Colts' Jonathan Taylor Gets NFL MVP Buzz With 3 TDs in Blowout vs. Cam Ward, Titans

So that Jonathan Taylor fella is having a pretty good season, huh?

The Indianapolis Colts running back continued his epic 2025 season on Sunday, rushing for 153 yards and two touchdowns in a 38-14 win over the Tennessee Titans, adding two catches for 21 yards and a third score.

JT Powers Colts to 3-0 Start 🐴

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It was part of a huge day for the running back:

That's a career game for the average NFL running back, but for Taylor, it's just par for the course in what is becoming a legendary 2025 season.

As you might expect, that has some folks banging the drum for Taylor to be considered the NFL's MVP:

Recent precedent, of course, would suggest that a quarterback will win the award by default. The last non-QB to win MVP was Adrian Peterson in 2012, and there have been some extremely worthy players bypassed in that time.

Saquon Barkley, for instance, rushed for 2,005 yards and scored 15 total touchdowns last season. He finished third in the voting behind Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson.

In 2021, Cooper Kupp led the NFL in receptions (145), receiving yards (1947) and receiving touchdowns (16), making him the first player since 2005 to win the receiving triple crown. He finished third in the MVP voting behind Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady.

In 2020, Derrick Henry rushed for 2,027 yards and 17 touchdowns. He didn't even finish top three in the MVP voting.

Are you sensing the theme here?

Now, all three of those players were ultimately named Offensive Player of the Year, which essentially has become the non-quarterback MVP award. It would take something fairly astonishing for that trend to be reversed.

Granted, Taylor is doing some pretty astonishing things at the moment, and his 7-1 Colts are one of the NFL's best stories through Week 8 (and certainly one of the biggest surprises). There is real potential here for Taylor to not only post eye-watering stats, but also present a very compelling team narrative. Those two factors, combined with the lack of a clear-cut MVP favorite at quarterback to this point, could end the drought for the non-QBs.

There's a lot of football left to be played, of course. But Taylor is putting together a truly special season.