Colts Have Eye-Opening Expectations for Pair of Pass Rushers

The Indianapolis Colts hope that the changes they've made to their defense this offseason will spark a turnaround that will benefit their entire team.

Indy parted ways with defensive coordinator Gus Bradley after the season, in which that side of the ball finished 29th in yards and 24th in scoring. They also finished tied for 25th in sacks, which the Colts are optimistic is a big area that new coordinator Lou Anarumo can fix.

SI.com's Albert Breer attended Colts training camp at Grand Park Sports Campus on Saturday and spoke with Anarumo, head coach Shane Steichen, and others.

"DC Lou Anarumo is expected to be a difference maker, and the first area the Colts see it showing up is in the pass rush," Breer wrote after visiting the Colts. "Samson Ebukam is healthy again and there’s a belief that both he and Laiatu Latu could get to double-digit sacks in the new scheme, as part of a deep edge-rusher rotation with Kwity Paye, Tyquan Lewis and J.T. Tuimoloau also in the mix, and DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart steady in the middle."

The Colts finished in the top five in the NFL in sacks the last time Ebukam saw the field in 2023, as his 9.5 sacks were the most among the team's 51 on the season, an Indianapolis-era record.

However, nearly a year ago to the day, Ebukam hit the grass at Grand Park having torn an Achilles. While he missed this year's offseason program, he has hit the ground running at training camp this year, already rotating back and forth between the first and second-team defenses.

Now 30 years old, it's rare but not unheard of for a player with this injury and this age range to return to form at that age, but the Colts believe Ebukam can do it. Perhaps playing fewer snaps will allow him to make each one count even more.

“Yeah, one day at a time is what I am taking in," Ebukam told reporters about his recovery on Saturday. "We are going to be good for the season.”

Where the Colts are truly bullish about their pass rush is their second-year end Latu, who they drafted with the 14th overall pick last year.

In 17 games as a rookie, Latu totaled 4.0 sacks and 12 quarterback hits. He was second on the team in pass-rush grade (72.1), according to Pro Football Focus, after recording 38 quarterback pressures, and was third among all NFL rookie defensive linemen.

While Latu got to the backfield a fair amount last year, the goal for him in 2025 is to finish those trips with even more disruption and contact with the quarterback. The Colts expect him to be stronger through contact and to have a better understanding of how teams will block him.

It may seem quite optimistic for Ebukam to defy the odds at his age to put up yet another career-high in sacks while Latu makes the huge jump up from just 4.0 sacks, but if both players are able to reach double-digits, the Colts defense will certainly be a force to be reckoned with.

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