Some might argue that Jonathan Taylor is already the best running back in Indianapolis Colts history, but statistically that isn't completely true. Not yet, anyway. Now that he has agreed to a contract extension through 2028, though, Taylor will likely put any debate to rest.
Currently, Taylor trails Edgerrin James in rushing yards and total yards. The biggest reason for that is that when James was with Indy, he was used much more in the passing game than Taylor has been. Total yards is where Taylor has the most ground to gain, literally, though his new extension should give him that.
James had the most rushing yards in Indy history with 9.226 in 96 games. Taylor is second with 7,598 in 84 games. One can throw out the per-game average, however. Taylor is extremely unlikely to have 1,628 yards running the ball (the amount he needs to catch up to James) in 12 games.
Three more years should cement Jonathan Taylor's legacy with the Indianapolis Colts
Taylor does have a higher yards per rushing attempt average of 4.9, though. James averaged 4.2 yards per carry. The ironic part is that while Taylor gets the ball a lot and has led the league in rushing attempts twice in six seasons, James was used quite a bit more.
Taylor's highest rushing attempts in a season are 332, and his second-most were 323. James had more attempts than 332 four times in his career with Indianapolis. He also had at least 404 touches in a season three times, while Taylor's high is 372.
To catch James in total yards, Taylor needs 2,998 yards. He isn't going to have nearly that much in 2026, which was initially the final year of his contract until he agreed to his extension, as reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter.
But since Jonathan Taylor is with the Indianapolis Colts through 2028, he should easily surpass Edgerrin James in rushing yards and total yards. If Taylor continues his current pace, by the end of 2028, he will have 11,396 rushing yards. He would have 13,601 total yards. Both of the previous numbers would easily rank at the top of Indy's all-time list in each category.
Even more fun is how many touchdowns Taylor would have (again, assuming he keeps up his current pace) and where he would rank among Indianapolis running backs. The current Colts running back has 76 total touchdowns, 69 of them on the ground. The latter number is already a franchise high.
His total touchdowns are 76, which is one ahead of James' number with Indy. Ironically, while James caught a lot more passes than Taylor, James didn't have many receiving touchdowns (just 11). But Taylor is far off from the top running back for Indianapolis in total touchdowns. Lenny Moore, who played with the Baltimore Colts from 1956 through 1967, had 111.
Moore had 63 rushing touchdowns in 143 games, but had another 48 receiving touchdowns. At the pace he has set, Taylor would end 2028 with 104 career rushing touchdowns and 114 total touchdowns, surpassing Moore. Taylor just needs three healthy seasons to inarguably become the best running back in Colts history.
Add us as a preferred source on Google