Arizona football: Running back J.J. Taylor suffers broken ankle vs. Washington

The Wildcats will have to rely on more players on the depth chart now

The Arizona Wildcats lost 35-28 to the Washington Huskies in overtime on Saturday, but they suffered an even bigger loss to their running back depth.

J.J. Taylor sustained an ankle injury in the second half of the game, and Rich Rodriguez said after the game that it was a broken ankle.

“It’s extremely frustrating,” Rodriguez said of Arizona’s injury situation while being visibly emotional on the stand. “I mean J.J. Taylor breaks his ankle. This guy’s gonna be lights-out, is lights-out, and will be again whenever he comes back.”

With Nick Wilson also out and Orlando Bradford dismissed from the team, the Wildcats will now likely turn to either Zach Green or Tyrell Johnson as their starting running back.

On Saturday, Green carried the ball six times for 19 yards. Johnson got five carries for 16 yards, but also had a costly fumble.

The two backs are very different from one another. Green is a power guy that will try to run people over, while Johnson is more like Taylor in the fact that he’ll need open space to be most effective. I would think Johnson will get the nod to start given that he has better potential to make a big play.

It’s unclear when Nick Wilson will be available again.

Hopefully Taylor recovers fully from his broken ankle as he appears to have a bright future in front of him.

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