Indianapolis RB Nyheim Hines on Jonathan Taylor and the Colts' underrated backfield

Indianapolis Colts running back Nyheim Hines joins Matt Harmon on the latest episode of the Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast. Nyheim talks about his relationship with breakout rookie Jonathan Taylor and what you can expect out of this backfield duo in 2021. Later, Nyheim opens up about his new role as the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s 2021 National Spokesperson and, his personal connection to the organization and his work promoting the MDA Shamrocks campaign.

Learn more at: https://www.mda.org/shamrocks

Hear the full conversation:

Apple: https://apple.co/2Qupbx6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2YEXJkj

Video Transcript

MATT HARMON: You and Jonathan Taylor, you guys I think are forming one of the most exciting, maybe even underrated, young running back duos in the NFL. And my little theory about this-- I was going back and forth with the producer like yesterday when we were planning to talk to you and everything. I feel like you guys are kind of almost unfairly typecast in a way, and I'll explain this what I mean by that. People look at Jonathan, and he's this big, bulky unbelievable specimen of a back.

NYHEIM HINES: Huge. He's like a tank.

MATT HARMON: Yeah, he is like a frickin' tank, right? But then same thing with you. Obviously, you're known for that pass-catching element, but you had some really good moments in the red zone and just as a pure rusher this year. Kind of take me into the dynamics of you guys as a tandem and the way you complement each other.

NYHEIM HINES: First off, I think JT is gonna be an emerging and elite back in this league. So my job as Nyheim is just to go in there, and when 28 leaves the game, make sure there's no fall-off when 21's in there. And that's firstly what I do, just challenge myself to keep the standard the standard.

And honestly after that, really I think outside of football a lot of people try to get into roles, like me being a pass-catcher or JT being the bruiser or whatever it is. But really we just kind of don't even look at it like that. Whoever is in, we're gonna be called upon. And when the ball comes our way, it doesn't matter if it's a pass, a handoff, or a punt, or even a fumble. When the ball comes our way, we have to do something with it, right?

MATT HARMON: Right.

NYHEIM HINES: I think that's what we're really good about. I think we do a really great job of helping each other. There's no hate in our room. Myself, Marlon, Jordan Wilkins, we all help each other out. And we all watch film on with each other, and that's how we also get better. So I think as we keep doing that, I think confidence will just keep being built. And I think with confidence, we will keep playing well.

And, obviously, we have a new quarterback. And I think there's gonna be no fall-off from the running back group. And that's what we're gonna do. We're gonna make sure we protect the quarterback when we have to protect or catch the ball when it's thrown to us. And, obviously, we're gonna run the ball and run some touchdowns.

MATT HARMON: Yeah, I mean, JT, he is electric when he's out there, right? I mean, even just you're looking at him-- like we said, he is that tank specimen. But he sort of started off the year a little bit slow. Not unexpected because of the COVID situation and just the slow ramp up to the season. He's a rookie.

NYHEIM HINES: And he's just a rookie. He's got to learn.

MATT HARMON: And a rookie, right. Yeah.

NYHEIM HINES: This is my third year, so I get it. My first game-- my game one to game 16 or even playoff game is way different. He has a learning curve, so that's why I'm even super excited about him. There's no rookie curve this year. He's played 17 real NFL games, so he's gonna come back a little bit better.

He's gonna have experience just like me. This is gonna be my fourth year. I've played 50 games now, but I'm gonna be a lot better at game 70 than I am at game, whatever, 50 I am now. So it's all experience. I'm excited that he's gonna draw from that. And I think he's gonna come back and run for 1,000 yards plus and do a lot of things hopefully for the fantasy world too.

MATT HARMON: I was gonna say. There's a lot of fantasy folks out there listening to this podcast that are like, OK, Nyheim Hines told me that I can draft Jonathan Taylor number five overall. I want to ask you about your new role as a 2021 national spokesman for Muscular Dystrophy Association. Tell me a little bit about why you are so passionate about this particular subject.

NYHEIM HINES: I'm passionate about this particular subject just because my family members have it. It's on my mom's side of the family. My grandmother actually passed away from it in 2004, and my mother and uncle are living with it. So even throughout this new role, when I first got into the NFL, I used my platform to just spread awareness by myself. So honestly now, the MDA's voice is bigger than mine, and they've affected a lot more lives than mine, so I'm honestly, truly happy that I can team up with a team that knows how to spread awareness and raise money a lot better than I do myself.

MATT HARMON: Yeah, that's always great when you can find that organization that shares your passion and can then just take that elevation for something that you've-- obviously, condolences to all of your family members and everything. I love that you're passionate about this. I love that you're linked up with them. Tell me a little bit about the MDA Shamrocks Campaign coming up.

NYHEIM HINES: Oh yeah, so this is awesome. Firstly, the MDA Shamrocks is the largest St. Patrick's Day fundraiser in the US. And basically to sum it up, throughout this month, thousands of retailers across the country are inviting their customers to purchase MDA shamrocks in the in-store pickups in the checkout lines, which will be displayed at their locations.

And honestly through all the purchases and all that, it really just shows support for 200,000 Americans that have neuromuscular diseases. And also it's helping the MDA fund, not just ALS but also 43 other neuromuscular diseases. So that's really what's so big about it, and I'm personally excited for the partnership with it during St. Patrick's Day.

MATT HARMON: I love it. Yeah, I mean, I love seeing in the stores all the shamrocks up there. It's a great thing. I'm really proud of you for being a part of this. That's awesome.

Again, shoutout to you. Shoutout to them. It's a great partnership that everyone should be checking out what they're doing there. Make sure you go get those shamrocks up there at your local store as well. Come on, give me a break. Get out there and do some good.