Colts running back Jonathan Taylor ran angry on Sunday vs the Houston Texans, and Kyle Brandt noticed.
It hasn’t quite been a dream season for Colts rookie running back Jonathan Taylor, though the first-year back out of Wisconsin has proved his mettle on a few occasions.
Expected to challenge for the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year honors, he’s instead averaged a supremely, well, average 4.1 yards per attempt and 609 yards rushing. Nyheim Hines’ electricity and the brief recurrence of a collegiate fumble problem have also doomed his freshman campaign, despite the wide open hole vacated by Marlon Mack’s Week 1 injury.
Luckily, though, things appear to be turning around for Taylor with the playoffs on the horizon.
Taylor’s 135 yards from scrimmage and receiving TD against the Texans in Week 13 netted him a Rookie of the Week nomination, and the slate only gets more enticing, with the gash-able Raiders next up on the menu. Specifically, one hard run in particular this week really seemed to catch the national media’s attention, and NFL Network’s Kyle Brandt picked up the Taylor tote and ran with it.
Pure bulldozer mentality.
Though the mention of the La’Raven Clark injury gave us flashbacks we didn’t need midday on a Wednesday, this clip proves the power that Taylor can provide when he and the line are clicking. We need to see as much of this as we can over the next few weeks.
Let’s take a look at that run one more time, from the broadcast angle?
Taylor’s head of steam appears to have been so powerful that it bent the yellow line which, as we all know, is unofficial. And can apparently be bent.
In December and January, this kind of punishment will play — after all, aren’t we just one year removed from learning about the type of damage Derrick Henry can inflict in the frigid weather?
Luckily, Taylor’s coming into his own at the perfect time, and the world is beginning to notice.
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