The Indianapolis Colts have a crowded backfield in 2020 and they have lofty expectations for rookie Jonathan Taylor. Tom Rathman, a former fullback and current running backs coach for the Colts, revealed what Taylor needs to improve upon.
In a virtual meeting with Colts coaches on Thursday, Kevin Bowen of 107.5 The Fan spoke to Rathman about Taylor's perceived fumbling issues:
“We’ve talked about it. We’ve talked about our four points of pressure and the way that we carry the football. I think it’s just the fundamentals of the game and the way you carry the football. He can improve the way he carries the football. Looking at film, he understands that, and he understands what we are asking our players to do when we talk about ball security and how important it is. I don’t really think there’s an issue there and I think that he’ll get it corrected with the development of basic fundamentals that we harp on every day.”
While at Wisconsin, Taylor rushed for a whopping 6,174 yards and 50 touchdowns in just three seasons. He missed out on having three consecutive 2,000-yard seasons by a mere 23 yards in his freshman season in 2017.
Despite Taylor's gaudy numbers on the ground, the gifted running back showed a flaw in his game in college. Throughout his three seasons with the Badgers, Taylor fumbled the ball a total of 18 times. Still, the Colts selected him in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, clearly impressed with his ability to gain yards and score touchdowns.
Nonetheless, Rathman and the Colts are confident that Taylor can fix his fumbling woes in his first offseason with the team. Seeing that he'll be sharing the workload with Marlon Mack and Nyheim Hines, Taylor can't afford to have fumbling concerns this season.
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