Shane Steichen’s latest comments on the Colts’ run game didn’t land as a full-blown criticism of Jonathan Taylor, but they didn’t exactly read like a compliment either.
With Indianapolis heading into Week 6 against AFC South rival Tennessee, Steichen was asked what needs to change for Taylor and the ground game. His answer pointed toward execution, adjustments against different defensive looks, and the need for more explosive runs.
That part is fair enough. But taken in context, it also felt like a soft nudge in Taylor’s direction at a time when the bigger problems in the Colts’ offense appear elsewhere.
That’s what makes the messaging a little odd. Taylor has been one of the few steady pieces in an offense that has struggled to get rolling as a whole.
His most recent outing was a 45-yard, zero-touchdown performance against Pittsburgh, but even with that in mind, he has still been Indianapolis’ most reliable source of production. Through five games, he has yet to clear 100 rushing yards in a game, though he has come close three times with mid-90s performances.
He also has 68 yards in one game and 45 in another.
The touchdowns are where Taylor has carried the load. His six rushing scores are tied for fourth in the league, and his 36 total points are 12 more than any other Colts player not named Spencer Shrader.
Still, Steichen made it clear he wants more chunk runs. Via Colts.com, he said:
"I think, schematically, every week we look at those things, and being able to adjust when teams are playing different fronts will be big for us moving forward," Steichen said, via Colts.com. "We get the fronts and the looks we want; execution has got to be at a premium.
He sees it right, hits it right, we'll be good. Obviously, the chunk plays like we saw last year, we haven't had those in the run game, and it would be great to get back to that and get those explosives going forward."
On the numbers, Steichen’s point isn’t completely off base. Taylor’s longest run this season is 24 yards, and he has only three carries of 20 yards or more on 101 attempts. He’s been productive, but he hasn’t popped the kind of explosive runs that can flip a game in one snap.
Even so, the broader picture matters. Compared with the other running backs who have at least 100 carries, Taylor’s big-play production sits in the same neighborhood.
Derrick Henry has three 20-plus-yard runs on 113 carries. Jahmyr Gibbs has two on 105 carries.
Bijan Robinson is the one standout, with six such runs on 102 carries.
That’s why the sharper concern for Indianapolis doesn’t really seem to be Taylor. The Colts’ offense has deeper issues, especially with Daniel Jones and a wide receiver group that has struggled to provide much life. Taylor, for all the talk about bigger runs, has been one of the few constants.
If Steichen is looking for last season’s version of someone, the better target may not be Taylor. It may be Jones.
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