The Indianapolis Colts moved to 7-1, beating the Tennessee Titans 38-14 and sweeping the season series against one of their biggest in-division rivals. The one player many like to talk about is Daniel Jones. His resurgence has been wonderful to watch, and he had a good game against the Titans, going 21-for-29 for 272 yards and three touchdowns. However, make no mistake: the Colts' offense revolves around running back Jonathan Taylor. Against the Titans, Taylor had 12 carries for 153 yards and two touchdowns, along with a receiving touchdown. Currently, Taylor leads the NFL in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. With such production, the question naturally arises: what about Taylor as the MVP of the NFL?
The MVP award has been considered a quarterback award for the past 20 years. Only three running backs —Shaun Alexander in 2005 for the Seattle Seahawks, LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006 with the San Diego Chargers, and Adrian Peterson in 2012 with the Minnesota Vikings —have won the MVP at the running back position. In Alexander’s MVP season, he has 1,880 yards and 27 rushing touchdowns. For Tomlinson’s MVP season, he had 1,815 yards and 28 rushing touchdowns (31 total touchdowns for the season). And Peterson, in his MVP season, had 2,097 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns. All three had outstanding seasons, and in Taylor's case, he is currently on pace to reach some outstanding numbers. This begs the comparison: how does Taylor’s trajectory stack up against these past MVP performances?
Through eight games, he has 850 yards and 12 rushing touchdowns. Over a 17-game season, his numbers are projected to be 1,806 yards rushing with 25 rushing touchdowns. When comparing these projections to those of previous MVP running backs, Taylor has numbers similar in some instances and different in others. But to win the MVP, he is going to have to do the extraordinary in a passing league.
While his season has been incredible so far, and he is currently the best running back in the NFL, Taylor has to keep up his pace and step it up a notch. Because if he stumbles or slows down, there will always be a quarterback ready to step in and take over that MVP race. Currently, Matt Stafford leads the NFL in touchdown passes with 17 to only 2 interceptions, while Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are starting to get hot on offense, with him having 14 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. And you cannot forget Patriots young quarterback Drake Maye, who has led the Patriots to a 6-2 record while throwing 15 touchdowns and recording only 3 interceptions. But for right now, Taylor is leading the pack and is the most valuable player on the best team in the NFL.