The current running back market in the NFL has seeped into the Indianapolis Colts’ headquarters where Jonathan Taylor could be next to experience frustration. The 2020 second-round pick is looking to have a bounce-back season in 2022, but things have gotten off to a rocky start.
After dealing with nagging ankle injuries last season, Jonathan Taylor was optimistic that he would be ready to go once camp opened this week. Alas, upon showing up, he ended up being placed on the physically unable to perform list.
While he did undergo surgery in January to fix his ankle, it was certainly eyebrow-raising that Jonathan Taylor ended up on the PUP list. He wasn’t one of the players that the team had announced earlier in the day as expected to be on there, so people were left scratching their heads.
One Colts insider believes this is the culmination of many events that has turned Jonathan Taylor into a player who is no longer the most loveable on the roster. Colts insider Gregg Doyel of the Indianapolis Star had some harsh words about the team’s star running back.
“Now? Vaguely unlikeable.
It’s the PUP list. It’s the T-shirt. It’s the Twitter activity. Taken individually, you could easily explain any of that away. Taken as a whole, at this unique time and place for the NFL running back market? And as Colts are playing more hardball than normal with a homegrown star?”
The running back market in the NFL has drawn a lot of attention. Jonathan Taylor is eligible for an extension but there is zero chance he is going to receive one. After seeing how this offseason played out for Tony Pollard, Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs, there is likely some doubt inside the mind of the Wisconsin product that he will ever get paid what he deserves.
Doyel likened the current situation with Jonathan Taylor to what happened with NBA player, Victor Oladipo. When Oladipo was a member of the Indiana Pacers, he was an ascending star. But, things quickly derailed after a devastating injury and were never the same.
“Is that what we’re seeing with Taylor? Pains me even to ask, but I’m asking. Like, why is this preternaturally mature young man – 23 and going on 40 last year – using Twitter recently to pout about the NFL running back market? Why is this always smiling, always all-about-the-team player reporting to 2023 Indianapolis Colts camp scowling and wearing a T-shirt that reads: “Welcome to Taylortown, Indiana”?”
On top of that, Colts general manager Chris Ballard also spent part of his time at the podium for a press conference listing off reasons Jonathan Taylor won’t receive the money he seeks. This is certainly a tough situation and one that isn’t going to get any easier in the coming weeks unless something drastically changes in the running back market.
