Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Month for October.
The engine driving the NFL’s top offense capped off an astonishing four-game stretch with another phenomenal performance to reassert his status as one of the premier playmakers in the league. Taylor’s numbers in October were a nightmare against opposing defenses and may have thrust the star running back into the MVP conversation. Over the past four games, Taylor racked up 529 rushing yards and 10 total touchdowns, leading the Colts to a perfect 4-0 record during the month.
Taylor scored three touchdowns in three of those four victories, joining a short list of NFL legends — LaDainian Tomlinson, Marshall Faulk, Shaun Alexander, and Priest Holmes — as the only players since 2000 to do so in four games in a single season.
Despite being left off the NFL’s Top 100, Taylor’s resurgent campaign has mirrored Indianapolis’ offensive dominance that currently leads the league with 32 touchdowns. Entering Week 9, the Colts lead the NFL in total offense, averaging 385.3 yards and 33.8 points per game. Indianapolis’ sixth-year workhorse leads the NFL with 1,056 scrimmage yards, 850 rushing yards, along with 14 scrimmage touchdowns and 12 rushing touchdowns.
Last week’s 38–14 win over Tennessee featured Taylor ripping off a career-long 80-yard touchdown run to add to his 2025 highlight reel. Taylor erupted for 174 scrimmage yards, including 153 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Taylor joined Gene “Choo-Choo” Roberts (1949) as the only players in NFL history to score three touchdowns in four of their first eight games of a season.
If Taylor continues at this pace, the Wisconsin product will continue to run straight into the history books. With 50 rushing yards and one more touchdown, Taylor will become just the sixth player since 1990 – and the first since Tomlinson in 2006 — to post at least 900 rushing yards and 15 scrimmage touchdowns in his first nine games. The honor marks Taylor’s third-career Player of the Month recognition, placing him alongside Colts greats Eric Dickerson and Edgerrin James as the only running backs in franchise history to earn the award multiple times. He also remains the only former Wisconsin running back to ever claim the honor.
While quarterback Daniel Jones has flourished in midseason form during his first year with the Colts by setting career highs in completion percentage (71.2), passer rating (109.5) and yards per attempt (8.5), it’s Taylor’s relentless production behind a ferocious offensive line that continues to pave runways for the best tailback in the league.
See More:
