There’s a pretty clear consensus about what Chris Ballard needs to do this offseason to strengthen the Indianapolis Colts’ roster. It begins on defense. The front seven is in dire need of talent, youth, and depth.
But the offense, as good as it was early in 2025, is not immune. Is there some magic Ballard can work to hold onto both Michael Pittman Jr. and Alec Pierce? If not, will he find a new receiver to pick up the slack?
And don’t even get me started on the quarterback position. With Daniel Jones’ health a mystery, that is a genuine Gordian knot.
Indianapolis Colts must prioritize finding a quality running back this offseason
I want to nominate one priority that needs to move up to the top of the list. It isn’t a secret. It has been hiding in plain sight for five years. Everyone knows about it, and yet Ballard, either through lack of will or lack of expertise, has failed to address it time and time again. More than anything else, Indianapolis needs a running back to share the workload with Jonathan Taylor.
Jonathan Taylor has been the Colts’ best player for the past six years. In that time, he has carried the ball more than 1,500 times and gained more than 7,500 yards. Toss in almost 200 additional receptions and almost 1,500 more receiving yards. And don’t forget the 76 touchdowns.
It has been an extraordinarily productive six years for a running back in the era of the pass.
Taylor missed some serious time in 2022 and 2023 but has otherwise been durable considering his heavy workload. Twice, he has led the league in rushing attempts. He has gone over 300 carries in half of his six seasons.
And though he will never admit it, that type of pounding takes its toll. You needn’t look any farther than 2025 to see a big, bright warning light flashing.
In his first ten games, during which the Colts went 8-2, Taylor carried the ball 189 times and gained 1,139 yards. That works out to more than 100 yards a game and six yards-per-carry. He scored 15 touchdowns.
After the bye week, a period that theoretically provides an opportunity for players to recharge their batteries for the second half of the season, Taylor’s carries stayed just about the same. 19 carries per game. But his productivity plummeted.
His yards-per-game fell from 114 to 64 over those final seven games. His yards-per-carry dropped from six to 3.3. Fifteen touchdowns in his first ten games – which would have been good for second best in the league had he sat out the rest of the season – down to three over those last seven games.
There are other explanations for the drop-off, but how could wear and tear not be one of the primary ones? Taylor simply didn’t look as explosive in the final two months as he had during the Colts’ early glory days.
Ballard has made half-hearted attempts to rectify this situation. He had a couple of average runners in Nyheim Hines and Jordan Wilkins when Taylor arrived. He traded for Zach Moss when Taylor was hurt in 2022 and brought in modest free agents like Deon Jackson, Trey Sermon, and Ameer Abdullah for brief stays.
He has only drafted two running backs since acquiring Taylor – both in the fifth round. Evan Hull left Indy with one career carry on his stat sheet. DJ Giddens logged 26 carries last year and was essentially displaced by the veteran Abdullah.
The upshot of this lukewarm effort is that Jonathan Taylor has carried the ball on more than 55% of all Colts running plays since he arrived. That number shoots up over 60% if you factor out the games in which he did not play due to injury. In three of his six seasons, a quarterback finished second on the team in rushes.
Look at the rest of the AFC South. In Tennessee, Tony Pollard carried 3.7 times more than his backup, Tyjae Spears. Travis Etienne had 3.1 more carries than Bhayshul Tuten in Jacksonville. And Woody Marks had just 1.6 more carries than Nick Chubb for the Texans.
That range – from about one-and-a-half to four – is fairly standard in the NFL.
In 2025, Jonathan Taylor carried the ball 12.4 more times than DJ Giddens, the second leading running back on the team.
That is simply unsustainable. Everything in Jonathan Taylor’s history suggests it. Everything that we know about NFL running backs suggests it. We all know Chris Ballard has a long shopping list this offseason, but if he doesn’t finally address this festering problem, his single best asset will almost certainly continue a decline that could sabotage all the progress this offense appeared to be making early last season.