It may have been a slow start for the explosive rookie, but Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor is riding a massive hot streak to end the season.
Through Week 15, Taylor is Pro Football Focus’ sixth-highest graded rookie from the 2020 class and the highest-graded running back from this year’s class.
6. RB JONATHAN TAYLOR, INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
Taylor’s hot streak continued on Sunday against a massively underwhelming Houston Texans run defense, elevating him to RB1 status for the first time this season. The former Badger busted off four explosive runs of 10-plus yards, generating a 71.5 rushing grade in the process.
Four of Taylor’s highest-graded games have come over the last month, which has given Taylor a 90.0 rushing grade since Week 12, the third-best in the NFL over that span, behind only Derrick Henry and Aaron Jones. In those four games, Taylor has tallied six more explosive runs (16) and 12 more broken tackles on the ground (22) than he did in his nine games prior.
The other running backs to make the list include Washington’s Antonio Gibson and Kansas City’s Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
Taylor has been incredible over the last month and has truly taken over the backfield both from a production and a usage standpoint. Since Week 11, Taylor has 71 carries for 414 rushing yards (5.8 avg) and three rushing touchdowns in four games—he missed one due to COVID-19.
In that span, Taylor has seen a 58.9% running back rush share, which shows he’s dominating the majority of the touches in the backfield.
Taylor has a chance to hit 1,000 rushing yards this season despite the three-game rut he hit coming out of the bye week.
The rookie has truly turned in some impressive performances during the second half of the season and will be looking to finish off the campaign strong.
[listicle id=54493]