Even during the Colts Week 11 bye star RB Jonathan Taylor's dominant 2025 season is very evident

Jonathan Taylor remains the NFL's rushing leader even after his bye week

Taylor led the NFL in rushing yards entering Week 11 . He had no chance to add to his lead while on bye, though. Taylor currently has 1,139 yards on the season and averages 113.9 yards per game. He had a 219-yard lead over the second-leading rusher, Buffalo Bills RB James Cook, who had 920. In Week 11, Cook and the Bills did have a game, and he finished with 48 rushing yards, bringing his total to 968 on the season. 

Both Cook and Taylor have now played 10 games this year, and Taylor has a 171-yard lead over Cook in the race to be the 2025 rushing champion. One of the last excuses given this year by people trying to discredit Taylor's historical start to the year was the fact that he had played an extra game than Cook, and that the numbers would even out when that was even. Well, now it's even, and Taylor has over 100 yards lead and has eight more rushing touchdowns than Cook on the year. 

Taylor will be back on the field to add to his fantastic year in Week 12 vs. the Kansas City Chiefs. If Taylor wants any shot at winning the MVP and overcoming the unwritten rule, the award must go to a QB, it'll take something significant. I believe breaking LaDainian Tomlinson's total touchdown record from 2006 could do the trick. Tomlinson scored 32 total touchdowns that year, and Taylor currently has 17. Therefore, he needs 15 to tie or 16 to break the record. He has seven games to do it and would need to average just over two touchdowns a game to get there.

This story was originally reported by A to Z Sports on Nov 16, 2025, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.