Former Jacksonville Jaguars running back Fred Taylor is of one of the more underrated backs in NFL history. For a guy that got the nickname “Fragile Fred,” he sure did play a long time and racked up a ton of stats.
In 13 NFL seasons (11 with the Jaguars and two with the New England Patriots), Taylor ran for 11,695 yards and 66 touchdowns, which is hardly chump change. This year, he was snubbed for a second time for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but he’s absolutely worth consideration.
Recently, Taylor has been working with Hard Rock Bet on a fall campaign. He took a break on the set of filming Hard Rock Bet Party to answer some questions about the upcoming 2025 NFL season. Specifically, he asked for Super Bowl LX predictions.
“Philly’s tough,” Taylor said. “The Philadelphia Eagles are still tough. They got rid of some pieces, but they still have the core in place. That offense is high octane. Defensively, they’re unstoppable. So they would be my early odds.
“It’s hard to go against Kansas City Chiefs too, you know. They’ve been rebuilding. Their receivers, young guys a year ago, I think they’ve just gotten better. They’re going to continue to get better. And Patrick Mahomes, you can’t count him out.”
Let’s be honest, it’s hardly a hot take to predict the two teams that just played in the Super Bowl will return the following year.
Fred Taylor would love to throw the Jaguars a bone, but…
It’s safe to say that no Jaguars fan would feel dissed by the fact that Taylor didn’t predict them to make the Super Bowl. In fact, they’d probably agree with him if he said “top-five pick again in 2026!” The big problem with that statement (if he made it, which he never did) is that they don’t have one next year.
Taylor acknowledged that he’d love to show his Jags some love, but like just about everyone else on the planet outside of London (I mean, they call soccer “football” over there. What??), he can’t.
“But I’m going to throw a curveball on that,” Taylor said. “I say all that to say, I want to but I can’t go with Jacksonville. I love them to death, too, man. But it’s hard to go with Jacksonville.”
Yes it is, Fred. Yes it is. Even general manager James Gladstone probably refuses to pick them in his weekly suicide pool.
Is Trevor Lawrence the reason Taylor is hesitant to favor the Jaguars?
Following his admission that the Jaguars really don’t have a shot of doing much of anything, he was asked if he’d feel better picking them in a few years when we all find out what first-round rookie Travis Hunter becomes (like it even matters if Trevor Lawrence can’t play quarterback).
“Because Trevor has to be, yeah, the catalyst behind whatever success they have,” Taylor said. “So no—I’ll go back and switch gears. I’ll go back with Kansas City Chiefs. Andy Reid, Pat Mahomes, they’re always close [if not winning it]. So, if I’m an odds guy, which, in any betting basket, you have to be going for a Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles rematch at the Super Bowl.
Taylor is hardly going out on a limb here in taking the Chiefs and the Eagles. The odds of that are poor to quite poor, but that’s fine. Super Bowl predictions at this time of year are so worthless, he might as well have picked the Jags over the Panthers. Week 1 Super Bowl preview!
Former Jaguars Superstar Makes Bold Super Bowl Prediction