Colts’ ground game went off, while Jonathan Taylor did not
By John Buhler
Jonathan Taylor is not having the rookie season we all thought he would in 2020.
When the Indianapolis Colts drafted the two-time Doak Walker Award winner out of Wisconsin in running back Jonathan Taylor, we all expected he would do big things right away. With starting running back Marlon Mack suffering a season-ending injury in the first week of the season, we were sure Taylor would become a focal point of the Colts’ offensive attack. Well, he has not.
The Fantasy Footballers were impressed by the Indianapolis ground game in Week 8’s road win over the Detroit Lions. The Colts had 119 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground, as well as plenty of production out of the backfield in the receiving game. However, Taylor had 11 carries for 22 yards and two catches for nine yards on the day. How concerned should we be?
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Thus far in his NFL career, Taylor has one 100-yard rushing game, and that came way back in Week 2 vs. the lowly Minnesota Vikings. Jordan Wilkins had a great day on the ground Sunday with 20 carries for 89 yards and a touchdown. Even Nyheim Hines had a productive with a team-high 54 receiving yards and an impressive trip to pay dirt. Is Taylor hurt or is he just not that good?
Was Sunday a sign of more of what is to come with the Colts’ rushing attack?
The guys mentioned Colts starting quarterback Philip Rivers said in the postgame press conference that Taylor was banged up a bit. While that is probably somewhat good news if you have Taylor on your fantasy team, let’s be real about it for one second. You can’t be pleased with what you’ve gotten out of him thus far with 100 carries for 389 yards and three touchdowns.
So is this more of what is to come for the Colts offense? Potentially. The Colts are 5-2 on the year and very much in the AFC South race along with the Tennessee Titans. 2020 is Rivers’ last best chance to get to a Super Bowl, so head coach Frank Reich will do whatever he thinks is best to help his Colts team get to the promised land. This may include a more committed rushing attack.
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Eventually, the Colts are going to have to count on Taylor in a big spot. They can’t put all their faith in Hines or Wilkins to be their bell-cow in crunch time. If Mack were healthy, that would be a different story. However, if Reich ends up using Wilkins more as the featured back over Taylor the rest of the way, this cannot bode well for Taylor’s future as the Colts’ star running back.