Colts' Interior Defensive Line Shining During Hot Start

Buckner has been his usual self in 2025, racking up the pressures and sacks on a weekly basis. He leads the Colts with three sacks and 10 quarterback hits this season, and Sunday's game against the Chargers may have been his best performance of the season.

Buckner was on fire this past weekend, finishing with seven pressures, two sacks, and an astounding 22% pass rush win rate. He essentially sealed the Colts' victory, as his sack late in the fourth quarter made it near-impossible for the Chargers to get back on track. Buckner has been every bit as great as his usual self this season, and the Colts have benefited from it.

While those two players have been as spectacular as expected, the notable change this season has been with the Colts' depth behind them. Former fourth-round draft pick Adetomiwa Adebawore has finally jumped into the rotation, as his ability to create splash plays has been on full display.

Despite only having 0.5 sacks on the year, Adebawore ranks number two on the Colts with a 17.0% pressure rate . His time to pressure has also been impressive, as he ranks second (only behind Tyquan Lewis) with an average time to pressure of 2.73 seconds.

Pro Football Focus has also been quite high on Adebawore's play as well, grading him out as the number eight defensive tackle in the league in pass rush grade.

Adebawore has already hit a career-high in defensive snaps played in 2025, so it's safe to say that he has fully grabbed hold of a role on the Colts' defense at this point. He is arguably the third-best pass rusher on the team, and he's only getting better as the season goes on.

The final piece to the interior puzzle is veteran addition Neville Gallimore. While his play hasn't been as noteworthy as the others, he has been a fine piece in the room in general. He is an energizer bunny off the bench, and his explosiveness sets him apart from most rotational players in the league.

He has made several big plays this season, including a sack against the Tennessee Titans, a few run stuffs, and a big pass break-up against the Chargers this past weekend. The Colts have trotted out some absolutely brutal players in the rotation in recent seasons, so seeing a quality player like Gallimore take snaps has been a much-needed improvement.

Overall, this Colts' interior defensive line has been a bright spot all season. The two studs up top have been doing their thing, Adebawore has emerged as a budding impact player, and Gallimore has been excellent as a rotational number four tackle. The group has been outstanding through seven games, and hopefully, they can keep up this play going forward.