Colts sign veteran RB Kenyan Drake amid Jonathan Taylor trade request
Veteran running back Kenyan Drake is headed to the Indianapolis Colts, the team announced Saturday.
Drake spent the entire 2022 season with the Baltimore Ravens where he played all 17 games and started five. He rushed for 482 yards and four touchdowns during his time with the Ravens. Drake previously played for the Las Vegas Raiders, Arizona Cardinals and Miami Dolphins.
The Colts were in need of running backs after Jonathan Taylor reportedly asked for a trade this summer and backup Zach Moss underwent surgery to fix a broken arm. That left a plethora of young and inexperienced running backs on the depth chart for Indianapolis.
Drake brings with him seven years and 867 career carries. He has rushed for 3,866 yards and 33 touchdowns in his 101 career games. Drake's also caught 216 passes for 1,624 yards and eight touchdowns.
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Fantasy impact
Drake is more of a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency player if the Taylor situation goes downhill. As in, if Taylor actually misses games in 2023 either because he decided to sit them out himself or because the Colts placed him on the non-football injury list.
For what it's worth, Taylor's holdout did not really affect his value in Yahoo Sports' recent fantasy mock draft. He still went ninth overall. However, his ADP could continue to drop if there appear to be no signs of reconciliation between Taylor and the Colts. It doesn't help that Colts owner Jim Irsay continues to add fuel to the fire.
But if Taylor doesn't suit up for the Colts, Drake could likely slide into some sort of role alongside Deon Jackson — who had his moments last season, including a posting a 121 total yards and a touchdown in a Week 6 start when Taylor was inactive. Jackson finished the season with 236 rushing yards, 209 receiving yards and two total touchdowns.
Drake's proven to have solid ability in the past, but his fantasy outlook depends entirely on Taylor's availability.
