Jonathan Taylor Eyes Another RB1 Season For Fantasy Football
Fantasy

Jonathan Taylor Eyes Another RB1 Season For Fantasy Football

Ian Hartitz breaks down Jonathan Taylor of the Indianapolis Colts as he looks to replicate a stellar season for fantasy football.

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Jonathan Taylor looked as good as he ever has since winning the rushing title back in 2021. Maybe better. Then injury foiled him. Not to him, but to his QB, which put the focal point of the offense on JT. Defenses stacked the box, which closed up the gaps that were there earlier in the season. Still, he finished with just under 2,000 yards and 20 TDs. He's 27 and still in his prime. He's eyeing a big return to the early portions of last season. Ian Hartitz breaks it down as part of his Indianapolis Colts Team Preview.

Can Jonathan Taylor get back to partying like the first half of last season?

Jonathan Taylor averaged 27 PPR points per game (RB1) in Weeks 1-10 … and 12.6 (RB23) in Weeks 12-18 once Jones was injured. This featured four separate three-touchdown performances in the first 10 weeks of the season! The associated 21.3 PPR points per game were his most in a season since his overall RB1 finish back in 2021 (21.95!).

And hey, why not? Those are the only two seasons that he's managed to stay healthy for his entire career:

  • 2022: Grade 2 ankle sprain in Week 4, suffered season-ending high-ankle sprain in Week 15.
  • 2023: Started year on IR with back (contract?) injury, torn thumb ligament in Week 12.
  • 2024: Grade 3 high-ankle sprain in Week 4.

The concern is whether or not 2026 looks more like the first half of 2025, or the second. Sure, his dropoff in yards per carry (5.7 vs. 4.2) was substantial, but the real issue was the Colts' scoring offense going from first in Weeks 1-9 (31.4 points per game) to 14th in Weeks 10-18 (22). JT had 13 carries inside the 5-yard line in the former stretch compared to just six in the latter!

The good news: Taylor quietly got more going as a receiver than we've seen over the years.

Jonathan Taylor PPR points per game from receiving:

  • 2020: 4.8
  • 2021: 5.2
  • 2022: 3.9
  • 2023: 4
  • 2024: 2.7
  • 2025: 5.6

And why not? The man pretty much never leaves the field. The Colts joined the 49ers and Raiders as the only offenses willing to regularly let their main RB play 90%+ of the offense's snaps in 2025.

Ultimately, the only RBs that deserve to go ahead of Taylor in early drafts are Jahmyr Gibbs, Bijan Robinson and Christian McCaffrey, who possess the sort of 80+-reception upside that probably won't be on the plate for Taylor. But otherwise? Feel free to scoop up Taylor in Round 1 of fantasy drafts of pretty much all shapes and sizes. He's Fantasy Life's consensus 10th player overall regardless of position.

Also note: This backup job is expected to be a two-man competition between rookie seventh-rounder Seth McGowan and 2025 fifth-rounder DJ Giddens. Remember that time last year when the Colts brought 44-year-old Philip Rivers out of retirement instead of trusting their usual backup QB? It's not a one-for-one switch, but yeah: It would not be surprising at ALL if the actual handcuff to Jonathan Taylor would simply be signed after an injury occurs. If McGowan or Giddens separates themselves at some point in August, perhaps we'll consider throwing a late-round dart their way, but this just feels like a potential landing spot for someone like Najee Harris, Nick Chubb, Joe Mixon or Kareem Hunt should the situation unfold.

Players Mentioned in this Article

  1. Jonathan Taylor
    JonathanTaylor
    RBINDIND
    PPG
    19.7
    Proj
    281.4
  2. SethMcGowan
    RBINDIND
    Proj
    12.7
  3. DJ Giddens
    DJGiddens
    RBINDIND
    PPG
    1.9
    Proj
    32.6
  4. Ulysses Bentley
    UlyssesBentley
    RBINDIND
    PPG
    0.0

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