Outside of arguably the New England Patriots, the Indianapolis Colts have been the biggest surprise in the NFL this season. They have gotten out to an 8-2 record, which is tied with the Patriots and Denver Broncos for the best mark in the league, and their offense has been simply outstanding.
They have somehow transformed quarterback Daniel Jones, who was thought to be a bust as recently as several months ago, into a quality signal-caller. He is leading everyone with 2,659 passing yards and has a 69.9% pass completion rate, but he has gotten a ton of help from running back Jonathan Taylor.
Taylor is on top of the NFL in rushing yards (1,139) and rushing touchdowns (15) and is averaging six yards per carry. On Sunday versus the Atlanta Falcons in Germany, he had his most splendid performance of 2025 so far with 244 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns on 32 attempts. His third touchdown of the day came in overtime to win the game for Indianapolis.
It was his fifth game this season with three touchdowns, which is more than 13 whole NFL teams. It is one stat that illustrates how dominant Taylor has been and why he may deserve to win the league MVP award this season.
Right now, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford seems to be the favorite to win the MVP award. Patriots QB Drake Maye and the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes are also getting some love in the race for the award, but there is a groundswell of support for Taylor to come away with the award.
Taylor has always been one of the game’s best pure rushers, but he has had to deal with some injuries over the last three seasons. This year, he has been healthy, and he’s on top of his game for the first time since 2021, when he led everyone in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns.
It is rare for a non-quarterback to win the MVP award - in fact, the last time such a player did so was in 2012, when it went to Adrian Peterson the year he ran for over 2,000 yards. In the 21st century, the only other non-quarterbacks to be named the MVP have been LaDainian Tomlinson, Shaun Alexander and Marshall Faulk.
But Taylor is clearly the Colts’ best player, and if they end up with the best record in the AFC, this could be the year he breaks the recent trend of only quarterbacks being named the league’s MVP.
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