Why Fumbles Shouldn’t be an Issue for Colts Rookie RB Jonathan Taylor

Much has been made of how running back Jonathan Taylor had 18 fumbles in three college seasons. But the Indianapolis Colts rookie is confident RBs coach Tom Rathman will help him improve ball security.

Jonathan Taylor could be defensive when asked about his 18 fumbles as a three-year Wisconsin workhorse running back.

The Indianapolis Colts rookie, selected 41st overall in April’s NFL draft, could provide context — 15 were lost fumbles, and those were in 926 career carries that produced 6,174 yards. It stands to reason the more carries, the more likelihood fumbles will happen.

But Taylor didn’t say any of that in a Tuesday Zoom video conference call.

Bottom line, one fumble is too many.

“Any running back, that’s something you never want to happen,” he said.

When asked about ball security, which could be perceived as a negative question, Taylor’s enthusiastic nature didn’t diminish. He kept smiling. He likes working with Colts running backs coach Tom Rathman. Taylor is confident Rathman, a two-time Super Bowl winner as a San Francisco 49ers fullback, will help him improve.

“He is a real stickler on it,” Taylor said of Rathman’s ball-security emphasis. “We’re going through film and there are times where you think it is good ball security and you’re looking at the guy and you’re like, ‘That’s good ball security,’ and he is saying, ‘I think he actually could’ve been able to have it in this position a little bit better or even more. See this right here? You can eliminate that right there.’ So just in his knowledge of the game and of him coaching me up, I’m real excited – just about putting in the work as well.

“I mean especially now through these Zoom meetings, there is nothing you can really do besides you’ve got to go out there and you’ve got to record. You’ve got to show him film. I think that is the biggest thing because I’m not there to get those physical reps, so I want him to coach me up. I want those coaching points. So I’m doing everything in my power to get those coaching points any way I can without physically being there in his presence.”

Taylor elaborated on how much he’s getting out of working with Rathman.

“It was actually kind of perfect that I ended up in this position to be able to get high-level, elite coaching from a guy like Coach ‘Rath,’” he said.

Taylor is expected to share the backfield workload with Marlon Mack, the Colts’ leading rusher with 1,091 yards last season. The Colts ranked seventh in rushing offense as the ground-and-pound attack was embraced. All-Pro left offensive guard Quenton Nelson had “Run The Damn Ball” hats created, and they were distributed through the locker room.

Colts players, including the entire rookie class, showed up at Indianapolis this week to begin participating in non-supervised workouts. Players still aren’t allowed to report to NFL facilities, so players are taking it upon themselves to get together. It’s an important step, when considering offseason training activities were handled remotely through Zoom calls and teams didn’t have the usual offseason mini-camps.

“Most of my offseason has been kind of solo besides – the only other rookies that I have ever been with have been the rookies that were on my (college) team,” Taylor said. “I had one rookie that was at Wisconsin who was out in Arizona with me for a little bit. But as far as that, I’ve been out there 'solo-dolo.'

“That’s why I think it’s been so critical for me to stay in contact with the coaches and really make sure I understand everything that they’re sending because a lot of times you can work off each other, feed off each other. Sometimes someone might understand something that you might not quite have gotten and they’re like, ‘No, this is just what that means.’ It definitely would have been fun to link up with a bunch of the other rookies, but circumstances didn’t allow it so you have to work with what you’ve got.”

Taylor kept on smiling at the thought of finally getting to practice with his new NFL teammates this week.

“Now you get to have a little bit of fun,” he said.

(Phillip B. Wilson has covered the Indianapolis Colts for more than two decades and authored the 2013 book 100 Things Colts Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. He’s on Twitter @pwilson24, on Facebook at @allcoltswithphilb and @100thingscoltsfans, and his email is phillipbwilson24@yahoo.com.)