The Honest Truth About Colts' RB Jonathan Taylor
Jonathan Taylor has been a phenomenal running back for the Indianapolis Colts.
Before this situation went completely sideways, I would argue that he was the model example of what a Colt should be. There was no denying his work ethic, how stand up of a guy he was, and how much he loved the Colts.
His 2021 season was the greatest for a running back in franchise history when he reeled off an impressive 1,811 yards and 18 touchdowns while averaging a whopping 5.5 yards per carry. Last season he dealt with a nagging ankle injury, and while most would consider it a down year, he still had over 861 yards and four touchdowns averaging 4.48 yards per carry.
What wasn’t listed is his receiving stats which were modest at best. He’s not a liability at all as a pass catcher and has made a couple of big plays in the receiving game but he’s struggled to be consistent in that area.
An area he also has struggled at was pass protection. In his defense, the Colts as a whole struggled at pass protecting, but he can’t be absolved for his role in that as well.
With that being said, from what I’ve been told, Taylor is seeking a contract near the top of the market. The two running backs with the highest AAV are Christian McCraffrey and Alvin Kamara, two of the best receivers at the running back position. These are guys that are a lot more diverse in their skill set than Taylor.
Taylor has every right to ask for that type of extension from his perspective. He has essentially been carrying this entire offense for two years and been the only bit of consistency this team has had from year to year. He nearly won OPOY and he was even a MVP candidate two years ago.
The most important reason why he has every right to be upset is because of two precedents set by the Colts. One would be their history of extending guys before they play the final year of their contract. The other is paying top of the market money to players at non premium positions.
Taylor was on this team when Quenton Nelson and Shaq Leonard got paid, as Chris Ballard came with the famous tag line, “We pay our own”. Taylor heard that and after his monster season you knew he couldn’t wait. Taylor began this off-season going quietly about it, but when he wasn’t making any progress, he switched agents and that’s when the hard ball begin.
From the Colts perspective, it makes absolutely no sense to pay Taylor top of the market money. Not only does he not have the versatile skill set to warrant that kind of money, but he also is coming off of an ankle injury and there’s no guarantee he will come back as the same player. Couple that with the fact the Colts have an entirely new coaching staff on offense and running a completely different scheme that leaves even more uncertainty.
I see this as Ballard is smartening up about devoting top of the market money to non premium positions. In the past I felt like he would have rushed to pay JT $15-16 million per year because of JT’s production and who he is as a person while ignoring the market. When building a roster (even when you have a rookie QB) it’s important to shave money where you can and spend on the positions that truly impact winning.
Running the ball is important today with the two-high shell looks defenses are running. But the run game depends on so many people as a whole that the actual running back is only a part of that. Scheme, numbers, and offensive line are all things I think about when it comes to how well you're able to run the ball. If those things are done right, you can place any running back in there and have solid numbers.
Would they be Jonathan Taylor? Absolutely not. But could they give you 80% of his production for only a tenth of the cost? Probably, and it seems like that is a bet the Colts are willing to make.
