Insider: Time to make Jonathan Taylor the driving force in the Colts offense again

INDIANAPOLIS — The time has come.

The Colts have spent the past three weeks easing Jonathan Taylor into the offense, carefully increasing his role after a long layoff spent rehabilitating his injured ankle and fighting for the contract extension he believed he deserved.

Indianapolis ended up handing Taylor the long-term extension he coveted because he’s proven he’s the type of back who can carry an offense.

And it’s time to hand it over to him again.

Taylor played a central role in the Colts’ eye-opening offensive performance in Sunday’s heartbreaking 39-38 loss to the Browns, proving he’s ready to be the engine that drives a Shane Steichen offense evolving in the wake of rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson’s season-ending shoulder surgery.

“The offense he runs, it allows the players to utilize all their talents,” Taylor said. “Each week, when it’s time to start going over the game plan, you never know what to expect.”

Taylor’s talents need to become the focal point.

Indianapolis has spent the past couple of weeks protecting its prized asset, divvying up snaps evenly between Taylor and Zack Moss as the running back gets into football shape.

But the Taylor that showed up Sunday against Cleveland looked like the old Taylor, the special player who can change a game at any time. Taylor picked up 75 yards on 18 carries, caught three passes for 45 yards and scored his first touchdown since last November.

“To see him get in the end zone was amazing,” center Ryan Kelly said. “You heard the crowd roar for that one. Having him and Zack back there, it’s kind of thunder and lightning, and it makes your job a lot easier.”

Moss has been steady as a rock for the Colts early this season, piling up 523 yards and four touchdowns over the first seven games.

The Colts offense is going to have to rely on its running backs with Richardson out of the lineup.

Backup quarterback Gardner Minshew has made some plays in Richardson’s place this season, but he has also been mistake-prone, faltering under the weight of the entire offense in Jacksonville and coughing it up four more times against Cleveland on Sunday.

“Again, it all comes down to winning the turnover battle,” Steichen said. “We’re 3-0 when we win the turnover battle. When we don’t, obviously, we’ve lost four. We’ve got to be better taking care of the football.”

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One of the ways to take the pressure off of Minshew is to put it on the running backs, the game plan the Colts used against Cleveland. Indianapolis ran the ball 40 times and called passes on just 27 plays; that division of labor likely minimizes risk against defenses that don’t employ the superhuman abilities of Browns pass rusher Myles Garrett.

Asking Taylor to handle the ball that many times a game isn’t sustainable.

Moss has proven he can handle some of the load.

But it’s time to run the offense through Taylor. Moss picked up 57 yards on 18 carries and caught one pass for 5 yards against the Browns, struggling to capitalize on an early 21-yard run as the game progressed.

“Zack ran hard,” Steichen said.

Moss will always run hard.

Taylor offers more possibilities, both in terms of his ability to hit the home run and a skill set so versatile that Steichen’s already toying with all the ways he can get the ball to one of the league’s most explosive backs.

One of them is an opportunity Taylor has long coveted.

Indianapolis ran Taylor out of the Wildcat several times Sunday, allowing him to take the direct snap, find a hole and attack. For years, Taylor has wanted the opportunity, going back to his days at Salem High School in New Jersey.

“I had to fight and claw and scratch all the way to the NFL,” Taylor said. “I used to tell my high school coach, you saw even then, the Leonard Fournettes, the Derrick Henrys, they all had Wildcats.”

Taylor didn’t get the opportunity at Wisconsin, and although the Colts gave him a few chances in Indianapolis early in his career, the bulk of those snaps went to Nyheim Hines, who was a natural at the ball distribution skills necessary to run zone reads with Taylor.

The Colts like Taylor in the role now.

When he takes the direct snap, Taylor has a little extra time to pick the hole, and it’s likely Indianapolis will expand the package as the season progresses.

“With Shane Steichen’s playbook, he can call anything,” Taylor said.

The Colts are also experimenting with Taylor’s capabilities as a receiver.

Indianapolis has split him out wide a handful of times the past couple of weeks, leading to a 40-yard gain against the Jaguars last week and a key slant in the fourth quarter on Sunday.

The Colts are also using him out of the backfield. Taylor picked up 19 yards on a wheel route on Sunday, a gorgeous catch he made before taking a hit from the safety, and another 20 on a well-designed screen later in the game.

“It’s hard to really get big chunk plays in the league,” Taylor said. “Whenever you get a big chunk play, it’s a really good feeling.”

All of those ideas are good, and it’s likely Steichen has more.

But the Colts also need to know they can ride Taylor when it’s time. Taylor was clearly the more effective back as the game wore on Sunday, but Indianapolis stuck to the time share, and it led to Moss getting four carries in the fourth quarter, with Taylor only taking two.

With the Colts clinging to a 31-30 lead and backed up at their own 2-yard line, Moss was given the ball three times in a row, picking up just 5 yards on a drive that needed to run the clock.

Taylor had spent the entire day turning plays that looked like a gain of a yard or two into four- and five-yard chunks, an underrated part of his skill set. Happy with his contract extension and his health, Taylor hasn’t said anything about taking on his old role, knowing that Moss has played well this season.

At the same time, Taylor has always been the type of back who can carry an offense, and he’s ready if the Colts need him to be the engine again.

“If you guys need me this series, if you need me this play, you just let me know,” Taylor said. “I’ll do my best to make it happen.”

Taylor looked like himself again on Sunday.

Time to run the offense through him.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts need to run the offense through Jonathan Taylor again