Who Should I Start? Jonathan Taylor or Jerome Ford

Sunday, January 5, 5:44 PM

Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor ran the ball 34 times for 177 yards and touchdown during their victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Taylor's 34 rushing attempts set a new career-high. Taylor punched in his score on a six-yard run in the second frame. His longest carry of the game went for 17 yards. Taylor has enjoyed a fantastic end to the season. The Wisconsin product has tallied at least 100 rushing yards in each of his past four contests and tallied six total touchdowns over this span. This was a nice improvement as Taylor only eclipsed the century mark four times over his first ten games of the season. The 25-year-old should continued to be viewed as a high-end RB1 heading into the 2025 season as he currently stands alone as the clear No.1 option in the Indianapolis backfield.

Friday, May 2, 11:25 PM

Cleveland Browns rookie running back Jerome Ford agreed to a pay cut with the team on Friday, reducing his 2025 salary from $3.486 million to a guaranteed $1.75 million, a league source told The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Mary Kay Cabot. It means that free-agent RB Nick Chubb will likely not be re-signing with the Browns this offseason. The move to reduce Ford's salary comes after the Browns selected former Ohio State RB Quinshon Judkins with the 33rd overall pick in last week's NFL draft. Cleveland also added to the RB room and took former Tennessee rusher Dylan Sampson at No. 126 overall. Ford, a fifth-rounder in 2022, led the team with 565 yards on 104 carries (5.4 yards per carry) and three touchdowns with Chubb coming off a serious knee injury in 2023. The 25-year-old Ford is technically still atop the team's RB depth chart, but his reduction in pay is a clear sign that Judkins will have the opportunity to become the RB1 sooner than later in 2025.