Why Colts’ Jonathan Taylor Earned His Place…

2. No player has been more impactful in setting the tone for an offense than Taylor.

The Colts have given the ball to Taylor 173 times on first down, with their star running back gaining 1,020 yards on those carries. More importantly: Taylor is averaging 5.9 yards per carry on first down, most in the NFL among backs with 100 or more carries on first down.

That average of 5.9 yards per play is higher than nine teams are averaging when passing on first down. Taylor has picked up 34 first downs when running the ball on first down, nine more than any other player and the most in the NFL since 2016; his 12 touchdowns on first down lead the league, too.

Not many teams are able to consistently keep their offense ahead of the chains and on schedule by being physical and running the ball. The Colts are.

“I think it just helps overall, especially for the quarterback of not being in tough situations,” offensive coordinator Marcus Brady said. “Everybody knows it’s hard to convert on third-and-long. That’s a tough situation for a quarterback and an offense. So, when we’re able to be productive on first and second down like that, it just keeps us out of those situations, able to move the chains and kind of stay on schedule. It opens up the playbook a little bit more. It may limit some of their exotic pressures and that aspect of it. We’ve just got to be able to continue doing that.”

And a bonus fun fact here: If Taylor has one more game with at least 100 rushing yards and at least one rushing touchdown, it’d give him 10 such games this season. Only three other player have ever had 10 or more of those games in a single season: Dallas’ Emmitt Smith (11, 1995), Seattle’s Shaun Alexander (11, 2005) and Atlanta’s Jamal Anderson (10,1998). All three of those players’ teams made it to the Super Bowl.