New England Patriots: J.J. Taylor a talented addition to team

New England Patriots undrafted free agent signing J. J. Taylor may remind you of former Patriot’ “Mini Mack” Herron.

Undrafted free agents have a habit of making it on the New England Patriots team. At least maybe one per year do. One of them could be J.J. Taylor from Arizona.

Taylor stands at 5’5″ tall and weighs in at 185 pounds. There’s an old saying that “good things come in small packages”. Taylor might just validate that saying for the New England Patriots.

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In a way. While he’s short, I wouldn’t say he was small, not at that height and weight.

I’ve been bemoaning the fact that the New England Patriots don’t have a big bruising back who can blast their way to a yard or two to extend a drive or get them into the endzone from in close.

Well, Taylor won’t exactly fit the bill on that hope size-wise. But he does bring some interesting things to the table. And I guarantee that he’ll be a crowd favorite. Guaranteed.

With the retirement of James Develin, neither the running back contingent nor the running game got any better. They got a lot worse.

When Dev played, the Patriots usually won. The bright spot though is that the Patriots (maybe having some inclination of Dev’s status) took the precaution of signing a personal favorite, Danny Vitale to play fullback.

Vitale will help not only as a blocker but he has other skills as well. I think he was grossly underutilized in Green Bay and can possibly shine if given the opportunity in New England.

At 240 pounds he is the short-yardage big back I’ve been bellyaching about for some time. If given a chance, Danny will deliver, and maybe Taylor will too.

Remind anyone of New England Patriot “Mini Mack” Herron?

So why be optimistic about a small back? Well, Taylor may be small but he’s also been very productive.

In 2018, he gained 1,434 yards on the ground. That’s a lot of real estate. Last year his yards on the ground diminished to 721 on a lot fewer carries but he helped make up for that by doubling his passes caught to 32. Also, he’s a pretty good kick returner as well.

Veteran New England Patriots fans may recall a similarly sized player who was one of the most electrifying players to ever put on a Patriots uniform. His name was “Mini Mack” Mack Herron he was 5’5″ tall and weighed in at 170 pounds. He played with the team for 2 plus seasons in the early 1970s and he was exciting. He was really exciting.

Of course, everyone roots for the underdog, and “Mini Mack” was a real favorite in New England. Hopefully, Taylor can bring some of that same magic to a running back contingent in New England that is anything but inspiring at the moment.

"Short but stout runner whose running style is more power back than water bug. Taylor has been a productive college back who runs decisively both inside and outside, but does not have the burst or wiggle teams are looking for from smaller runners."

If Taylor can get them a yard or two with that “power” then more power to him and the New England Patriots. One thing, the defensive lineman will have trouble pinpointing where he is and where he’s running. They won’t be able to see him! A bit of levity, but it’s accurate.

They won’t. Especially if you load up in short-yardage situations with late-round selections like my favorite Michael Onwenu who’s a guard version of Trent Brown. They won’t be able to see around him and they won’t be able to see Taylor running behind him.

Taylor’s not very fast, but again if he can get them a yard or two in critical situations, keep him on board. He can catch the ball with “soft hands” that he’s a physical runner and that he’ll “break more tackles than expected.” I like him already.

I am not a fan of the Patriots 2020 draft for a number of reasons. They didn’t take an RPO quarterback like Jalen Hurts. They didn’t take versatile wide receivers like Lynn Bowden or versatile running backs like Antonio Gibson. Basically, they didn’t do much to shore up the skill positions in a deficient offense.

Next. Devin Asiasi could be a steal. dark

But I like the Onwenu pick and I like the Taylor signing. Both could prove to be valuable pick-ups for the New England Patriots in 2020.

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