Former Spartan Bachie Signs with New AFC Team

Bachie is entering his sixth NFL season, preparing to play for his fifth team. He spent the past four years with the Bengals, being featured mostly as a special teams player, but totaled 46 tackles on defense as a backup linebacker.

He will now reunite with his former defensive coordinator with the Bengals, Lou Anarumo, who was recently hired as the Colts' defensive mind. The two have several years of familiarity, giving Bachie a strong chance to make plays in both roles for a franchise in need of a revival.

Bachie was a four-year letter winner in East Lansing from 2016-2019, being named captain for the final two years of his career under head coach Mark Dantonio. He took home a first-team All-Big Ten award in 2018 while being named Third-team All-Conference, twice ('17, '19).

Bachie was the star of the Spartans' defense in his time with the program, starting in 34 of the 40 games that he played. He totaled 285 tackles, five forced fumbles, eight sacks, five interceptions and 11 pass breakups. He ranks 20th in Spartan history for tackles for loss at 27.5 for his career.

In the late 2010's there were not many linebackers that found the type of success that Bachie did with the Spartans and was regarded as one of the Big Ten's best in his time in East Lansing.

The 27-year-old has had to grind throughout his career to find time on the field, going undrafted in the 2020 NFL Draft. After bouncing around the New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia Eagles that season, he found his home in Cincinnati and will seek to make a name for himself with the Colts.

Indianapolis was the fourth-worst defense in the league last year, allowing an average of 361.2 total yards per game, leading to their 8-9 record and missing the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year. We'll see if Bachie is able to be injected into the lineup and help rebuild their struggling defense.

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