#21

J.J. Taylor

Junior running back for Arizona. 2019: 721 rushing yards, 5 rushing TD, 32 catches.

RB · Arizona · Jr. · #21

5′6″ · 185 lb · Corona, CA

Arizona 2019 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

APB recruit

No. 1071 nationally · Signed with Arizona

Statement game27 car · 284 yds · 2 TDat Oregon State (FBS) · W 35-14

Top 0.1% rushing yards game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

3 running back for Arizona. 2019: 721 rushing yards, 5 rushing TD, 32 catches.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Arizona in 2016.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at Arizona, 3,260 rushing yards — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 4 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

20164 games

Signed with Arizona3-star out of Corona Centennial

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#1071 national

CFB

College

Arizona

2016–2019

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2016–2019

2 coaches

2016–2017

Rich Rodriguez

Arizona

2018–2019

Kevin Sumlin

Arizona

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Rich Rodriguez → Kevin Sumlin. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2019 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2016Arizona3-9HC: Rich Rodriguez · Run-heavy

2017Arizona7-6HC: Rich Rodriguez · Run-heavy

2018Arizona5-7HC: Kevin Sumlin · Run-leaning

2019Arizona4-8HC: Kevin Sumlin · Balanced

Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort

Box-score percentiles

7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: rec yards (95th percentile). Strength: receptions (95th percentile).

Box-score rates (7)

Rec yards#16 / 314 · 95th pct

289

Receptions#16 / 314 · 95th pct

Carries#92 / 326 · 72nd pct

148

Rush yards#108 / 326 · 67th pct

721

Rush TDs#143 / 326 · 51st pct

Yards / carry#175 / 326 · 46th pct

4.9

Long run#194 / 326 · 40th pct

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2019 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Home5g	68.2	5.1	0.8
Road6g	63.3	4.7	0.2

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Weeks 1-75g	60.2	5.5	0.6
Weeks 8+6g	70.0	4.4	0.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Brent Brennan

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2019

Starter

A locked-in starting job.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2019	Arizona	148	721	4.9	5	--
2018	Arizona	254	1,432	5.6	6	--
2017	Arizona	145	846	5.8	5	--
2016	Arizona	38	261	6.9	2	--
Career		585	3,260	5.6	18	--

Season	Team
2019	Arizona	32	289	9.0	0	--
2018	Arizona	16	133	8.3	0	--
2017	Arizona	12	49	4.1	2	--
2016	Arizona	2	16	8.0	0	--
Career		62	487	7.9	2	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2019

W 65–41

vs Northern Arizona

102 rush yds (10 car) · 1 TD

Dominant 24-point win at home against Northern Arizona.

With G. Brightwell — 141 rush yds (5 car) · 1 TD · G. Gunnell — 151 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 99.4 · 6 rush yds (2 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2019 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	L 38-45@ Hawai'i	14	67	4.8	1	24
Wk 2	W 65-41vs Northern Arizona	10	102	10.2	1	40
Wk 3	W 28-14vs Texas Tech	11	39	3.5	0	8
Wk 6	W 35-30@ Colorado	1	4	4.0	0	4
Wk 7	L 27-51vs Washington	18	89	4.9	1	16
Wk 8	L 14-41@ USC	16	80	5.0	0	15
Wk 9	L 31-41@ Stanford	16	107	6.7	0	18	Season-high 107 yds
Wk 10	L 38-56vs Oregon State	21	78	3.7	2	12
Wk 12	L 6-34@ Oregon	17	74	4.4	0	12
Wk 13	L 7-35vs Utah	10	33	3.3	0	10
Wk 14	L 14-24@ Arizona State	14	48	3.4	0	11
Total		148	721	4.9	5	40

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology