This week it was announced that rookie UDFA J.J Taylor was promoted to the Patriots’ 53-man roster. Zachary Krueger takes a look at what this could mean for Taylor and dynasty leaguers willing to stash him this season.
Following the conclusion of the NFL Draft, teams immediately flock to undrafted players with the hopes of finding additional value. If you’re like me, you probably do the same with your dynasty squads.
The term “truther status” is often used in the fantasy community – you know, that one guy you can’t quit. As the draft drew to a conclusion this season, one guy I kept coming back to was running back J.J. Taylor.
Taylor, a diminutive running back from the University of Arizona, stands at 5-foot-5 and 185 pounds. He was the smallest player in this year’s draft.
It was poetic justice when it was announced that Taylor, a unique talent, would be joining the New England Patriots. Bill Belichick and the Patriots have a knack for turning similar RBs into productive NFL players. We aren’t too far removed from the years when Danny Woodhead and Dion Lewis were must starts in PPR formats.
With Taylor being promoted to the 53-man roster just before the Patriots’ Week 1 tilt with the Dolphins, let’s dive a bit deeper into Taylor’s profile, and see why he makes for an interesting dynasty stash.
We Know This Profile, We Like This Profile
It’s hard to ignore J.J. Taylor’s size when he takes the field. He’s one of the smallest RBs we’ve seen in recent memory, but that’s no reason to avoid him. When we take a look at his workout metrics, we notice that Taylor is a small, but shifty back. Not only that, but his profile is eerily similar to the aforementioned Lewis.
It’s an encouraging sign to see that Taylor is physically comparable to not only Lewis, a productive player in his own right, but also guys like Darren Sproles, Giovani Bernard, and Jacquizz Rodgers, all of whom enjoyed various degrees of fantasy success.
Aside from Bernard, neither Lewis, Sproles or Rodgers produced much for fantasy owners during their first three seasons. However, a few blossomed into viable players in their fourth years and beyond. Using the RotoViz Screener, I searched for how the above players performed from their fourth season up until their most recent.
