Can Colts Maximize Jonathan Taylor Without Burning Him Out?

The Indianapolis Colts have one of the best running backs in the NFL in Jonathan Taylor. How best to maximize him without shortening his career?

The Indianapolis Colts have arguably the top running back and one of the best offensive weapons in the NFL in Jonathan Taylor.

The shelf life of a running back has been notoriously short in recent years, so how much thought have the Colts put into getting the most out of Taylor while also protecting him long term?

Taylor led the NFL by a wide margin in 2021, but he also led the NFL in carries with 332. 

"We exactly went through that whole exercise," said head coach Frank Reich on using past performance to help form a plan for Taylor. "(We) looked at every back who’s had a lot of touches, how many touches did they have in their career, what was the flow of their career?"

"That’s what we do. Like you guys, we lay awake at night looking at all those numbers once you get to the offseason. With JT (Jonathan Taylor), does he fall into that same category as those guys? What’s going to be our number?"

Reich admits it's more than just Taylor the team is focused on, even if Taylor's touches need to be scrutinized the most because of the nature of his position.

"I sat down with the offensive staff, I still remember the meeting, and we talked through not only JT, we talked through every player on our offense," said Reich. "What it could look like. What would the ideal scenario be? How many touches would JT get? How many would Nyheim (Hines) get? How many would (Michael) Pittman Jr. get? What about our receiver core? This young group of receivers, how are we mixing it up with them?"

"What about our tight ends? At that time we hadn’t even drafted yet. So, wasn’t sure what that was going to look like. In base, ideally, how many does our tight end room get?"

"We kind of look at those things as we’re formulating but then you have to adapt and adjust as you see the players, as you feel what we’re doing, as you see what the quarterback likes. That’s the fun part about it for us and when you have great players, that you want to get the ball to, it’s fun to think through that stuff."

Reich said a 55/45 pass/run ratio feels about right week in and week out as he aims to be a balanced offense.

"100 percent has to be a balance," said Reich. "We all know the adage, too much of a good thing can spoil – however the saying goes, but we all know the gist of that saying."

"You just don’t want to be out of balance. It’s better to be balanced and that’s what we want to do. The question becomes, well, how are you going to define balance?"

"Everyone in this room may define balance a different way. For us, in my mind, I have a certain number of carries, what that means and a certain number of touches, targets, what that means and what it doesn’t mean."

"It doesn’t also mean that you never go out of balance for a little bit. I think we all fall out of balance at one point. ‘Hey, we’re a little run heavy this week. Okay, let’s get back on track.’ Or ‘Hey, we’re a little pass heavy. Let’s get back on track.’ That’s the game that you play."

The addition of quarterback Matt Ryan, one of the most prolific passers in NFL history, should help the offense achieve the goal of being effective through the air as well as on the ground... something the Colts lacked in crucial moments in the 2021 season.

That balance should not only help the Colts achieve their goals of being a more efficient, potent offense, it should also help extend the career of Taylor.

That's a win-win in the eyes of the Colts, and starting Sunday against the Houston Texans, Indianapolis is looking to start piling up wins in the standings as well.