NASHVILLE, Tenn. — While taking questions in the visiting locker room at Nissan Stadium last Sunday, Michael Pittman Jr. marveled at the greatness of teammate Jonathan Taylor.
“I’ve never seen it before,” Pittman said. “That’s just something that you don’t see.”
In the third quarter of the Colts’ convincing win over the Titans, facing a second-and-4 just past midfield, the veteran receiver saw Taylor juke and spin his way through four tackles for a 46-yard touchdown run. In the fourth quarter, with Indianapolis at the goal line, he watched Taylor bounce in the backfield and break the tackles of several more defenders to reach the end zone, the cherry on top of a three-score victory.
And Taylor is doing more than leaving teammates in awe. He’s arguably been the NFL’s best running back to start this season. He’s won AFC Offensive Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks. Entering Week 4, he leads the league in rushing yards (338), scrimmage yards (431), carries (60) and rushing yards after contact (297), according to Next Gen Stats. He’s tied for first in combined rushing and receiving touchdowns (4). His 112.7 rushing yards per game is pacing higher than his 2021 season, when he won the rushing triple crown.
“I think he’s the best back in the league. Just his combination of power, speed, change of direction,” Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin said of Taylor. “There’s nobody else playing like him right now.”
As the 3-0 Colts look to continue their streak Sunday against the Rams (2-1) on the road, the 26-year-old Taylor is at the peak of his powers. He’s quick, however, to give credit to his teammates for making the big plays possible.
“The guys up front — those long runs you see, that’s from Alec Pierce and Pittman and Ashton [Dulin] coming down, getting those blocks, sustaining those blocks,” Taylor said. “So, at the end of the day, my portion is just on the back end of it, but it’s a team effort.”
The national focus on the Colts has been on the career revival of quarterback Daniel Jones. Labeled a bust in his time with the Giants, Jones beat out former No. 4 overall pick Anthony Richardson Sr. to be the Colts’ QB1 and has played at an MVP level to start the season. He hasn’t turned the ball over. He’s in great rhythm with Indianapolis’ talented (and overlooked) cast of pass-catchers, including Pittman, fellow receiver Josh Downs and first-round rookie tight end Tyler Warren.
But in many ways, Taylor is the true engine of the Colts’ offense. He’s the team’s biggest offensive threat, which makes him a natural focal point for opposing defenses. The attention he draws opens up opportunities for Indianapolis’ other skill players.
While Daniel Jones has drawn attention for the Colts’ surprising start, Jonathan Taylor is the engine that makes the offense run. (Photo by Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
If Taylor never fell out of the elite running back class, he slipped under the national radar for a time.
After his rushing triple crown season in 2021, when he was named a first-team All-Pro, he missed six games the following year due to an ankle injury. Then he sat out the first four games of the 2023 campaign, on the Physically Unable to Perform list amid a messy (and very public) contract standoff with late Colts owner Jim Irsay. Before Taylor’s 188-yard, two-touchdown rushing performance in the 2023 regular-season finale, he went more than 13 months without a 100-yard game.
But he proved he was fully back last season, recording 303 carries for 1,431 yards and 11 touchdowns en route to Pro Bowl honors. And so far this year, he’s on pace for more than 1,900 rushing yards.
The Colts know that they can depend on Taylor down the stretch and in critical moments. More than 75% of his 267 yards over the past two weeks have come in the second half. In the red zone, Taylor leads all running backs in rush attempts (16), rushing yards (48) and rushing yards after contact (44), per NGS.
“JT keeps coming,” offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said. “[He] gets stronger as the game goes on.”
How difficult Taylor is to bring down is displayed on a weekly basis. His 21 forced missed tackles on rushes this season leads the NFL, according to Next Gen Stats.
“To be able to make that first defender miss and go get a bunch more yards after that is a really key trait for playing running back at a high level and making a whole bunch of yards,” Cooter said. “And JT is really good at doing that.”
The way Taylor looks to start 2025, he figures to make a whole bunch more yards.
Ben Arthur is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.
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