The Colts are already making a significant change after their ugly defensive performance in Week 1.
After Cam Bynum wore the green dot in the season opener against the Ravens, Indianapolis will now shift that responsibility to linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither. The green dot allows one defensive player to hear the call from defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and relay it to the rest of the defense.
The move comes after the Colts gave up 41 points and 504 yards against Baltimore, with several issues showing
up before and after the snap. Indianapolis struggled to get lined up, looked late reacting to motion and repeatedly appeared disorganized against one of the more difficult offenses in the league to defend.
“The communication wasn’t where it needed to be Week 1,” Shane Steichen said, according to the Indianapolis Star. “It frees up Cam on the back end to communicate with A.J. and Sauce and Mooney and all those guys, and obviously Akeem’s right there in the middle.”
This was something I mentioned after the Ravens game because the Bynum green dot plan always felt a little questionable. Bynum is a good player, and none of this should be viewed as a knock on him individually. The issue is more about the structure of the defense. Safeties can end up 10, 15 or even 25 yards away from the line of scrimmage depending on the play, the coverage and where the ball ends. That makes it harder to get the call, relay it, communicate checks and still get back into position before the snap.
Linebackers are usually the green dot players for a reason. They are closer to the nucleus of the defense. They are near the defensive line, connected to the second level and still close enough to communicate with the safeties behind them. When the offense is moving quickly, that positioning is very important.
The Colts apparently saw enough in Week 1 to go back to the more traditional setup. Davis-Gaither played 94 percent of the defensive snaps against Baltimore, so if he is going to be on the field that often, giving him the green dot makes sense. It should also allow Bynum to focus more on organizing the back end with A.J. Haulcy, Sauce Gardner and Charvarius Ward instead of carrying the full defensive communication burden himself.
The move also says something about the Colts’ linebacker situation. CJ Allen was drafted in the second round with the belief that he could become an every-down player and eventually handle major communication responsibilities. Chris Ballard even called him a green dot type of player after the draft. Allen, however, did not play a single defensive snap in Week 1, and Steichen noted that the Colts are rotating linebackers.
“We’re rotating linebackers in there,” Steichen said. “Only one guy can wear the green dot.”
For now, that guy is Davis-Gaither.
This does not fix everything by itself. The Colts need to be better at just about everything after Week 1. Changing the green dot is not some magic solution. However, it is a logical correction after the defense looked scattered against Baltimore. If the communication improves and Bynum looks more comfortable focusing on the secondary, this could be a simple but important adjustment.
At the very least, the Colts recognized the Week 1 setup did not work. Now they are going back to a structure that makes more sense on paper, with the linebacker in the middle of the defense calling the plays.
