It's safe to say that Jonathan Taylor is having a monster season. He's been named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week three times already this season, as well as Player of the Month for October. All this has happened before Week 11, and unless something drastically changes, Taylor will easily have the best season of any offensive player in the league.
Taylor leads the league for running backs in virtually every metric and is already over 1,000 yards. He's breaking franchise records and revitalizing the running back position. There's no doubting that he should be in the MVP conversation, and yet while there's definitely buzz, it's still considered a long shot.
The simple reality is, the MVP is almost always a quarterback. It has been over 10 years since a non-quarterback was named league MVP, so no matter how good Taylor is, the odds are against him, fair or not. But not everyone agrees.
Patrick Surtain adds fuel to Colts fans’ MVP case for Jonathan Taylor
In an interview with Bleacher Report, Patrick Surtain spoke highly of Taylor's career and argued that he should be a frontrunner for MVP. The reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year has a lot of respect for Taylor, and even insinuated that it shouldn't automatically go to a quarterback every year.
Surtain first noted just how good a player Taylor is. "I think what makes him such a premier back in his league is his elusiveness, his ability to be a big play threat anytime he gets the ball. And another part about his game, I mean, obviously you see his breakaway speed, but people are like, man, it doesn't seem like he's running that fast," he said.
"And I'm the first year to say it. I went up against him early this year, and the boy could run. The boy got some wheels. And I think he likes, 22 miles per hour consistently throughout his career."
In his most recent game, Taylor racked up 244 yards. Again, that was in one game. Yet plenty of analysts still say the MVP buzz is an overreaction, something Surtain doesn't agree with at all.
"I just think a guy like that should win MVP this year," Surtain said of Taylor. "It's crazy to think that a guy like that, with all those numbers, all those stats, doing his thing each and every year, he should be mentioned for MVP. Obviously, QBs have won the award, justifiably so, I think they deserved it, but I think Jonathan Taylor should be more than deserving of that award. I think he showcased what he's able to do, you know, I mean, helping his team win week in and week out.
"I mean, obviously, you see the stats, 244 rushing yards. I mean, you don't see that at all. You don't see that quite often. And that explains his type of game, his type of pedigree. So I think Jonathan Taylor should be the favorite for MVP. That's my suggestion. That's my opinion. But like I said before, everybody got their opinions. You know, it's a subjective award. But I think he's more than deserving of MVP as long as he keeps this run going, helping his team out. So I'm speaking of MVP, speaking of positions, positions outside of QB, I think he should be considered more for the MVP title."
Yet Taylor's chances to be MVP are often brushed off, simply because he isn't a quarterback. And it's true that most of the time, it's the quarterback who is the most valuable player, who has the biggest impact on whether a team wins or loses.
But that's not always the cause. Jonathan Taylor is proving it's not always the case. Daniel Jones has been good this season, sure, but let's be real: Taylor is the driving force behind this offense. Matthew Stafford will likely win, simply because he's a quarterback, but we all know that Taylor is more deserving.
The Colts have one of the best records in the NFL, and Taylor leads the league in rushing yards, carries, touchdowns, yards per carry, first downs rushing, and, oh, by the way, hasn't fumbled the ball once so far this season.
Even Daniel Jones is ready to hand him the award.
"It doesn't get old handing him the ball," Jones recently said. "He's been huge for us week after week. Especially in the second halves of these games, he's had a number of 60-yarders, 40-yarders, 80-yarders. You get used to seeing it from JT, but when you realize how uncommon it is across the league and what a luxury it's like to have a player like that, it makes the case for itself as far as MVP. I'm not sure there's anyone affecting the game more than him right now."