High Side (#9) by Dave Shick
When I look at Fred Taylor, I see Robert Smith. Taylor has bit so many fantasy owners with the injury bug. How often have we read, "I won't make that mistake again." Taylor's injuries have been annoying, true. But when we look a bit deeper there's room for optimism. Combine this optimism with his incredible talent and it equates for some magical value in the late second round of your fantasy draft.

Taylor has not suffered degenerative injuries that should impede his success this season. Last year when he injured his groin (how painful would that have to be to just let go of the ball?), it happened in week 2. Taylor has had a long off season to get healthy. All signs point to a pair of fresh legs. He's motivated and ready to try and earn that big contract. Jacksonville just spent the better part of the off season dumping salary and making way to give Fred that huge deal if he delivers this season.

The last trump card in my hand with regard to Taylor is the AFC South. Taylor gets to face the juggernaut defenses in Tennessee, Indianapolis, and Texas this season. This has got to be considered the weakest division in football bar none. GB realignment.

Low Side (#26) by Mark Wimer
It looks like Fred Taylor is in for another long, hard season in Jacksonville. In 2001, the Jaguars were 26th in the NFL rushing the ball, with 100 yards per game as a team (exactly 1600 yards rushing in 16 games - in comparison, the Steelers racked up 2774 yards as a team (1st in the NFL)). They were 29th in the league in protecting the quarterback, surrendering 63 sacks (4 per game) and many, many more hits behind the line on both the quarterbacks and the running backs. To add to their ground woes, this year the line is even worse in terms of their experience playing together (chemistry) and depth - they've already lost 2 OL players (Chris Ziemann, Aaron Koch) to season ending injury, and Zach Wiegert is disgruntled and held out of mini-camps due to a dispute over his contract.

Then there is the injury issue. I don't know whether Fred Taylor suffers from a poor training/stretching regimen, a physical defect of the connective tissues which limits their strength and resiliency, a poor attitude and lack of willingness to play hurt, or some combination of the above factors - it's even conceivable (but highly unlikely) that all the past injuries have been just plain old bad luck. Whatever is the case, I am personally convinced that it is extremely unlikely that Fred Taylor will ever play an entire season uninjured (or nearly injury-free) and at peak or near-peak performance. Even if he does manage to appear in every game, Taylor seems likely to be struggling with some physical ailment or another for a significant portion of any given season - including 2002.

I expect Taylor to put up around 700-800 yards rushing and 100-200 yards receiving, with up to 7 touchdowns (6 rushing, 0 -1 receiving) in 2002. Even with good health, and phenomenal personal effort, I believe that Taylor will have a difficult time breaking into the top 20 among running backs of 2002, considering the multitude of other issues faced by the Jaguars' offensive unit.