Colts Star Undergoes Surgery
Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor came into the 2022 season with high expectations, but like the Colts themselves, Taylor's campaign was disappointing.
Taylor battled injury throughout the season and saw his number of carries drop from 332 in 2021 to 232 in 2022.
It wasn't just the smaller workload, Taylor's ankle injury was one of the factors that helped limit him to 4.5-yards per carry. That was a full-yard down from the whopping 5.5-yards per carry he averaged in 2021.
With the season over, Taylor is no longer trying to battle through the injury and instead got it repaired this week.
"After a season filled with fighting through pain," wrote Ian Rapoport on Twitter, "Colts RB Jonathan Taylor tells me he underwent ankle surgery this week to make sure he’s '100 percent ready to rock.'"
Joel A. Erickson of the Indy Star also weighed in on Taylor's surgery.
"Jonathan Taylor is rehabbing in Arizona now after undergoing arthroscopic debridement to clean out his ankle, a source confirms," reported Erickson on Twitter. "Ian Rapoport reported it this morning."
Taylor's injury was just one of several contributing factors that helped derail the Colts 2022 season. The re-shuffled offensive line struggled, and the trade for quarterback Matt Ryan fizzled.
The Colts are in the process of hiring a new head coach, or at least promoting their interim coach Jeff Saturday to the position full time. Whoever takes over will be glad to see Taylor "ready to rock."
A healthy Taylor will take some pressure off of the offensive line as defenses fear his explosiveness like they did in 2021 when he led the NFL in rushing by nearly-600 yards.
Now... about that quarterback position...
Once the Colts decide on a coach, their focus will turn to replacing Matt Ryan who is likely to be cut ahead of the start of free agency on March 15th.
The Colts have the No. 4 overall pick in the NFL Draft and have been linked as a trade-up candidate by several NFL Draft analysts early in the process.
New coach, new quarterback, and the Colts are hoping for the old Jonathan Taylor.
