick Henry (No. 2), Detroit Lions' speedster Jahmyr Gibbs (No. 3), Atlanta Falcons' rising star Bijan Robinson (No. 4), 2023 Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey (No. 5), Houston Texan Joe Mixon (No. 9) and New Orleans Saint Alvin Kamara (No. 10).
For context, ProFootballFocus' recent list of the top 32 running backs had Taylor at No. 14, sandwiched between Las Vegas Raiders rookie Ashton Jeanty (No. 13) and New York Jets rising star Breece Hall (No. 15). Ahead of his sixth NFL campaign, appears as if Taylor holds a more favorable position in NFL front offices at this stage of his career.
His most recent batch of numbers affirms that notion. The two-time Doak Walker Award winner at Wisconsin rushed for 1,431 yards and 11 touchdowns in 14 games during the 2024 slate, plus 18 receptions for 136 yards and a score through the air. The New Jersey native rushed for at least 100 yards in eight contests, which included a 218-yard, three-touchdown performance against the Tennessee Titans in a Week 16 win.
While Taylor may be incapable of replicating his 1,811-yard output during the 2021 season, his three-down talent, coupled with deadly speed and strength in the open field, make him as dangerous as just about any player at his position in the NFL. With quarterback Anthony Richardson or veteran Daniel Jones under center, Taylor is poised to enjoy another productive season, barring any major injury setback.
The Colts open the 2025 slate with a Week 1 game against the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 7.
Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNET
an hour ago
- CNET
Today's NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints, Answers for July 12 #292
Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today's Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles. Today's Connections: Sports Edition has one of those classic purple categories, where you probably won't figure it out before you've answered all the others. Need help? Read on for hints and the answers. Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That's a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn't show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic's own app. Or you can continue to play it free online. Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta Hints for today's Connections: Sports Edition groups Here are four hints for the groupings in today's Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group. Yellow group hint: Show Me State. Green group hint: Old Line State. Blue group hint: Gridiron greats. Purple group hint: Names begins with a certain creature. Answers for today's Connections: Sports Edition groups Yellow group: Missouri teams. Green group: Maryland teams. Blue group: Hall of Fame football coaches. Purple group: Sports people or terms starting with an animal. Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words What are today's Connections: Sports Edition answers? The completed NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for July 12, 2025, #292. NYT/Screenshot by CNET The yellow words in today's Connections The theme is Missouri teams. The four answers are Blues, Cardinals, Chiefs and Royals. The green words in today's Connections The theme is Maryland teams. The four answers are Maryland, Navy, Orioles and Ravens. The blue words in today's Connections The theme is Hall of Fame football coaches. The four answers are Levy, Madden, Noll, and Shula. The purple words in today's Connections The theme is sports people or terms starting with an animal. The four answers are batter, Catchings, Cowherd and dogleg.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Bengals young defender predicted to disappoint this 2025 NFL season
The Cincinnati Bengals are aiming to get back to the playoffs in the 2025 NFL season, but they'll need their young defensive players to step up. Still, Bleacher Report expects one of their new additions on defense to face a tough challenge. Cincinnati extended Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase this offseason, meaning that, along with Joe Burrow's new contract, the Bengals have a lot of money tied up on offense. That means the team needs to make the most of their draft picks, since rookies come in on inexpensive contracts. Advertisement At the 2025 NFL Draft, the Bengals went defense with their first-round pick, selecting Texas A&M's Shemar Stewart 17th overall. Over three seasons at Texas A&M, Stewart posted 4.5 sacks, 65 tackles, and one forced fumble, numbers that may not inspire much confidence. Cincinnati need help on defense now that their offensive core is locked up, but that level of production doesn't exactly inspire confidence that the 21-year-old edge rusher will make an immediate impact as a rookie. As a result, Bleacher Report's Kristopher Knox predicts that Stewart will be a bust as a newcomer to Zac Taylor's team. "It feels increasingly likely that Cincinnati Bengals rookie first-round pick Shemar Stewart is going to disappoint in 2025," Knox wrote. "The Bengals are partly to blame for that. Advertisement "Cincinnati desperately needed to add defensive help this offseason and took a chance on Stewart with the 17th overall pick in April's draft. However, the Texas A&M product was always viewed as a raw and potentially risky player." MORE: How good was LeBron at football? NBA legend would have been 'one of the best' in NFL Last season, Trey Hendrickson recorded 17.5 sacks, but his production wasn't enough to push the Bengals into the playoffs. Furthermore, there's the possibility that Cincinnati won't have their standout pass rusher for the 2025 season, as he stated in May that he is unhappy with how the contract extension process is going and could be on the way out. 'With the lack of communication post-draft made it imminently clear to my party — meaning my wife, my son and my agent, a small group of people — that I had (to) inform that this might not work out," Hendrickson said in May (h/t The Athletic). "I don't think it was necessary. I think we should have all hoped for the best until proven otherwise.' Advertisement If Hendrickson isn't in the Bengals' defense to start the season, it puts more pressure on Stewart to be a productive player come Week 1. All rookies go through a learning experience, but Cincinnati might be putting the young pass rusher in a difficult spot where he has to adapt quickly. That could lead to him being a bust this season. MORE NFL NEWS:
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Buccaneers' Tight End Missing From Elite List
Buccaneers' Tight End Missing From Elite List originally appeared on Athlon Sports. While some Tampa Bay Buccaneers players are finally starting to garner some national attention, others are not. This offseason, we've seen the likes of Mike Evans, Bucky Irving, Tristan Wirfs, Baker Mayfield, Antoine Winfield Jr. and Jamel Dean honored on "best of" lists representing Tampa Bay. Advertisement But as we peruse ESPN's top 10 tight ends in the NFL ahead of the 2025 season, there's no Bucs player to be found - no Cade Otton. Is that deserved? Maybe. Otton is good. He's good for the Bucs. But is he elite? Certainly an argument could be made that he's not. Especially with his history of drops. Otton was a fourth-round pick by the Bucs in 2022 out of then-Pac-12 powerhouse Washington. He had an impressive rookie campaign with 391 yards and two touchdowns, but suffered from drops. He posted just 42 catches on 65 targets with five drops, leading all tight ends. The next season wasn't much better, with three drops on 67 targets, and he got worse last season. In 2024, Otton posted 59 catches on 87 targets with 600 yards and four touchdowns but eight drops. Advertisement If Otton can clean up his pass catching, he'd be a far more effective offensive tool for Mayfield and the Bucs. In ProFootballFocus' rankings earlier this season, Otton was No. 20 overall, which actually sounds a little high, honestly. "Otton's Achilles' heel is drops. He has the third most (11) at the position across the past two years. His 63.1 PFF receiving grade in 2024 was a career high and also marks the first time he generated more than 1 yard per route run (1.31). If he can hang on to the ball (also three fumbles the past two years), Otton has the skills to rise on this list." This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 11, 2025, where it first appeared.
