Nathan Janke of Pro Football Focus put together a tiered ranking of the top 100 running backs for the 2024 fantasy football season for PPR leagues. At No. 6 on the list and in Tier 3 was the Colts’ Jonathan Taylor.
At the top of the list and in a tier of his own was Christian McCaffrey. Tier 2 was made up of Bijan Robinson and Breece Hall, followed by Kyren Williams, Saquon Barkley, Taylor, and Jahmyr Gibbs in Tier 3.
Due to injuries, Taylor would appear in only 10 games last season. He averaged 4.4 yards per rush with seven touchdowns, along with 153 receiving yards and another score.
GM Chris Ballard mentioned that he expects Taylor to have “a really big year.” A key contributor to Ballard’s expectations is that Taylor is healthy this offseason and able to fully prepare for the upcoming season–a luxury he didn’t have a year ago.
Also, contributing to what hopefully becomes a big year for Taylor is being able to share the backfield with Anthony Richardson. Last season, the two were on the field for only two snaps together.
As Colts’ offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter described, having two players in the backfield together who are capable of making plays with their legs can really stress opposing defenses:
“To have Anthony and JT back there,” said Cooter, “JT has an extensive history with a lot of success, leading the league in rushing. Now we’ve got Anthony, where a defense, gosh, there may be that mesh on a run play and it’s JT going left and it’s Anthony going right, and as a defense, how do you defend that?
“You have two really explosive players that maybe have a chance to end up with the ball on a run play, how do you defend all that? It is exciting.”
Taylor has shown throughout his career that he can handle a full workload, but the second running back role has become increasingly important over the years in the NFL. One of the bigger camp battles that’ll take place this summer is figuring out who is going to be that backup running back with Zack Moss in Cincinnati.
Competing for that role will be Trey Sermon, Evan Hull, and Tyler Goodson. When discussing the running back position after the draft, Ballard sounded bullish on this trio.
Anthony Richardson’s play will ultimately determine the ceiling for the Colts’ offense in 2024, but a quarterback’s best friend can be a strong run game, helping to shoulder some of the heavy lifting.