As has been the case for the last few years, the Indianapolis Colts again got some major production from their rookie class. Specifically among them, running back Jonathan Taylor and safety Julian Blackmon stood out.
While Blackmon cooled off a bit from his hot start to the season, he still made a major impact in the secondary while Taylor took the league by storm during the final seven weeks of the campaign.
Both players finished the season strong enough to warrant a spot on Pro Football Focus’ top-25 rookie rankings list of 2020. Taylor came in at No. 7 overall among all rookies.
7. RB JONATHAN TAYLOR, INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
Taylor closed out the regular season and enters the playoff on a tear. The past six games of his rookie year were his six highest rushing grades of the regular season. Taylor started off the year with a 62.4 rushing grade through Week 10. He then improved that mark to 91.2 from Weeks 11-17, ranking behind only Derrick Henry for the best in the NFL.
The former Wisconsin Badger led all backs in percentage of runs to pick up a 10-plus yard gain (21%) in that stretch and ranked second in broken tackles per attempt (0.28). Obviously, some of that credit has to go to a Colts offensive line that finished eighth in run-blocking grade, but Taylor’s rushing grade down the stretch is something few obtain in a given year.
The Wisconsin product finally showed what kind of player the Colts traded up for in the second round. He was powerful, elusive and showed off the knack to churn out yards at will. He wound up finishing the season with the rookie rushing title and was tied for the lead with 11 rushing touchdowns.
It’s clear that Taylor will be leading the backfield for the future, and he already looks like a veteran with some of the subtle moves he makes in the backfield.
Blackmon just snuck in at No. 25 overall, thanks to his big start in the first half of the season.
25. S JULIAN BLACKMON, INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
Blackmon flipped to safety in his final season at Utah in 2019 after a few middling years at outside corner. And the move really elevated his play. He recorded an 89.6 PFF grade in that final year while playing predominantly deep safety for the Utes, and he has carried some of that success early into Year 1 in the NFL.
Through the first 11 weeks of his pro career, Blackmon was the highest-graded rookie in the league by over nine grading points (73.0). Things went downhill for him the rest of the year, though, as he posted a 46.0 PFF grade from Week 12 on.
Blackmon has been a key part of the secondary since Malik Hooker went down with a torn Achilles and even though the rookie himself was still working back from a torn ACL just nine months prior, he didn’t let that hold him back from making an impact almost immediately.
The Colts got some big production from their rookie class and the unit was headlined by these two.
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