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By Rowan Fisher-Shotton
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The Indianapolis Colts have become one of the NFL's biggest sellers ahead of the trade deadline on Nov. 10. On Tuesday, they dealt All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson to the Seattle Seahawks, and hours later sent All-Pro defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to the San Francisco 49ers. The Colts are clearly acquiring more draft capital with their eyes set on the future, and are willing to trade away their best players to do so.
These moves have raised questions about whether star running back Jonathan Taylor could be the next to go. Indianapolis is 2-5, has already fired its general manager Chris Ballard, and now just lost two franchise cornerstones. The Green Bay Packers, Denver Broncos, New York Giants, Cincinnati Bengals, and Minnesota Vikings have all been linked to the All-Pro back.
On Friday, CBS Sports' Ryan Wilson made the case for Minnesota in particular to pursue Taylor, arguing that the star running back could be the missing piece for the Vikings to win a Super Bowl.
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"I feel wonderful about it. I would imagine Kevin O'Connell feels great about it. Kyler Murray would feel fantastic about it as well because, as we sit here, the offense is also the defense," Wilson said. "Brian Flores and that defense is the engine driving this train. It's one of the best defenses we've seen in recent history, and the offense is one of the worst we've seen this year. Can you win that way? Yeah, we saw the 2015 Broncos win the Super Bowl back when Peyton Manning threw nine touchdowns against 17 interceptions his last year because the defense was so good. But this ain't that. And I think Jonathan Taylor gets you a long way in terms of being a team that, if you can get the offense even average, can make a Super Bowl run."
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Minnesota is already off to a strong start, sitting as the only remaining undefeated team in the league at 6-0 heading into Week 8. But there's a reason why the Vikings still aren't considered Super Bowl favorites, and it's because of their offense. Minnesota is averaging just 20.8 points per game, ranking 24th in the NFL, while their 281.7 yards per game ranks 29th. Their defense, meanwhile, is allowing just 12.3 points per game, the best mark in the league, 252.8 total yards per game, the second-best mark, and leads the NFL with a +7 turnover differential.
Murray is in his first year with the Vikings and has struggled to fully adjust to the new system, completing 66.4% of his passes for 812 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions through five games. Meanwhile, veteran Aaron Jones, their lead back, has 436 rushing yards and two rushing scores on 105 carries in six games, averaging a modest 4.2 yards per carry, and he's currently nursing a knee injury. While Jones has been decent on the ground, he's also an older back now dealing with an injury, and not nearly the caliber of player Taylor is.
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Taylor would give the Vikings a legitimate workhorse running back who can take pressure off Murray, improve the ground game, and help the offense control possession. He already showed what he could bring against Minnesota's high-powered defense too, rushing for 95 yards and one touchdown on just 18 carries (5.3 yards per carry) against the Vikings in Week 7.
There's also a history of teams winning by pairing an elite defense with a premier running back. Wilson used the Broncos example in 2015, but the Philadelphia Eagles also did it two years ago during Saquon Barkley's historic 2,000-yard rushing season, and even the Seahawks last year relied heavily on the ground game behind Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker.
Minnesota wouldn't need Murray to become an MVP candidate to get this team to the big game. Adding Taylor would give the Vikings a more balanced offense, which, paired with that defense, would make them much harder to beat once the postseason arrives.
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