Entering the 2020 NFL Draft, there weren’t many knocks on Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor. One of them, however, was an issue with ball security.
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Throughout his illustrious collegiate career at Wisconsin, Taylor had a problem with fumbles. He put the ball on the ground 18 times during his career with 15 of them being recovered by the other team. In 2019 alone, he lost five fumbles.
It’s an issue he knows he must improve upon at the next level.
“A bulk of them came from freshman year and going on trying to progress from that,” Taylor told reporters after the draft. “So there’s a lot of things that you work for it not to happen. But there’s definitely hard work that needs to go in each and every single day to make sure that’s shored up.”
The fumbling issue is one for concern but it was just one of a few on his prospect profile. But if there was one team able to correct Taylor’s ways, it’s the Colts.
Across all 16 games during the 2019 season, the Colts got a lot of production from their running back room. They were seventh in the NFL in team rushing yards (2,130) with 86% of that coming from the backfield (1,832).
But one of the more impressive stats came in a different aspect of running the football. The Colts backfield only fumbled the ball one time 399 rushing attempts. That has to do with the way the group is coached by Tom Rathman.
One of the deepest positions on the roster, the Colts backfield is led by Rathman. He took over the unit before the 2018 season and has seen the group grow quickly into a secure and efficient room.
Taylor will now be a big part of the backfield as one half of the 1-2 punch the Colts envision with Marlon Mack. It won’t be easy, but Rathman has as good of a chance to fix Taylor’s fumbling woes as any coach in the league.
The Colts will continue to follow their motto of running the ball, and they are hoping Taylor will be a big part of that immediately. But they have to be able to trust the rookie not to put the ball on the ground.
If there’s any team that can fix that problem, it’s the Rathman and the Colts.
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