1. The biggest reason for Jonathan Taylor's historic pace is...
I asked running backs coach DeAndre Smith last week why Taylor, over the first half of 2025, has been the best running back in the NFL. The answer was pretty obvious – but that doesn't mean it wasn't important.
"No. 1, he's healthy," Smith said on last week's episode of The Colts Show podcast. "I've always believe that's a key, just keeping him healthy. I feel like this is the first time I've been with him, the last three seasons now, that he's been healthy and I can work with him on developing all the little things that are important."
Taylor missed three games due to injury in 2024, seven games in 2023 and six games in 2022. The last time Taylor was healthy for a full season was 2021, when he led the NFL with 1,811 rushing yards on 332 carries and had 20 total touchdowns.
With 850 yards on 143 attempts and 14 total touchdowns in eight games, Taylor is on pace for 1,806 rushing yards on 303 attempts with about 30 total touchdowns. Don't take "on pace" stats as gospel, certainly, since we're not even at the halfway point of this season yet.
But the larger point here is that Taylor, when healthy, is among the best players – not just running backs – in the NFL. Taylor has said he feels like he's a better running back than he was in 2021, and the film certainly shows it, but the reason why he's once again putting up remarkable numbers isn't because of some monumental shift.
It's because he's healthy.
"I think his health is a big part of it," head coach Shane Steichen said. "He came into training camp ready to roll. I think our training staff and DeAndre and everybody in the coaching staff, is making sure he's getting what he needs to get through the week – all the reps he needs for practice so he's fresh and he's ready to go on Sundays."
2. With just 14 touches, the Colts managed Taylor's workload.
Taylor's 14 touches were tied for the 11th-fewest he's had in any of his 76 regular season/playoff games, yet he still scored three touchdowns – the sixth time he's done that in those 76 games.
The Colts, though, only ran 46 plays before pulling their starters in the fourth quarter. And, too, this wasn't necessarily a game in which they needed to lean on pounding the ball with Taylor to win. As the calendar shifts to November, December and January, those games may come.
But Steichen's "throw to score, run to win" philosophy is, in reality, working in outstanding concert with Taylor's production.