Colts coach Shane Steichen told reporters this offseason that it's a "fair assessment" to have concern about Taylor's workload, but Steichen also said it's hard to take his star running back off the field when he's playing so well, Kevin Bowen of 107.5 The Fan reports.
Steichen avoided the usual cliches about getting multiple running backs involved, instead telling reporters that he wants to see how Seth McGowan and DJ Giddens "come along" during training camp and then "go from there." In other words, Steichen isn't sure if he has another running back he can trust behind Taylor, who finished second at the position in both snap share (82.5 percent) and total offensive snaps (879) last season. Ameer Abdullah, now in Jacksonville, had a role as a third-down and hurry-up RB for part of the year, catching 16 passes on 85 snaps. The other running backs, including Giddens, barely saw the field unless it was on special teams or in the fourth quarter of a blowout. The Colts added McGowan in the seventh round this spring after taking Giddens in the fifth round last year, and their other depth RBs are all undrafted players with no meaningful NFL experience. Long story short, Taylor is primed for another huge workload, with the bigger concern being general offensive efficiency in Indianapolis as Jones comes back from major surgery to rejoin an offense that no longer has WR Michael Pittman (Steelers) or RT Braden Smith (Texans).