Darius Leonard: Jonathan Taylor 'absolutely' is MVP

Jonathan Taylor's 170 yards on the ground helped the Colts take down the Patriots on Saturday. Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Colts' Darius Leonard: RB Jonathan Taylor is 'absolutely no question' NFL MVP

By Adam Stites | Last updated 12/19/21

Jonathan Taylor ran for 170 yards against the New England Patriots on Saturday and — for the 11th consecutive game — had a rushing touchdown. The second-year Indianapolis Colts running back now has 1,518 rushing yards and 19 total touchdowns in 2021, and his case to be the NFL MVP is getting stronger every week.

"There is absolutely no question," Colts linebacker Darius Leonard said when asked about Taylor being MVP, via Patriots.com. "What he is doing now in this NFL, there’s absolutely no question that he is the MVP.”

Taylor, 22, didn't run wild all game against the Patriots. After slowly grinding his way to 100 yards on the night, Taylor finally broke free for a 67-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter that secured the Colts' 27-17 win.

JONATHAN TAYLOR. 67 YARDS. GOOD NIGHT.

: #NEvsIND on @NFLNetwork
: https://t.co/DL75sQUMR5 pic.twitter.com/V0jzema8xz
— NFL (@NFL) December 19, 2021

With three games left to play, Taylor has the opportunity to push his numbers higher and have one of the best rushing seasons in NFL history. A rushing touchdown next week against the Arizona Cardinals would extend Taylor's streak to 12, a single-season record and leave him just two games behind LaDainian Tomlinson's 14-game streak that extended over two seasons.

Unsurprisingly, Taylor's competition for the MVP award is a handful of quarterbacks putting up gaudy stats in 2021. Leading the way is three-time MVP Tom Brady, who leads the league in passing yards (4,134) and passing touchdowns (36) heading into Week 15.

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