5 greatest Jacksonville Jaguars running backs of all-time
By Luke Sims
1) Fred Taylor (1998-2008)
To get it out of the way immediately, Fred Taylor is unfairly characterized as a fragile or injury-prone player. Further, he is grossly overlooked every time the NFL’s Hall of Fame discussion turns toward running backs.
Boasting an impressive 11271 yards and 61 touchdowns over 11 years in Jacksonville, Taylor was one of the NFL’s preeminent running backs during his time. In fact, from his first year in 1998 to the present, only Adrian Peterson, Edgerrin James, Frank Gore, and LaDainian Tomlinson have had more total yards.
In terms of raw production, Taylor is among the absolute best. Among his generational peers, only James was his real competition. Currently ranked 17th all-time (15th when he retired) in career yards with 11695, Taylor is surrounded by impressive running backs who are mostly in the Hall of Fame.
While Taylor did not have to put the Jacksonville Jaguars on his back every single game like Maurice Jones-Drew did, he was a key component of one of the NFL’s most exciting offenses of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Taylor had the size and speed to do anything he wanted against any defense. Capable of going through defenders or simply going around them, Taylor was a terror for defenses to account for.
It is hard to overstate how important Taylor was to a young franchise that was still finding its feet. He came to embody a team that was led by the disciplined Tom Coughlin and then help in the transition to the franchise’s second head coach, Jack Del Rio. He defined success for the team and the current stretch of lean years only began after his departure post-2008.
Next: 5 greatest Jags quarterbacks of all time
Already enshrined in the Pride of the Jaguars, the next step for Taylor is the long, drawn-out fight for the Hall of Fame.