The least well-kept secret in the NFL is that Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor is a very, very good football player. Still, despite all of the early-year MVP hype of 2025, many don't seem to realize the extent to which he's been hugely impactful for the Indianapolis Colts.
The Colts have had a fairly storied stable of running backs in their seventy-three year history. Whether it be Edgerrin James, Marshall Faulk, or Eric Dickerson, there's stiff competition when it comes to the debate of the best running back to ever don the white and blue for Indy.
Those names include some of the greatest running backs to ever grace the gridiron, but this upcoming 2026 season will see Jonathan Taylor have the potential to stake his claim as being among the very best of them.
Jonathan Taylor could become the Indianapolis Colts all-time leading rusher as early as next season
With a franchise that's employed such great running backs, they're bound to have a star-studded list of leading rushers, but Jonathan Taylor is closer to the top than most fans might think.
As of now, Edgerrin James sits firmly above most competition for the title of Colts all-time leading rusher with 9,226 yards. The number three, four, and five spots on that list belong to Lydell Mitchell, Marshall Faulk, and Eric Dickerson, respectively, with every one of them ranging between 5,500 and 5,100 yards.
5,000 yards is a respectable number, but nowhere near the 9,200 that Edgerrin James put up. So, where does Jonathan Taylor factor into this discussion? Already, in just six NFL seasons, he's reached the pristine mark of 7,598 yards, just 1,628 yards behind James himself.
For context, both Dickerson and Faulk reached their Colts yardage total in five years. Lydell Mitchell took six years to accrue his yardage count.
Edgerrin James played in Indy for seven years to reach his 9,226 mark, so Jonathan Taylor is well on the way to grabbing the crown for himself. At this point, it's less of a question of if he'll take it and more of a question of when (assuming he remains a Colt for the foreseeable future).
1,628 rushing yards is a huge number to garner in just one season, but for Taylor, it's more than realistic. He reached 1,585 yards last season, just 43 yards below the 1,628-yard threshold he'd need to tie Edgerrin's total. In fact, Taylor's highest rushing yardage season was a mammoth 1,811-yard campaign back in 2021.
1,628 rushing yards is what Jonathan Taylor needs next season to tie the record. 1,629 to take it for himself. For most players, that's nigh impossible. For a player as extraordinary as Jonathan Taylor, it's more than doable.
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