What could Colts’ running game look like without Jonathan Taylor?

Ben Arthur

AFC South Reporter

Four Colts running backs had at least five carries in Indianapolis’ preseason opener last week at Buffalo.

Jake Funk and fifth-round rookie Evan Hull had seven apiece. Deon Jackson had six carries and Kenyan Drake had five.

It offered a peek into what the Colts’ run game might look like in 2023.

Star Jonathan Taylor‘s status in Indianapolis is uncertain at best. He has been on the physically unable to perform list since reporting to camp July 25, rehabbing his surgically repaired ankle, an injury that has kept him sidelined since the spring. He has a still-standing trade request amid his contract dispute with the Colts. Taylor is scheduled to make about $4.3 million in the final year of his rookie contract and wants a lucrative extension, which has not been forthcoming. He left camp on Wednesday, for the second time in a week, on an excused absence for a personal matter.

With all that as a backdrop, the Colts could have a running back-by-committee approach in 2023.

Indianapolis’ No. 2 option, Zack Moss, is sidelined as well. He suffered a broken arm last month in the first padded training camp practice and is expected to be out until the regular season.

“We’ve got some young guys in the room, but everybody is stepping up,” Jackson said last month of the running back room. “Everybody is pushing each other. Everybody is being competitive. Everybody is holding each accountable.

“That’s just what it is in our room. There’s no extra competition. There’s no egos in our room. We’re all pushing for each other to make as many plays as we can because we know it takes a group. It takes all of us. We’re just all being supportive.”

If Taylor’s absence persists into the regular season, it won’t be easy for the Colts to replace him. A healthy Taylor has proven to be one of the league’s best running backs. In 2021, his last full season, he produced the most prolific rushing season in Colts history — 332 carries, for 1,811 yards and 18 touchdowns — en route to first-team All-Pro honors.

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In the seven games last season in which Taylor played at least 75% of snaps, he was third in the league in rush attempts (21 per game), rushing yards (656) and broken tackles, and top-10 in average yards after contact, according to FTN data. This came despite the Colts’ regression in run blocking from 2021 to 2022.

Last year, Indianapolis ranked 22nd in adjusted line yards (4.32), which assigns offensive-line responsibility on all running back carries, and 29th in power success rate (58%), which represents the rate of third- and fourth-down runs with two yards or fewer that resulted in a first down or touchdown, per Football Outsiders.

“He’s yoked,” left guard Quenton Nelson said of Taylor earlier this month. “He can run you over. He can outrun you. He can juke you. He brings a lot to the table.”

Jackson is expected to assume a bigger role in 2023. Outside of Moss, he’s the top returning backup from a year ago. Jackson had 68 carries for 236 yards and a touchdown in 16 games last season. He was Indianapolis’ leading rusher in the preseason opener, registering six carries for 35 yards (5.8 yard average). He is trying to have a more vocal presence in the running back room this season.

Offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter says Hull has also had a good training camp. The rookie was a threat as a runner and pass-catcher at Northwestern, with 913 rushing and 546 receiving yards for the Wildcats last season.

“The guys have been really locked in — a lot of really good practices,” Cooter said earlier this week of the tailbacks. “At the running back position, a lot of times in this league there’s one running back on the field at any given time, so when you get those opportunities, it’s great to take advantage of them. And those guys are doing a good job.

“The backs had to really work in protection [in Buffalo],” Cooter added. “There were some really good examples of some blitz pick-ups that I thought some of the young backs had, which is encouraging. And some really good finishing runs down in the red zone to score some touchdowns.”

New coach Shane Steichen’s scheme could also open up the run game. He’s expected to develop an option offense that accentuates the strengths of rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson, the No. 4 overall pick, similar to what Steichen had in Philadelphia with Jalen Hurts.

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The Eagles‘ offense ran RPOs 14% of the time last year, the most in the NFL and significantly higher than the league average of 5%, according to FTN data. Playing for Steichen in 2022, standout running back Miles Sanders dealt with no contact on 10% of his runs, per FTN. By comparison, Taylor last season had no contact on just 1% of his runs.

Richardson should also enhance the Colts’ rushing attack this season. In 2022, his lone season as a starter at Florida, he rushed 103 times for 654 yards and nine touchdowns in 12 games. He broke 21% of tackles on designed runs and scrambles in 2022, which led FBS quarterbacks.

Ultimately, though, it’s difficult to envision how effective a Colts run game will be without Taylor, the focal point of Indianapolis’ offense since he was drafted in 2020.

“Whatever running backs we have, we have to make due with that,” Nelson said earlier this month. “[They’re] looking forward to the opportunity and they’re out here every day working really hard.

“The engine keeps going.”

Will it work?

Ben Arthur is the AFC South reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.

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