| Editor's note: Throughout the season, Pro Football Weekly will run a
continuing series of articles spotlighting top prospects for the 2002 draft. 
The fact that Toledo RB Chester Taylor was still around to break the school rushing
record midway through his senior season is astonishing — to everyone but Taylor.
The 5-10, 205-pound senior from River Rouge, Mich., ran for 1,470 yards and 19
touchdowns as a junior. Projections varied, but most draft analysts put him in the top 10
at running back in anticipation of Taylor making the jump to the NFL. Unfortunately for
the rest of the Mid-American Conference, the Rocket never left the launching pad.
"With the speed he showed, I think he’s a major-league player," said
Western Michigan coach Gary Darnell, who saw Taylor run for 203 yards on 30 carries to
help Toledo down WMU 41-35 on Nov. 6. "He made us miss in tight corners. He can do
many things."
Taylor, 22, known as the River Rouge Rocket, equaled his 2000 total of 19 touchdowns
through eight games of the 2001 season. After averaging 5.9 yards per carry last season,
he is picking up 5.5 per carry this season in an offense that asks him to take on
additional roles. He has rushed for 1,096 yards in 193 carries this season with 16 rushing
touchdowns and three receiving.
"He’s been the most impressive catching the ball out of the backfield,"
said Toledo RB coach Doug Downing of Taylor, who had 17 catches last year and has 18 this
year. "He didn’t do that a whole lot before we got here and now he’s doing
it and doing it well. Adding that to his game will be key for his NFL aspirations because
he can make so many things happen in the open field."
Taylor runs the 40 in 4.5 seconds, but he’d rather run over you than shake you or
beat you to the edge.
"That’s what makes him one of the better backs in the MAC," Darnell
said. "He has the moves to make people miss and the speed that makes him hard to
track down."
A question that often arises with talent sprouting up outside of the six major
collegiate football conferences is how numbers would equate when players cross that line
and square off with big-time opponents. Taylor, for example, believes he has already
answered his critics with single-game outings of 141 and 186 yards rushing against Penn
State and Minnesota, respectively.
When Toledo opened last season with a 24-6 upset of the Nittany Lions in Happy Valley,
coach Joe Paterno called Taylor "the best back we’ll see all season." To
kick off his 2001 campaign, the Rocket amassed 213 total yards and four touchdowns in a
38-7 rout of Minnesota.
"There is no doubt he can play in any conference," said Downing, who played
quarterback at Purdue. "As a former player in the Big Ten myself, I know what it
takes. Chester would be a star on any level."
Taylor’s return was driven by his desire to earn a degree. While it was a career
risk to return and run behind an offensive line that lost three starters, Taylor is
putting school records out of reach and adding value to his NFL stock.
"I think the speed at that level is always an adjustment," Downing said.
"His overall speed isn’t a question, but getting in there and getting used to
the game speed on each and every play will be different. That seems to be an issue for a
lot of running backs that get to that level."
Downing, who was the offensive coordinator at Western Illinois when RB Aaron Stecker
was setting records, said Taylor has a step — or two — on Stecker, who
transferred from Wisconsin to WIU and now plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"They are similar players in work ethic and character," Downing said.
"Aaron did things different than Chester does. Chester really attacks the blocker and
he’s durable and doesn’t mind running people over.
"The thing that has to stand out with Chester is the way he committed to doing all
of the other things well — blocking, pass protection, running better routes out of
the backfield. That can separate him from the others."
One scout describes Taylor as "quick to the hole and can bounce a run outside.
Runs hard, breaks the arm tackles and is beginning to show the ability to catch the
football."
In searching for separation, Taylor finds himself sharing a draft class with the likes
of DeShaun Foster (UCLA), Damien Anderson (Northwestern), Lamar Gordon (North Dakota
State) and Adrian Peterson (Georgia Southern), among others.
It’s not as if Taylor is concerned about being overlooked. How do you think he got
to Toledo?
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