Why Jonathan Taylor's Backup is a Fantasy Football Steal
The Indianapolis Colts made a sneaky pick in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL draft, selecting running back DJ Giddens out of Kansas State University.
The Colts' offense has given Jonathan Taylor a heavy workload over the past two seasons, and that's exactly why Giddens was chosen to join the running back ranks in Indy. If anything goes south with Taylor, the Colts have a young, dynamic option right behind him.
Last season, Taylor had 321 total touches for over 1,500 total yards, leading the Colts to victory in quite a few games. Colts head coach Shane Steichen ramped up his volume, which meant few other backs touched the ball.
Entering the 2025 season, things could be different. Bleacher Report analyst Alex Kay named Giddens among the six most valuable fantasy football steals this season, saying "there's a chance" Giddens finds himself involved from Week 1.The Indianapolis Colts’ backfield has been dominated by Jonathan Taylor for the past half-decade, but there’s a chance that rookie fifth-round pick DJ Giddens could find himself in the mix as early as the 2025 season," Kay wrote. "Taylor is coming off a 1,431-yard, 11-touchdown campaign in which he returned to Pro Bowl form, but he hasn’t been healthy for a full season since he won the 2021 rushing crown.
With Taylor missing a total of 13 games between the 2022-23 seasons, the door could soon be opened for the rookie backup to step into a much larger role."
"Giddens may not have been the most prized back of the 2025 draft, but the fifth-rounder profiles as productive lead back given the opportunity. At 6'0" and 212 pounds, the Kansas State product possesses adequate size and showcased plenty of patience, vision and elusiveness during his time with the Wildcats.
While Giddens has little value behind a healthy Taylor—especially after he soaked up a career-high 80 percent of the Colts' offensive snaps in 2024—his clear-cut status as next in line to lead Indy’s backfield makes him well worth drafting in fantasy, especially since he’s currently coming off the board as a flier in the final rounds."
Across his final two seasons at K State, Giddens ran for a combined 2,569 yards and 17 touchdowns while racking up 581 receiving yards and four more scores through the air. He averaged 6.6 yards per carry in his final collegiate season, displaying elite efficiency when given the rock.
As Kay mentioned, Taylor has a lengthy injury history since his breakout campaign in 2021. The Colts were right to address the position in the draft, just in case of another injury. Now, Taylor is only 26, but the lifespan of a running back in the NFL seems to get shorter by the decade.
In a fantasy football draft, taking Giddens in one of the last couple of rounds as a bench stash is undoubtedly a value play. He'll likely become the workhorse if Taylor is out on any given gameday, with Khalil Herbert a possible candidate to split snaps with the rookie.
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