There are several position battles to keep an eye on throughout training camp for the Indianapolis Colts, including one that will be ongoing in the backfield between Marlon Mack and Jonathan Taylor.
Though it is expected to be a split backfield on early downs between the pair of explosive backs, Mack as the incumbent starter appears to be seeing the most reps with the first team, per Kevin Bowen of 1070 The Fan.
So far, Mack continues to get the vast majority of first-team reps. That’s no surprise this early in camp.
Taylor had an eye-popping Tuesday practice, ripping off several big runs—including a couple with the first unit—which is the exact reason why the Colts traded up for the Wisconsin running back.
Something we’ve seen from the entire running back group this camp is Philip Rivers finding all of them out of the backfield, including Mack and Taylor, with Nyheim Hines still the expected option on third down.
Head coach Frank Reich alluded to a hot-hand approach in the backfield with Mack getting the first crack at leading the room to begin the 2020 season. After rushing for a career-high 1,091 yards and scoring eight touchdowns, that shouldn’t really be a surprise.
But Taylor has also been shining throughout the first week of training camp with pads on. He’s showing off vision, power and breakaway speed, which is exactly what the Colts saw in him when they traded up for him in the second round of the draft.
As almost a pre-requisite for running backs working with Philip Rivers, both players have been active in the passing game—to the point where Mack is catching more passes than he has since arriving in 2017.
Taylor has also been active in the passing game to begin training camp and even broke off a long would-be touchdown reception on the first day of pads.
It will be interesting to see how this development continues in the backfield, but Mack appears to be the leader to begin the season if this rate keeps up.