D’Andre Swift of St. Joseph’s Prep, Jonathan Taylor of Salem go in second round of NFL draft
Swift, from the University of Georgia, went to Detroit with the 35th pick while the University of Wisconsin's Taylor was grabbed by Indianapolis with the 41st choice.
They are running backs, majoring in movement: Gaining yardage, covering ground.
D’Andre Swift and Jonathan Taylor have something else in common besides their non-surprising status as early second-round selections Friday night during the NFL draft.
For two guys who specialize in speedily traveling from place to place, both are quick to credit their success to their starting points.
For Taylor, that’s the tiny South Jersey town of Salem.
For Swift, that’s the streets of Philadelphia.
On the second day of the draft, both athletes took significant steps in their journeys, as Swift was selected by the Detroit Lions with the 35th overall and Taylor was grabbed by the Indianapolis Colts with the 41st choice.
Swift, a University of Georgia star who grew up playing for the Enon Eagles in the Mt. Airy section of the city, always has credited his hometown with instilling his competitive edge.
“That’s where I get my mentality from, I can’t help it,” Swift, a St. Joseph’s Prep graduate, said at the NFL combine in Indianapolis in late February. “Tough mind, set, I’m a gritty guy. I compete. I love to compete, never back down from a challenge. Everything Philly, that’s in me.”
Swift appeared overcome with emotion when he was selected, burying his head in his lap before hugging family members.
“So many emotions,” Swift said in a brief interview during the telecast of the draft. “Just thankful.”
Taylor, a record-setter at the University of Wisconsin, grew up playing for the Salem Junior Rams in his hometown (population, 4,700). He long has said that his success springs from Salem, a tight-knit little town with a rich sports tradition.
But when Taylor was in eighth grade in the fall of 2012, the Salem High football team went 0-10.
“Nobody was in the stands for their games,” Taylor recalled.
By his senior season, Taylor was one of the most accomplished athletes in recent New Jersey history, a two-time winner of the 100-meter dash at the track and field Meet of Champions -- earning the honorary title as the state’s fastest schoolboy, running a personal-best time of 10.49 seconds -- as well as a record-setting running back for the resurgent Rams’ football program.
On Friday night, Taylor became the third player in Salem history to make the leap from the Rams’ quaint little field on Walnut Street to the NFL.
The 5-foot-11, 226-pound Taylor also is the third running back from Salem to reach the NFL, following A.B. Brown in 1989 and Lydell Mitchell in 1972.
“It’s nothing you can prepare for,” Taylor said on the telecast of his reaction.
Swift was a legendary player at St. Joseph’s Prep, starring for three state championship teams. As a senior in 2016, Swift ran for 1,564 yards and 25 touchdowns -- despite going three games without a carry because of an ankle injury -- as well as nine touchdown receptions for the first 14-0 team in school history.
In December, Swift was named Player of the Decade in the Inquirer’s Southeastern Pennsylvania all-decade football team for 2010-19.
At Georgia, Swift rushed for 2,885 yards and 20 touchdowns, and caught 73 passes for 666 yards and another five TDs in three seasons, often sharing time in the backfield. He is regarded as perhaps the most complete running back in the draft, a “three-down” player who can excel as a ball-carrier, blocker, and receiver.
At the NFL combine, the 5-9, 215-pound Swift ran the 40-yard dash in 4.48 seconds, the second fastest time behind Taylor’s blazing mark of 4.39 seconds.
Like Swift, Taylor elected to enter the NFL draft after his junior season. The 5-11, 226-pound Taylor ran for 6,174 yards in his career with the Badgers, the highest three-season total by a player at the Football Bowl Subdivision level. He scored 55 touchdowns for Wisconsin.
Taylor was a two-time, first-team All-American at Wisconsin and as a junior won the Doak Walker award as college football’s top running back.
In high school, Taylor set a state record with 2,815 yards as a senior in 2016, when he led Salem to a 9-3 record and a berth in the South Jersey Group 1 title game. He was the Inquirer’s South Jersey Senior Male Athlete of the year for the 2016-17 academic year.