A tell-tale sign of a truly great NFL player is if they rise to the occasion when their team needs it the most.
Jonathan Taylor certainly did so for the Colts on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The league’s leader in rushing yards and touchdowns on the ground padded his stats in Indianapolis’ 27-17 win over the New England Patriots. On a night when Carson Wentz only threw for 57 yards, Taylor carried the load for the Colts with 170 rushing yards, 67 of which came on a game-sealing sprint to paydirt late in the fourth quarter.
Taylor is a lock for the 2021 Pro Bowl and very likely will earn first-team All-Pro honors as well. And if you ask Indy teammate Darius Leonard, the sophomore back should end up taking home the NFL’s highest individual honor: league MVP.
“Of course. There is absolutely no question,” Leonard told reporters after Saturday’s game, per a team-provided transcript. “What he is doing now in this NFL there’s absolutely no question that he is the MVP.”
Taylor absolutely should be considered for the prestigious award, but history is not on his side. There have only been three non-quarterback MVP winners over the last 20 years, with the most recent (Adrian Peterson) coming in 2012.
As of Sunday morning, Taylor is tied for the seventh-best MVP odds (+1600) at DraftKings Sportsbook. Tom Brady (-175) is the clear favorite, followed by Aaron Rodgers (+500), Patrick Mahomes (+1000), Kyler Murray (+1200), Matthew Stafford (+1400) and Dak Prescott (+1400), respectively.
