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Stephen Holder, ESPN
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts have never hidden their intention to build a defensive line with a lengthy rotation that can insulate the unit from exhaustion and provide a consistent pass rush.
But if anyone still failed to grasp that concept, it was made exceedingly clear when the Colts selected former UCLA standout edge rusher Laiatu Latu with the 15th overall selection in the NFL draft — despite Indianapolis having a productive pass rush last season with multiple players already rotating.
And if it still hadn’t sunk in after that, assistant general manager Ed Dodds expressed it in terms that were unmistakable.
“That’s what we’ve been striving for, is to get a legitimate eight guys who can rotate almost like hockey, ‘Hey you four out, you four in,’ and not have a big drop off at all,” he said.
It’s not surprising to learn that a team in today’s pass-heavy NFL would prioritize its pass rush. But the Colts have been pouring massive amounts of resources into their defensive front, and they are looking for the investment to pay off in 2024.
The current makeup of the unit includes two players the team has spent first-round picks on (Latu and Kwity Paye) and a pair of second-round choices (Dayo Odeyingbo and Tyquan Lewis). Throw in 2020 trade acquisition DeForest Buckner at defensive tackle — the 2016 seventh overall draft pick — and the Colts’ significant pedigree at the position becomes clearer.
Let’s put it another way — in dollars and cents. The Colts in 2024 will be one of the NFL’s highest-spending teams when it comes to defensive line investment. Leaguewide, Indianapolis ranks sixth in total cash spending at the position. From a salary-cap perspective, the Colts are allocating nearly 20% of their cap space toward the defensive line.
And they’re doing all this in the hope that some of their players will play… less?
“We’re a D line that rotates,” said Odeyingbo, who had a career-best eight sacks last season. “You look around the league and you look at the good D lines, they pretty much all rotate a lot. They have a lot of depth. So, that’s something that helps you be fresh and be ready to play a full 17-game season.
“As far as the sharing goes, I feel like we’re kind of used to it and it’s not really about counting reps. It’s more about making the reps count.”
There might be something to that idea.
The Colts in 2023 had just one player — Buckner — who ranked among the top 40 defensive linemen in percentage of snaps played. He ranked 17th after playing 72% of the Colts’ defensive snaps.
But with their line finally at full strength and a good rotation in place, the Colts still managed to finish fifth in ESPN’s pass-rush win rate metric at 48%. That’s Indy’s highest rate since the statistic started being tracked in 2017.
The Colts have doubled down on the current composition of their line. Not only did they draft Latu, they also exercised Paye’s fifth-year option on his rookie contract that keeps him under contract through 2025. They also extended Buckner, Lewis and nose tackle Grover Stewart this spring with multi-year deals and signed veteran backup nose tackle Raekwon Davis to a free-agent contract.
The next step is figuring out the specifics of the rotation. That effort will be guided by how specific players fit together and, more important, by potential matchup advantages, according to defensive coordinator Gus Bradley.
“Now, when you see guys that have specific traits and you see different skill sets, you go, ‘Hold on now, we’ve got a chance for a mismatch,'” he said. “Let’s see what that can develop.”
Bradley singled out a player he did this with in defensive end Melvin Ingram, who played for Bradley with the Los Angeles Chargers. Ingram, whose signature spin move was tough for slower interior offensive linemen to counter, produced his only three Pro Bowl seasons after Bradley’s arrival.
“When you have an athlete like that, I think those packages might expand based on what we see day in and day out to utilize the skill set,” Bradley said.
Enter Latu. He is, perhaps, the most unique player on the Colts’ defensive line because of his superior traits and repertoire of pass-rush moves.
“He’s a three-way rusher,” said new defensive line coach Charlie Partridge, a longtime college assistant who is credited with developing J.J. Watt at Wisconsin. “He can win with speed off the edge, he can win with power, he can win with counters.”
That gives the Colts the option to put Latu in positions where he can maximize his impact. It’s the same thing they already do with players such as Lewis and Odeyingbo, edge rushers who are often used as interior rushers on passing downs. There’s a scenario where Latu, for instance, plays primarily in likely passing situations to give him optimum opportunities to rush quarterbacks.
But whatever shape it all takes, the important thing is the Colts are all in on their defensive line. And because of that, more players will play fewer snaps, with the hope that it translates into greater overall production.
