NFL Player Profile: Jonathan Taylor – Indianapolis Colts
Hello everyone. I am excited to begin a weekly National Football League player feature where we will focus on some of the biggest names in the sport leading up to the 2022 regular season. This week we will briefly focus on Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor. A fantasy football favourite of mine, he helped me win my own pool in 2021, the Sports Freak Invitational!
2021 Regular Season Statistics
In 2021, Taylor, a native of Salem, New Jersey, had a breakout season, only his second season in the National Football League. He led the NFL in rushing yards (1811), rushing touchdowns (18), yards per game (106.5), yards from scrimmage (2171) and rushing and receiving touchdowns (20).
NFL Career
Taylor has only spent two seasons in the NFL, and has made the most of his opportunities. At the beginning of the 2021 NFL season, there was a feeling he might share the workload with Nyheim Hynes after Indianapolis signed Hynes to a three-year deal worth $18.6 million, but a fantastic October in 2022 silenced the skeptics. In the second month of the NFL season, Taylor had three 100-yard rushing games including 145 yards in a 31-3 win over the Houston Texans on October 17.
In two NFL seasons, Taylor has 564 rushes for 2980 yards, and 29 touchdowns. When in comes to catching the ball, Taylor has 76 receptions for 659 yards and three touchdowns. He was initially selected in the second round, 41st overall in the 2020 NFL Draft from the University of Wisconsin.
2022 Indianapolis Colts
Taylor will be working alongside a new quarterback in 2022. Indianapolis has said goodbye to Carson Wentz, who they traded to Washington, and hello to Matt Ryan who they acquired in a trade with Atlanta. The Colts had a winning season of 9-8 in 2021, but the fact they missed the playoffs was bitterly disappointing when all they needed to do was beat the Jacksonville Jaguars in the final week of the year. However, a horrible offensive performance in a 26-11 loss, put the Steelers in the playoffs and the Colts out.
