Colts' Defensive Line Not Thought Highly of

The Indianapolis Colts acquired the venerable defensive coordinator from the Cincinnati Bengals, Lou Anarumo. After three seasons with Gus Bradley, the Colts decided not to renew his contract and opted for a new direction after some underwhelming performances from Bradley's scheme.

Anarumo is transitioning into a defense with talent all over, but the defensive line is intriguing. Pro Football Focus and Zoltán Buday rank Indy's group at 17th in the NFL. This spot speaks to a few names needing to have a great 2025 to put this area of the defense into top 10 contention.

"There is a case to be made that the Colts have the best interior defender duo in the league. Although both are over 31 years old, Grover Stewart (76.0 PFF overall grade) and DeForest Buckner (81.9 PFF overall grade) were among the 15 highest-graded interior defenders last season. Former first-round edge defenders Kwity Paye and Laiatu Latu will need to step up in 2025 to vault this unit up the rankings."

DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart are the two undisputed anchors of the Colts' defensive trenches. Whenever Buckner or Stewart is out of a play or miss time, teams tend to execute inside running plays against Indy's defense easier, showing the value of the duo.

In 2024, Buckner missed five games but still snagged 6.5 sacks, 61 tackles, and a PFF grade of 81.9 overall (eighth among eligible defensive tackles). Buckner will remain a staple of the defense.

For Stewart, he's a true run defender who logged 74 tackles and 3.5 sacks in 2024, both are the most of his NFL career. Stewart is one of the best run defenders in the league, posting a seventh-best (among active defensive tackles) grade against ground attacks at 78.7.