Jonathan Taylor among Betting Favorites to Lead NFL in Rushing in 2021
Around this time of year, people begin submitting their bets for which players will lead the NFL in certain statistical categories.
The rushing yards leader is one of the more popular bets, and Indianapolis Colts fans have reason to be in on the action this summer.
SportsBetting.ag has released the odds on the NFL's passing, rushing, and receiving yards leaders, and Colts running back Jonathan Taylor is tied for the fifth-best odds to lead the league in rushing yards:
- Derrick Henry — 3/1
- Dalvin Cook — 5/1
- Nick Chubb — 7/1
- Christian McCaffrey — 8/1
- Jonathan Taylor — 9/1
- Saquon Barkley — 9/1
Taylor has been given even better odds than Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott (12/1), who has led the NFL in rushing twice.
In 15 games as a rookie in 2020, Taylor totaled 232 carries for 1,169 yards (5.0 avg.) and 11 touchdowns to go with 36 receptions (39 targets) for 299 yards (8.3 avg.) and another touchdown.
He finished third in the NFL in rushing last year, so saying that he could lead everyone in 2021 isn't much of a stretch.
Taylor shook off a couple of rocky periods of the season that featured some growing pains to recapture the attributes that made him such a commodity for the Colts early in the 2020 NFL Draft.
By season's end, he proved that he could both catch the ball and hold on to it, but he also ran with patience, vision, speed, and power.
There is no reason to think that Taylor's arrow won't continue to point up in 2021.
He led the Colts' backfield quite handily in snaps (557) and touches (268) as a rookie, as the next-closest player trailed by 168 snaps and 116 touches. With the exception of a "healthy" Marlon Mack, Taylor returns with the same group of running backs this season.
If Taylor continues to run with the same effectiveness that he displayed in 2020 then the Colts will likely make him the featured piece of the offense, which will obviously lead to a good opportunity to finish high up on the leaderboard in rushing.
According to FantasyPros, Taylor faces the fourth-easiest schedule among running backs in terms of how his 2021 opponents fared defending the run in 2020.
Do you think Taylor can lead the NFL in rushing in 2021? Drop your thoughts below in the comment section!
