Based on ESPN’s Dan Graziano (subscription), Indianapolis Colts working again Jonathan Taylor is one in all his ‘most intriguing gamers’ for the upcoming 2023 marketing campaign:

Jonathan Taylor, RB, Indianapolis Colts

I wrestled with which working again to place right here to symbolize the sorry state of the place’s present market. Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs and Tony Pollard are all on franchise tags. Dalvin Cook dinner, Ezekiel Elliott, Kareem Hunt and Leonard Fournette are all free brokers. J.Ok. Dobbins is one way or the other upset about his contract though he has performed a complete of eight video games over the previous two seasons. (Significantly? Learn the room, dude.)

However I picked Taylor, who’s getting into his fourth season with the Colts and is extension-eligible for the primary time. However he’s additionally coming off a irritating, injury-riddled 12 months that began with him being the consensus first total decide in each fantasy draft and ended with simply 861 speeding yards and 4 touchdowns. Taylor continues to be simply 24 and scheduled to earn $4.304 million on this last 12 months of his contract. Primarily based on his 2022 season, when he led the league in speeding makes an attempt, yards and touchdowns, he’s value greater than that. However how far more?

4 of the highest 5 highest-paid working backs by common annual wage signed their offers in 2020, and the opposite (Nick Chubb) signed his in 2021. The working again market doesn’t transfer the best way the market does at different positions, and groups don’t appear excited by stretching to pay working backs. Should you’re Taylor, signing now at what you in all probability imagine is a below-market quantity coming off your worst season doesn’t sound nice. However if you happen to play it out and look extra like your 2021 self, your best-case situation might be a franchise tag.

It appears not possible that there will likely be a mid-July flurry of Barkley/Jacobs/Pollard offers that reset the working again market. Possibly Taylor might be the man who does it subsequent 12 months. However man, a whole lot of stuff must change across the league between at times.

Coming into a contract season and with the flexibility to probably turn into the best paid working again in NFL historical past—and ‘reset the market’ so to talk, Taylor needs to be additional motivated to place collectively a monster rebound season.

Whereas an ankle damage restricted him to only 11 video games final season, one which finally required offseason surgical procedure, Taylor is only a 12 months faraway from a ridiculous statistical season through which he rushed for 1,811 complete speeding yards and 18 speeding touchdowns on 332 complete carries.

If he’s absolutely wholesome, Taylor has an opportunity to reclaim his crown as one of the best working again in all of soccer and put collectively one other extremely spectacular, NFL First-Staff All-Professional caliber season once more—perhaps as even an outdoor MVP candidate, if the Colts can shock the world as an underdog, AFC playoff darkish horse.

Taylor needs to be helped with the offseason addition of high rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson, whose dynamic means as a rusher and passer ought to make the mixture of him and Taylor troublesome to cease within the RPO and play-action recreation—retaining opposing defenses off-balance and constantly guessing.

To not point out, Richardson’s a lot upgraded arm energy ought to forestall opposing defenses from stacking the field, who routinely dared the rookie’s aged predecessor, Matt Ryan, to throw previous 7 yards—and largely targeted on stopping Taylor.

Taylor continues to be solely 24 years previous and retains himself in nice form, and whereas there’s heavy mileage from his prolific collegiate days at Wisconsin, his restricted workload final season due to the lingering ankle damage may very well assist his longevity within the NFL and for fulfilling that looming multi-year profitable contract.

Time will inform, however I wouldn’t wager towards Taylor, and he’s been positioned in a state of affairs to have a whole lot of success once more—because the Colts ought to lean closely on him within the floor recreation to enrich the rookie Richardson and ease his preliminary transition to the professional ranks.