Jonathan Taylor has a better chance at winning NFL MVP than Saquon Barkley ever did

As the NFL season enters its second half, the league awards conversation is only going to keep heating up. At the forefront of many fans' minds is who will be crowned the Most Valuable Player. Typically, that awards has been dominated by quarterbacks. No position player has taken home the trophy since Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson in 2012 but that 13-year streak could come to an end this year.

Indianapolis Colts rusher Jonathan Taylor has vastly impressed over 10 games, racking up 1,139 yards and 15 touchdowns already. The next closest running back (James Cook) is a whopping 219 yards behind. That's roughly two games of average output.

Taylor is one of only two non-QB players with double-digit scores so far this year (Josh Jacobs, 11 TDs). Not even a wide receiver standout like Jaxson Smith-Njigba has hit that benchmark yet. Now he's got seven more games to build his already strong case.

Jonathan Taylor's 2025 MVP odds make Saquon Barkley's 2024 résumé look like a long shot

When you compare Taylor's stats to Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley's 2024 campaign through 10 games, the latter trails by just two yards and seven touchdowns. Barkley finished the year with a near record 2,005 total yards but only 13 scores, finishing third in the MVP voting behind QBs Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson.

This year, the competition is nowhere near as stiff. So far the passer threats amount to Baker Mayfield and Drake Maye, who have shown signs of being human in recent weeks. No longer is this award just being passed around by the likes of Allen, Jackson and Patrick Mahomes.

If Taylor maintains his average of 113.9 yards-per-game, he'd finish the year with 1,936 total yards. You figure he has at least one or two more big games left in him and he could potentially push Saquon's total or even threaten Pro Football Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson's record of 2,105 yards.

Mayfield and Maye are likely to see their impressive numbers continue to come back down to Earth but Taylor's value is more evident in his team's success. Sitting as the No. 1 seed in the AFC, the Colts would not be in that position without Taylor in the lineup.

He's responsible for a third of Indianapolis' total points scored this season (32.7 percent) and if you subtract the touchdowns he scored in each of the Colts wins in which he reached the end zone, their record drops to 4-5-1.

Taylor is the definition of the most valuable player. Colts QB Daniel Jones may lead all passers in yards at the moment (2,659 yards) but it's been Indianapolis' run game that's truly defined their dominating campaign.

Unless other quarterbacks start absolutely bombarding opposing defenses and run the table in their respective conferences, the choice seems obvious for MVP voters. Now, Taylor just has to stay healthy and maintain some semblance of his average production.