INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts have by no means hidden their intention to construct a line of defense with a prolonged rotation that may insulate the unit from exhaustion and supply a constant move rush.
But when anybody nonetheless failed to know that idea, it was made exceedingly clear when the Colts chosen former UCLA standout edge rusher Laiatu Latu with the fifteenth total choice within the NFL draft — regardless of Indianapolis having a productive move rush final season with a number of gamers already rotating.
And if it nonetheless hadn’t sunk in after that, assistant normal supervisor Ed Dodds expressed it in phrases that had been unmistakable.
“That is what we have been striving for, is to get a legit eight guys who can rotate virtually like hockey, ‘Hey you 4 out, you 4 in,’ and never have a giant drop off in any respect,” he mentioned.
It isn’t shocking to be taught {that a} staff in at present’s pass-heavy NFL would prioritize its move rush. However the Colts have been pouring large quantities of assets into their defensive entrance, and they’re searching for the funding to repay in 2024.
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The present make-up of the unit contains two gamers the staff has spent first-round picks on (Latu and Kwity Paye) and a pair of second-round selections (Dayo Odeyingbo and Tyquan Lewis). Throw in 2020 commerce acquisition DeForest Buckner at defensive sort out — the 2016 seventh total draft decide — and the Colts’ vital pedigree on the place turns into clearer.
Let’s put it one other method — in {dollars} and cents. The Colts in 2024 will probably be one of many NFL’s highest-spending groups in the case of line of defense funding. Leaguewide, Indianapolis ranks sixth in complete money spending on the place. From a salary-cap perspective, the Colts are allocating practically 20% of their cap area towards the line of defense.
They usually’re doing all this within the hope that a few of their gamers will play… much less?
“We’re a D line that rotates,” mentioned Odeyingbo, who had a career-best eight sacks final season. “You look across the league and also you take a look at the great D traces, they beautiful a lot all rotate quite a bit. They’ve plenty of depth. So, that is one thing that helps you be recent and be able to play a full 17-game season.
“So far as the sharing goes, I really feel like we’re sort of used to it and it is not likely about counting reps. It is extra about making the reps depend.”
There may be one thing to that concept.
The Colts in 2023 had only one participant — Buckner — who ranked among the many high 40 defensive linemen in share of snaps performed. He ranked seventeenth after enjoying 72% of the Colts’ defensive snaps.
However with their line lastly at full energy and a superb rotation in place, the Colts nonetheless managed to complete fifth in ESPN’s pass-rush win charge metric at 48%. That is Indy’s highest charge for the reason that statistic began being tracked in 2017.
The Colts have doubled down on the present composition of their line. Not solely did they draft Latu, additionally they exercised Paye’s fifth-year choice on his rookie contract that retains him beneath contract via 2025. In addition they prolonged Buckner, Lewis and nostril sort out Grover Stewart this spring with multi-year offers and signed veteran backup nostril sort out Raekwon Davis to a free-agent contract.
The following step is determining the specifics of the rotation. That effort will probably be guided by how particular gamers match collectively and, extra vital, by potential matchup benefits, based on defensive coordinator Gus Bradley.
“Now, once you see guys which have particular traits and also you see totally different talent units, you go, ‘Maintain on now, we have an opportunity for a mismatch,'” he mentioned. “Let’s have a look at what that may develop.”
Bradley singled out a participant he did this with in defensive finish Melvin Ingram, who performed for Bradley with the Los Angeles Chargers. Ingram, whose signature spin transfer was powerful for slower inside offensive linemen to counter, produced his solely three Professional Bowl seasons after Bradley’s arrival.
“When you could have an athlete like that, I feel these packages would possibly broaden primarily based on what we see day in and day trip to make the most of the talent set,” Bradley mentioned.
Enter Latu. He’s, maybe, probably the most distinctive participant on the Colts’ line of defense due to his superior traits and repertoire of pass-rush strikes.
“He is a three-way rusher,” mentioned new line of defense coach Charlie Partridge, a longtime school assistant who’s credited with creating J.J. Watt at Wisconsin. “He can win with pace off the sting, he can win with energy, he can win with counters.”
That provides the Colts the choice to place Latu in positions the place he can maximize his affect. It is the identical factor they already do with gamers resembling Lewis and Odeyingbo, edge rushers who are sometimes used as inside rushers on passing downs. There is a situation the place Latu, as an example, performs primarily in probably passing conditions to provide him optimum alternatives to hurry quarterbacks.
However no matter form all of it takes, the vital factor is the Colts are all in on their line of defense. And due to that, extra gamers will play fewer snaps, with the hope that it interprets into better total manufacturing.
