DRBR: Indianapolis Colts

Maybe it's the quarterback situation. Maybe it's the offensive line or the offense as a whole — I'm not 100% sure. Maybe it's just the fact that the injuries are starting to catch up with him. But Jonathan Taylor is not the same explosive back that he once was, and the DRBR numbers are showing us that he's becoming more of a volume-dependent running back.

Which, to begin 2024, was a little bit of an issue. It wasn't until the final five games of the season where Jonathan Taylor put up 50% of his entire 2024 production over the course of those five games. That number in itself is absolutely insane.

And when you see a 58 in yards after contact, a 43 in tackles avoided per attempt — when you take a look at what the guy does on a per-game basis — he has to get touches and he has to stay healthy.

Jonathan Taylor last season was tied for 27th among running backs with 36 avoided tackles. That was the same amount that Breece Hall had. And Breece Hall had a hundred fewer carries. Even just a couple of spots below him — guys like Tyron Tracy — he had 34 and actually had even fewer carries than what Breece Hall or Jonathan Taylor did.

That's not good for Taylor. When you're getting over 300 carries a season — like a Derrick Henry, a Bijan Robinson, a Josh Jacobs, a Saquon Barkley — all of those guys are around 60 avoided tackles for the entire season. Jonathan Taylor needs to step it up, and he's going to have to get a whole lot better than what we saw last year.

His volume could continue to give him a pretty solid floor, but if you're looking for upside, Taylor may not have it this year — unless the efficiency gets back to where he was when he was a rookie and in the first couple of years in the league.