HORSE POWERED
Colts ride star RB Taylor down the stretch
HE RUNS to daylight as if touched by the hand of God more than any other back, and after you hang up the phone with Jonathan Taylor, you can’t help but picture him running for president one day when he is old enough.
“Hard Knocks” has given us a glimpse into why the Colts are a team worth rooting for, and Jonathan Taylor is as big a reason as any on a team filled with eminently likeable reasons.
Jonathan Taylor is who and what you want to be to be the face of your franchise, and the legs of your franchise to boot.
You better believe he belongs in the MVP conversation, running away with the rushing title, 1,626 yards and counting, 17 rushing TDs and counting, carrying the hopes and dreams of a team and a city on his back. Only four backs have won MVP since 2000, and none since Adrian Peterson in 2012.
“Quarterbacks, they touch the ball so much, and especially now,” Taylor told Serby Says. “The guys are literally doing it all, and it’s hard to not really be in awe of the plays that these quarterbacks are making. If it doesn’t happen you just have to do more, and it just makes you compete, and to work that much more harder.”
He is The Straw That Stirs The Drink, best running back in football hands down. No need asking him whether he covets MVP honors.
“It’s just like someone asking you, ‘Do you want a hundred dollars?’ ” Taylor said. “Of course I want a hundred dollars. Is that my main focus? No, my main focus is going out there every single week and winning games. But if you’re a guy who gets asked, ‘Do you want to win an MVP?’ and you say, ‘No,’ I don’t think you’re in the right league.” He is in a league of his own. He is the complete package, 5-foot-10, 226 pounds of iron will, tough, fast and smart with patience and vision and elite conditioning and durability and team-first all the way. I asked: If I wanted to build the perfect running back, what would I take from Jonathan Taylor?
“I would say No. 1 is the consistency of toughness,” he said. “One of the biggest things as a running back, you have to be consistent week in and week out. Having a running back who is consistent, not only in running the ball, but catching the ball, pass protection, being able to help out with chips ... I think that just the consistency of a running back is huge because the beating that running backs take week in and week out, you don’t know if a running back will be up from two weeks from now because of the punishment and beating that we take.”
As running backs continue to drop like flies, Jonathan Taylor takes a licking and keeps on ticking. “Surprisingly, I feel great,” Taylor said. “I think that’s a testament to Coach [Frank] Reich, as well as the strength and conditioning staff in being able to work with the players, hear the players out as the weeks go along throughout the season. Coach Reich and the strength and conditioning staff are some of the best in the league because they’re all about, ‘How can we put our players in the best position for success?’ ” As a South Jersey guy from tiny Salem, N.J., Taylor was motivated by former Wisconsin and Eagles RB Corey Clement. “Watching him terrorize South Jersey, it was amazing just to see someone who was really down the road from me,” Taylor said. “And then me thinking, ‘If he can do it, why can’t I?’ ” He too did it at Wisconsin, and while he admired the smoothness of former Texan Arian Foster, it is easy to recognize how he has adopted the best of Peterson and Marshawn Lynch. “A.P. had that rare combination of speed and power to be able to physically dominate his opponent, so that drove me in the weight room and through my workouts in order to try to create that as well for myself,” Taylor said. “And then Marshawn Lynch, really his relentlessness of being able to break tackles, to run through arm tackles,
get guys off on him when people think they have him bottled up.”
He has 36 receptions. He has lost two fumbles in 297 carries.
“On the field, my mentality is really being able to be 100 percent focused every play,” Taylor said. What drives Jonathan Taylor? “I know that, hey, they chose to put me out there with 10 other guys because my coaches and teammates trust me,” he said.
Reich is a Coach of the Year candidate after a 1-4 start.
“He’s that steady rock,” Taylor said. “When everything seems like it’s falling apart, everything seems like things are breaking down, he’s the one that reminds us, ‘Hey. Don’t waver, guys. Trust in your preparation. Trust in the way that we prepare each and every single week,’ and that’s kinda that mentality that we had after we had that slow start.”
It is Reich who has rebuilt the confidence of quarterback Carson Wentz. “Carson is so dynamic,” Taylor said. “He gets us in some situations where there are a lot of other quarterbacks who would probably take a sack. And somehow, some way, he finds a way to get out of those situations and he’s looking downfield, he’s trying to complete the pass, or he’s taking off for the first down. He just adds a new dynamic to this offense, and it’s actually really hard to defend, because if you have a guy who has an arm like he does, but he’s also able to make plays with his legs, it makes us really hard to defend.”
He was an honor student in high school and participated in the prestigious International Baccalaureate program. Kudos to his parents.
“I was always excited to go to school,” Taylor said. “I always enjoyed learning, that was never something that needed to be pushed on me, but they made sure that I knew first or foremost that school came first.”
Taylor is proud of his Be The Change scholarship program. Not everyone can come out of Salem, N.J., and play football like Jonathan Taylor.
“It was a scholarship that I created to let those kids know that you don’t have to be a Division I athlete to be successful in life,” he said. “‘You guys can be just as successful, if not more successful, by being able to be a great student.’”
If the 9-6 Colts beat the Raiders on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium, they’ll be in the playoffs.
“I think that we could be very dangerous,” Taylor said. “We’re starting to really jell and hit on all cylinders, and that’s what you want. You want to be able to be playing your best ball towards the end of the season, and I think that’s what we’re trending towards right now.”
Everyone knows which Colt they’ll be riding.