Wisconsin Football: Who is the Badgers’ 2017 offensive MVP?

Wisconsin football had one of the most efficient offenses in the Big Ten featuring many talented athletes at the skilled position

The Wisconsin Badgers never wowed anyone with their high-flying offense or insane scoring outputs, but still were able to put together a consistent and efficient offense in 2017.

The Badgers finished the regular season third in the Big Ten in scoring offense at 33.8 points per game and third in total offense at just over 416 yards per contest. Pairing this steady offense with their stout defense, Wisconsin has proven their 12-win season has not been a fluke, especially with their close contest against the Ohio State Buckeyes- who rank first in both those categories- in the conference title game.

In all 12 of Wisconsin’s wins, only one was decided by one possession — a 17-9 victory over Purdue in the cold, rainy conditions. While the Badgers’ defense received most of the credit for the team’s success, the ease of victory that came every week was in large part thanks to the offense doing their job and pulling away.

This could not have been done without the clear-cut most valuable player of the Badgers’ 2017 season: true freshman running back Jonathan Taylor.

Taylor was listed third on the Badgers’ depth chart to start the season behind sophomore Bradrick Shaw and transfer running back Chris James. In the team’s opening game win against Utah State, Taylor saw just nine carries- but accounted for 87 yards on the ground and a touchdown.

Wisconsin then faced Florida Atlantic in game two and because of Taylor’s small sample size success against the Aggies of Utah State, they rewarded him with more touches. Taylor returned big on their investment, accounting for 223 yards on the ground and three touchdowns. From there, it was no doubt Taylor would be the starter moving forward.

Taylor finished the year with 273 carries and 1,847 yards- good for first in the Big Ten at an average of 6.8 yards per run. He also finished with 13 touchdowns on the year, good for second at the running back position in the conference behind Penn State’s Saquon Barkley. In addition to his total numbers, Taylor already has three 200-plus yard games under his belt, with a career high of 249 versus Nebraska.

To put it in perspective how dominant Taylor was as a true freshman this season, he was awarded Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors eight times, good for most ever in conference history.

Taylor was also able to tie some great names as the fastest freshman running back to surpass 1,000 yards. In their contest versus Purdue, he had come up just 14 yards short from being the fastest player ever all by himself. He went past the 1,000-yard mark in game seven against Maryland, tying Adrian Peterson, Marshall Faulk, Emmitt Smith, and others for the accomplishment.

Honorable Mention

• WR Quintez Cephus (So.)
• TE Troy Fumagalli (Sr.)
• WR Danny Davis III (Fr.)

Next: Post-Regular Season 2018 NFL Mock Draft

Taylor will get one more chance to add on to his historic freshman campaign as the Badgers will take on Miami in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 30.