As the 2021 NFL season winds down, our focus on who should win the NFL MVP Award comes into clearer focus. In a lot of ways, it has turned into the ā€˜Best Quarterback Award,' and is seen once again by the leading candidates, Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady, being quarterbacks. But Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor is more than worthy of winning the award this season.

He should win the trophy and this is why.

Entering Week 15 of the NFL season, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady was the front runner to win league MVP for the fourth time in his illustrious career. However, he played poorly Sunday night in a shut out loss to the New Orleans Saints, 9-0. He has now turned the ball over 14 times this season. He is no doubt having a fantastic season, but is not worthy of the MVP.

Brady's performance helped Aaron Rodgers to vault ahead of him in terms of Las Vegas odds to win the award. I am not silly enough to argue that Rodgers is not playing at an MVP level. He absolutely is. But we have seen him play like this before. What Jonathan Taylor is doing has not been done in a very long time.

The NFL MVP Award has become a default ā€˜Best Quarterback Award,' which is very unfortunate. It stands for Most Valuable Player, not most valuable quarterback. Yet the last time a position other than quarterback to win the award was when Adrian Peterson did it in 2012. That season he rushed for 2,000 yards.

Prior to that, it was back in 2006 when LaDainian Tomlinson won it. That season, LT rushed for just over 1,800 yards with over 500 yards receiving and 31 total touchdowns. Those numbers are absolutely insane.

The other 13 years between LT winning it and now, it went to a quarterback. That wasn't always the case. Going all the way back to the 1950's, it flipped between quarterback and running back frequently, and occasionally another position as well.

Now let's look at what Jonathan Taylor is doing this season. Not only has he rushed for a touchdown in 11 straight games (first player since LT to do that in 2004), he has over 1,500 yards rushing, 336 yards receiving, and 19 total touchdowns. There are still three games yet to play.

But it's not just the stats that tell his story. It's the composition of the team, as well as when Taylor has done what he has done.

After the New England Patriots had scored 17 straight points and cut the Colts lead to 20-17 with minutes left, Taylor ripped off the game-sealing 67-yard touchdown.

The Indianapolis Colts began the season 1-4. Since then, they have won seven of nine games, including victories against a bunch of current playoff teams. That includes the likes of the 49ers, the Buffalo Bills, the New England Patriots and in their close loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they lost despite his efforts.

In that game against the Bucs, the Colts led 24-14 at halftime and inexplicably went away from the run game. After watching Tom Brady lead the Bucs to a lead, Taylor tied the game with another rushing touchdown with 3 minutes left.

Of course, Brady led the Bucs to a game-winning drive. But it left a lot of people questioning Frank Reich and the offensive playcalling.

It's also not like Colts quarterback Carson Wentz and the passing game is making it easy on Taylor. The Colts typically face 8-man boxes on most plays. That makes things easier for Wentz, not Taylor. Yet, has only thrown for 23 touchdowns. T.Y. Hilton has been banged up and is a shell of his former self. Parris Campbell was placed on season-ending injured reserve early in the season. Michael Pittman Jr. has stepped up and become a solid contributor. But everything is dependent on Taylor.

Ok, we have established the criteria for a running back to win this award. Taylor is on pace to enter those types of numbers. We have established that the Colts success is primarily dependent on Taylor's effectiveness. In the wins, he dominates. In the losses, the team either went away from the running game or lost despite him balling out.

But we have not discussed his physical abilities. He has all of the skills you want in a running back. Taylor is the prototypical size for a running back at 5'10ā€, 226 lbs. He does not run away from contract but through defenders. Taylor is shifty enough to make guys miss when he needs to. But what really separates him is his blazing speed.

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In his rushing touchdown against New England, he got up to 22.13 miles per hour. That's the fastest any ball carrier in the NFL has run this season.

That broke his own record he set earlier in the season in a long touchdown run against the Jets. He actually has three of the five fastest plays in the NFL this year. He has the size, power, agility and speed to be an MVP.

But what puts him over the top against Rodgers, is the history he is going to make. Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers are loaded across the board. They have arguably the best wide receiver in the world, a top-10 running back and his backup would start for most teams, and a top-10 defense against the rush, the pass, and overall.

Meanwhile, the Colts are middle of the pack defensively, have no wide receiver depth at all and inconsistent play at the quarterback position.

Indianapolis started the season 0-3. Teams that start the season 0-3 make the playoffs 5.9% of the time historically. As of right now, the Colts are 8-6 and now have an 88% chance of making the playoffs. That is mainly due to JT!

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