The Indianapolis Colts already have one former Cincinnati Bearcat in the backfield conversation, and now they’ve been urged to add another.
That push starts with a simple concern: Jonathan Taylor has been carrying a massive load. Last season, he led the NFL with 323 carries, accounting for 86.6% of the Colts’ running back carries, and he was on the field for 82.4% of the team’s offensive snaps. Indianapolis knows what it has in Taylor, but it also knows that kind of usage can wear on a player over time.
Head coach Shane Steichen addressed that balance recently when asked about Taylor’s workload.
“That's a fair assessment," Colts head coach Shane Steichen recently responded when asked about balancing Taylor's workload. "I think he led the league last year in carries, but talking to him after the season, he said he felt good.
"But yeah, obviously he's a (heck) of a player. It's hard to take him off the field when he's running so good, but getting Seth (McGowan) in the fold and DJ (Giddens) and see how those guys come along in training camp, and we'll go from there.”
The Colts are planning to see what they have in McGowan and Giddens, but one outside suggestion would give them a more established option right away. Moe Moton of Bleacher Report proposed that Indianapolis send a late 2027 draft pick to the Washington Commanders for running back Jerome Ford.
"Daniel Jones is recovering from a torn Achilles and has an extensive injury history," Moton wrote. "The Colts signed him to a two-year, $88 million extension. To get the most out of that investment, Indianapolis should take some pressure off the quarterback with a strong complementary ground attack.
"Running back Jonathan Taylor logged a league-leading 323 carries last season. The last time he finished with 320-plus rush attempts (2021), the workhorse ball-carrier missed several games in the following season.
The Colts need a solid No. 2 rusher who can also be an outlet in the short passing game. Ford can fill that role.
He's currently the No. 3 tailback on the Commanders' depth chart behind Jacory Croskey-Merritt and Rachaad White."
Ford would also deepen an already familiar Cincinnati pipeline in Indianapolis. He was a fifth-round pick out of Cincinnati by the Cleveland Browns in 2022, and he’d become the latest former Bearcat to land with the Colts alongside cornerback Sauce Gardner (2019-21) and wide receiver Alec Pierce (2018-21).
There’s also a coaching connection. Colts special teams coach Brian Mason was Cincinnati’s special teams coordinator from 2018-21, working with Gardner and Pierce during their college days. The Colts also had receiver Tyler Scott for a stretch in 2025, and he, too, was a college teammate of Ford, Gardner, and Pierce and coached by Mason from 2020-21.
Ford, listed at 5'10", 210 pounds and 26 years old, spent four seasons with the Browns from 2022-25 before signing a one-year, $1.4 million deal with the Commanders this offseason.
If Indianapolis wanted to make a move, it would have some draft flexibility to work with. The Colts are projected to receive two compensatory picks next year from this year’s free-agent losses: a fourth-round pick for defensive end Kwity Paye and a sixth-round pick for safety Nick Cross.
They do not have a first-round pick in 2027 after trading for Gardner last season, but they are projected to own a second-rounder, a third-rounder, two fourth-round picks, a fifth-round pick, two sixth-round picks and a seventh-round pick.
In Other News...
Riley Leonard Is Suddenly Near The Middle Of Colts QB Drama
Riley Leonard spent much of his rookie season learning on the fly, but by the end of 2025 he had worked his way into a much more meaningful spot in the Colts quarterback room. He moved into the backup role after Anthony Richardson Sr. suffered an eye injury, then got an even bigger test when Daniel Jones went down with an Achilles injury and Leonard started the final game of the year. Shane Steichen came away encouraged by the way Leonard handled the stretch, pointing to the quarterbacks growth and the way he has absorbed the offense.
Now Leonard is suddenly right in the middle of the Colts next quarterback conversation, with the pecking order behind Jones looking far less settled than it did a few months ago. The expectation around the league is that Leonard has positioned himself to stay in the mix as the primary backup, and his standing could become even more important when camp opens later this month and the Colts sort out what the room looks like going forward. [Read more 🡒]
Colts Just Got A Concerning Reminder About DeForest Buckner
DeForest Buckner remains one of the biggest swing factors on the Colts defense as he works his way back from the neck injury that cut into his season and required surgery. The veteran tackle is expected to be ready for Week 1, but Indianapolis still has reason to watch closely because the question is not just whether he is available, but how much of his usual impact he can bring right away.
A recent ESPN ranking of the leagues defensive tackles offered a reminder of how Buckner is being viewed outside the building, leaving him out of the top 10. The omission was tied more to age and the injury than to any real doubt about his talent, which is why the Colts will be leaning on the same belief their coaches have held all along: when Buckner is right, he still changes the front. [Read more 🡒]
These Colts Could Spark A Real Untouchable Debate
The Colts have quietly built a roster with a few names that would draw real interest if the conversation ever turned to the trade market. Charvarius Ward, Cam Bynum, Daniel Jones and Alec Pierce all sit in that tier where age, talent, contract and positional value make them easy to imagine in a different uniform, even if the team has no reason to shop them. It is the kind of exercise that says as much about how Indianapolis has assembled its depth as it does about any one player.
What makes the discussion interesting is how different those profiles are, and how much the league tends to pay for certainty at premium spots. A corner, a safety, a quarterback and a receiver each carry their own kind of appeal, which is why the estimates around them land in a fairly narrow band of meaningful picks. For the Colts, it is a reminder that some of their most useful pieces are also the ones other teams would most want to call about. [Read more 🡒]