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Wisconsin Football: Jonathan Taylor goes off on Thursday night

By Christian Borman

Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor (28) rushes 78 yards for a touchdown Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021, during a game against the New York Jets at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor (28) rushes 78 yards for a touchdown Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021, during a game against the New York Jets at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. /
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Former Wisconsin football running back Jonathan Taylor is taking advantage of the snaps he’s getting in Indianapolis.

I’m his second season in the NFL, Taylor has been sharing snaps in the Colts’ backfield since he arrived in Indianapolis. This year, however, he is taking control of that backfield, becoming the featured back for the Colts’ offense.

Coming into the Thursday night game, Taylor had 100+ rushing yards and a touchdown in five straight games. In last night’s game, Taylor extended that streak to six games. He’s the first back to do that since LaDanian Tomlinson did it in 2006 when he won MVP.

Taylor scored two touchdowns on the ground. One from 21 yards out and the other was a 78-yard burst up the right sideline. With the 78-yard touchdown, Taylor now owns has the two longest runs in the NFL, 83 and 78 yards.

To say Taylor is playing well would be putting it mildly. He’s on absolute fire right now and other running backs around the league are noticing.

Taylor finished the night with 19 carries for 172 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. That’s 9.1 yards per carry, which is an insane average for a back in an NFL game.

Taylor was drafted in the second round and 41st overall in the 2020 NFL Draft. He was the third running back taken in the draft, but looking at it right now, he probably should have been the first running back taken, and a lot higher than 41.

Taylor and the Colts moved to 4-5 on the season and are just a couple of games behind the Titans in the AFC South.

Coming into the game last night, Taylor was second in the league in rushing yards with 649 yards. This game gives him 821 yards on the season through nine games, well on pace to go over 1,000 yards on the season. With Derrick Henry missing a bunch of time, Taylor is in a great position to take the lead and keep it for the rest of the season if he continues to play like he is.

A lot of draft ‘experts’ thought Jonathan Taylor would be a bust in the NFL. Instead, he’s proving he could be one of the best in the league in the near future.