The NFL is a big-time passing league. But there’s also room for a running back to win the league’s highest honor.
That’s the case for the Colts’ Jonathan Taylor, voted by fellow NFL players as Sporting News’ Offensive Player of the Year. He becomes the first running back since the Vikings’ Adrian Peterson in 2012 to win the award. ending an eight-year run by quarterbacks and wide receivers. He becomes the first Indianapolis Colt to get the honor since Peyton Manning back-to-back in 2003 and ’04.
Taylor led the league in rushing yards (1,811), rushing attempts (338) and rushing TDs (18) while averaging 5.5 yards per attempt and 106.5 yards per game. He also led the league 2,171 scrimmage yards and 20 total TDs, averaging 9 years per reception off 40 catches.
Taylor edged out the Rams’ Cooper Kupp, who won the rare wide receiver “triple crown” by leading the league in receptions (145), receiving yards (1,947) and receiving TDs (16). He averaged 114.5 receiving yards per game.
What’s notable that of the previous wideouts who pulled off Kupp’s feat, only Jerry Rice in 1990 was named what was then “Sporting News NFL Player of the Year” regardless of offense or defense.
MORE SN 2021 NFL AWARDS:
Full voting results | All-Pro Team
Taylor’s production from the position has strong history in winning the award. Other than Peterson, recent running back winners LaDainian Tomlinson, Shaun Alexander, Marshall Faulk, Terrell Davis and Barry Sanders all rode prolific all-around numbers to getting recognized most by their peers.
Kupp’s Rams team is playing in Super Bowl 56, while Taylor’s Colts faded out of the AFC playoffs in Week 18. With OPOY being different from MVP, Taylor’s statistical worth in relation to every other running back, especially when Derrick Henry went down, got more weight than Kupp having a big gap over other receivers.
Because Kupp is a passing game star, he also had to worry about MVP-candidate passers such as Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen cutting into his votes, which is what happened. Taylor had no competition from his position, while Kupp was lumped in with the elite quarterbacks. Dominant workhorses in the modern era get a lot of respect, too, given there are much fewer in the league.
Sporting News’ history also hasn’t favored wide receivers much. Rice won from the position for his 1990 triple crown for his second award. Don Hutson’s dominance came before SN’s awards started and both Sterling Sharpe and Steve Smith got little buzz during their modern triple crown years. Randy Moss, Terrell Owens, Calvin Johnson and other Hall of Famers all couldn’t win to follow Rice, either. Antonio Brown was the last wide receiver to win SN’s award, on the strength of 1,533 receiving yards in 2017.
In the end, this isn’t about snubbing Kupp. He had an outstanding season and will get plenty of worthy accolades for it. But based on SN’s past awards, one could say Taylor was made to win it by the position he plays.
