As of Friday morning, it does not look like the Indianapolis Colts will have running back Jonathan Taylor this week against the Miami Dolphins.
Still working through a high ankle sprain, Taylor is yet to return to the practice field as of Thursday.
This means that the Colts will again rely on running backs Trey Sermon and Tyler Goodson to fill in for Taylor.
Although the backup running back battle was thought to be one of the bigger competitions this summer, it never quite materialized into that, with Sermon grabbing hold of that role early on and never really giving it up.
So over these last two games without Taylor, not surprisingly, Sermon has seen more snaps and opportunities than Goodson.
Against Jacksonville and Tennessee, Sermon has played 83 snaps and had 31 carries, while Goodson has played 56 snaps with 14 carries in the run game.
However, the production for the two has been quite different. And while we need to make note of the sample size difference, Goodson has provided a lot more juice as a ball carrier, averaging 5.8 yards per rush on his attempts compared to Sermon’s 2.7 yards per rush.
An inconsistent run game often has a negative trickle-down effect to the passing game. Not only is there more of a burden on the pass game when the ground game is struggling, but in general, the offense will find itself behind the sticks and in predictable passing situations, giving the defense the advantage.
Looking at this week’s matchup against Miami, while finding success on the ground is always important for the reasons just mentioned, it will be a near-must this week. The Dolphins will enter Sunday’s game as one of the better pass defenses in football, but if there’s an area where they’ve been susceptible, it has come in the run game at times.
Regardless of whether it’s Sermon or Goodson in the backfield, having Anthony Richardson under center should provide the Indianapolis run game with a boost. With Richardson’s ability as a ball carrier, defenses have to defend the Colts run game differently and can’t be nearly as aggressive.
More opportunities for Goodson doesn’t mean that Sermon won’t have a role–both backs are going to be important to the Colts’ success if Taylor is out–and it may not even mean that Goodson takes the majority of the snaps.
However, the workload difference between the two needs to shrink and be closer to a 50-50 split.