The Colts Are Taking Calls On Daniel Jones, And The Tape Is Back On Jonathan Taylor

Friends, I owe you a test result. In my Oct. 28 column, I called Week 8 at Jacksonville the first test, since it was Jonathan Taylor's first game after the Colts traded Quenton Nelson. I wrote, "I am watching his carries first and his yards second," and I kept my word.

Taylor got 8 carries for 23 yards in a 42-7 loss to the Jaguars, and ESPN reported that he sat out the fourth quarter because of the deficit. DJ Giddens and Seth McGowan combined for 11 carries. My father raised me on Cleveland football, so I knew the grade on this test before the fourth quarter started.

The rest of the record is kinder. ESPN's game log shows Taylor with 15 or more carries in seven of eight games this season, and the only exception is that blowout.

The Tape Goes Back On

Three days before the deadline, Tom Pelissero posted that the most likely destination for Taylor is staying in Indianapolis, and that "only the type of blockbuster offer no team has made could pry him out."

In The Sweep, Pelissero reported that the Colts "quickly rejected an offer of a 2027 second-round pick plus another pick for Taylor." Pelissero added that "no team has come close to offering the type of premium capital that would persuade Indianapolis to deal him." Taylor is 27 and signed a two-year, $44 million extension in August.

Earlier this morning, Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport reported that "the Colts have received calls from multiple teams inquiring about trading for Daniel Jones", and Rapoport added that the Colts "have held Daniel Jones trade talks". Pelissero reported that the Colts have "told interested teams they aren’t trading him."

ESPN reports that Jones' $10.51 million injury guarantee for 2027 becomes fully guaranteed March 15 if he remains on the roster, and coach Shane Steichen said, "Daniel gives us the best chance to win right now." I distrust coach quotes on principle. ESPN noticed the "right now" too.

Neighbors, my Oct. 28 call was "Jonathan Taylor will still be a Colt when the trade deadline passes on Nov. 10." It has not been graded, and Chief's opposite call is also pending on our calls page.

Pelissero just gave my call its best support yet. A rebuilding 2-6 team answers the phone about everybody, its quarterback included. This morning, the masking tape went back on Taylor.

Chief, I sold hot tubs at county fairs one summer, and half the county sat in my display tub. The real buyers brought a checkbook with the right number in it. By Pelissero's account, nobody has written that number for Taylor.

The Evidence Against Me

ESPN wrote that "Sunday's game could be Taylor's last as a member of the Colts". In the same Sweep that helps my call, Pelissero wrote that "NFL executives expect the action to ramp up really only after Sunday’s games."

Evan Sidery, citing Schefter, listed five Colts drawing trade calls, Taylor and Jones among them. Sidery's read is that "All five could be traded within a 48-hour span following Sunday’s game." That is speculation, and my call has to survive that window.

The Sunday Question

Matthew Berry asked the fantasy question for Sunday: "Could the Colts give Jonathan Taylor fewer touches this week with the trade deadline looming?" My answer is no.

Steichen said Taylor will play against the Cowboys, and Taylor confirmed his intent to play. "No one wants uncertainty," Taylor said, and he expects the verdict on Tuesday.

In my pest control years, a rumor went around every spring that our best tech was changing territories. Whoever had the big accounts on Monday's route sheet worked them Monday. I call it the route sheet rule: trust the work a team keeps handing a man over the talk about where he will be.

Trust the route sheet until the day he hands in his keys. The rumor can wait for the paperwork.

Taylor's route sheet shows 15 or more carries in seven of eight games, and nobody has asked for his keys. So here is my call, and it goes on the tracker to be graded after Sunday's game. Jonathan Taylor will get at least 15 carries against the Cowboys on Sunday. Another blowout is the risk, and I am taking it.

What I Am Doing About It

1. I am starting Taylor Sunday against the Cowboys. Steichen says he plays, and the carries have been there in seven of eight games.
2. I am holding him in redraft through the deadline. Selling into a rumor three days out gets you a rumor price, so I will not sell into this one.
3. In dynasty, a rebuilder can wait. Pelissero wrote that "barring injury, he’ll have just as much if not more trade value in March, when a new GM will be in place."
4. On Daniel Jones, I am staying calm. In superflex, I treat him as a matchup play. Executives expect the action to ramp up after Sunday's games, per Pelissero, so I will check the news that night.
5. I revisit on Nov. 10. Both Taylor calls get graded that day, mine and Chief's.