It's mostly been tough going in the run game for Jonathan Taylor and the Indianapolis Colts' offense this season. So what has to change moving forward in order to generate more big plays?
After five games, Taylor ranks tied for 29th in yards per carry, averaging only 3.9 yards per attempt. In PFF's breakaway rate metric, which measures how often a running back generates a rush of 15-plus yards, Taylor ranks 23rd.
During the 2024 and 2025 seasons, Taylor ranked in the top 10 of that category, which matches what our eyes are seeing -- he's not generating explosive gains as often as he did in previous years.
On Wednesday, head coach Shane Steichen was asked about what has to go differently moving forward for Taylor and the run game to find more big
plays.
"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."
Earlier in the week, Steichen also mentioned that with defenses loading the box against the Colts, it's been more difficult to generate big plays.
In part, what Steichen draws up and the execution across the board can help create more explosive gains, but the Colts also need the passing game to loosen up the defense as well. Without a vertical threat, defenses are more willing to crowd the line of scrimmage and shrink the field.
Taylor and the run game have often been what makes this Colts' offense go, so until that improves, moving the ball consistently may not come easily.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Steichen evaluates state of run game, Jonathan Taylor's play
