Can Jonathan Taylor break the single-season scrimmage yards record?
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Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor led the entire NFL in scrimmage yards during the 2021 season, and now some are wondering if he can set a new record.
While Chris Johnson’s record 2,509 scrimmage yards in 2009 still stands strong, Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox believes Taylor has what it takes to come close.
While we probably won’t see the rushing touchdowns record broken in 2022, backs like Indianapolis Colts star Taylor could still chase history.
Chris Johnson set the single-season record for scrimmage yards back in 2009 and remains the only player in league history to top 2,500 scrimmage yards in a season.
Others have come close, though, including Taylor. Last year, the Colts’ bell-cow tallied 2,171 scrimmage yards during a breakout campaign. He’ll need to average 20 more yards per game and stay healthy for 17 games to break Johnson’s record, but that could happen.
The arrival of quarterback Matt Ryan in Indy could help boost Taylor’s passing numbers while preventing defenses from keying in quite as much on the run. Ryan might be 37 years old, but he’s a more reliable passer than what the Colts got from Carson Wentz last season.
Knox also mentioned Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey, Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry, New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara and Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook as potential threats for the record as well.
Taylor would need a whole lot to go his way in order to break that record. The Colts would have to be on the field for an extremely high number of plays while Taylor himself would have to be even more efficient than he was in 2021, which is incredibly hard to do.
Taylor would need to average 147.6 total yards per game over a 17-game season in order to beat the record. Not impossible. But an extremely tough task.
Never say never when it comes to a talent like Taylor’s but a lot of things would have to go right for this record to be broken.
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