The goal for a team is always to build a complete roster and compete for championships. Ideally, a team would like to have a stacked roster, top to bottom, and retain everyone, every year. However, that’s not really feasible in the NFL. That’s why each team must determine which players are their building blocks.
Building blocks are the franchise players that a team builds everything around. Keeping them is the organization’s top priority, and the players should help lead the team to success.
The Indianapolis Colts, despite coming off a 4-12-1 season, have several young and talented players that are worthy of being building blocks. However, if the Colts did have to explicitly say which three players they consider building blocks, who would be the chosen players? Brad Spielberger answered that question in a recent piece for PFF.
Spielberger named three players for each AFC team to build around. For the Colts, there was a notable player missing, as Spielberger named DeForest Buckner, Quenton Nelson, and Anthony Richardson as Indy’s three building blocks. Surprisingly, Jonathan Taylor didn’t make the cut.
PFF doesn’t consider Jonathan Taylor a building block for Colts
Spielberger didn’t go into detail on why Buckner, Nelson and Richardson were selected, but a player like Taylor was left off, instead using the blurb to talk about how Indianapolis has a relatively talented roster. Shouting out Taylor and the promising receivers, Spielberger explained that Richardson has a solid supporting cast early.
Additionally, Spielberger named some key defenders to show how Indy could be stout on the that side of the ball as well. The key for the Colts, according to Spielberger, is getting healthy and simply playing better.
As to why Taylor wasn’t included in the building blocks, one could assume that it has something to do with him being a running back that’s entering the last year of his rookie contract. Taylor’s talent is undeniable, and he should be the focal point for the team, but the league is showing, now more than ever, that elite running backs aren’t being respected for their value. That could be the reason Taylor isn’t viewed as a building block.