The Colts used their first pick of the 2026 NFL Draft on CJ Allen because they believed he could play early.
Chris Ballard called him an athletic, fast MIKE and said Allen would be a “green-dot guy for us from the get-go.” Indianapolis liked him enough at No. 53 overall that Ballard considered trading down again and decided against it because the Colts did not want to risk losing him.
Four games into his NFL career, Allen has played 11 defensive snaps.
He played zero against Washington. That needs an
explanation.
Akeem Davis-Gaither played 62 of the Colts’ 64 defensive snaps Sunday. Jaylon Carlies played 30, Bryce Boettcher played 18 and Austin Ajiake played 17. Allen, the first player Indianapolis drafted five months ago, never got on the field defensively.
So, where is CJ Allen?
The Colts have boxed him into one position
Lou Anarumo was asked about Allen’s lack of playing time Monday, and his answer gave us a pretty clear idea of how the Colts currently view their linebacker room.
“Two totally different positions… Austin went out there in a pass situation, we were anticipating a certain thing and he plays DIME and CJ plays backer. Akeem is playing well and we were playing well. CJ is getting better each week in practice and he will get his opportunities in practice. Play count was low at one point so no need to rest Akeem, but not down on CJ. Not down on CJ, he’s working his tail off and he’ll have his opportunities.”
Technically, that explanation makes sense.
Davis-Gaither is playing MIKE and wearing the green dot. Carlies, Boettcher and Ajiake are being used in different roles, primarily at WILL or in sub-packages. Allen is currently being treated as the direct backup to Davis-Gaither, so Ajiake getting 17 snaps does not necessarily mean the coaching staff thinks Ajiake is a better linebacker than Allen.
The problem is the Colts created that problem themselves.
If Allen is only going to play MIKE, and Davis-Gaither is going to play 62 of 64 snaps whenever he is healthy, then when exactly is Allen supposed to play?
You have essentially taken your top draft pick and placed him behind one of the few defenders on the roster who almost never leaves the field.
That makes no sense to me.
Davis-Gaither has played better over the last couple of games, and because he has the green dot, he naturally needs to be on the field more than most linebackers. Fine, but he also was not particularly good during the first couple weeks of the season, and nothing he has done should make the Colts terrified of taking him off the field for a handful of snaps.
Allen does not need to replace him, but he needs to play.
Allen is not a raw developmental linebacker
Allen’s background makes the situation even harder to understand.
He started at Georgia as a freshman and eventually became a First-Team All-American. He played three seasons in Kirby Smart’s defense and was the green-dot linebacker for a program that has produced Roquan Smith, Quay Walker, Nakobe Dean and a ridiculous number of NFL defenders. Colts linebackers coach James Bettcher specifically praised Allen’s communication and football intelligence before the season, noting that he was constantly making coverage checks and adjusting the front at Georgia.
This is not a converted safety trying to learn linebacker and this is not a small-school prospect who spent Saturdays playing against guys who are now selling insurance.
Allen played linebacker in one of the best and most complicated defenses in college football. Indianapolis drafted him in the second round in large part because the team believed his intelligence would allow him to transition quickly.
Now we are being told he essentially has to wait behind Davis-Gaither because he is a MIKE.
Allen did miss roughly a month of training camp, and that deserves to be mentioned. Missing that much time as a rookie absolutely hurts development, especially in a new defense. I would understand if he were behind where the Colts originally expected him to be, but we are also four regular-season games into the season now, not two days removed from his return.
At some point, practice has to turn into playing.
There is a difference between sitting and developing
I am probably more sympathetic than most people when teams choose not to immediately throw young players onto the field.
I argued for patience with Anthony Richardson when almost everyone wanted him starting immediately. Quarterback is difficult, and putting a young player on the field before he understands what he is seeing can do more harm than good. There are plenty of positions where sitting, watching and learning can be extremely beneficial.
Linebacker is also much easier to rotate than quarterback.
Nobody is asking the Colts to bench Davis-Gaither and give Allen 64 snaps next week. Get him eight. Then 12. Then 15. Give him a series at MIKE. Put him at WILL in another package. Let him cover. Let him play downhill against the run. Find out what translates and what does not.
There is a huge difference between protecting a young player and burying him and right now, Allen is being buried.
Boettcher has already played 79 defensive snaps this season. Allen has played 11. There is no reasonable argument that the talent difference between those two players should result in that kind of gap.
And if Davis-Gaither is apparently playing too well to come off the field, then stop treating Allen as a MIKE-only linebacker.
Why can’t he play WILL?
This is the part of Anarumo’s explanation that bothers me the most.
Why are the Colts rotating three different players through the WILL spot while keeping Allen glued to the bench as Davis-Gaither’s backup?
Carlies is the obvious player whose snaps should be available. He played 42 defensive snaps against Baltimore earlier this season and did not record a single statistic. Not one!! His interception against Washington was a nice play, but one interception does not erase years of very little production.
If the choice is between continuing to give Carlies 25-30 snaps a game or using some of those snaps to develop the player you just selected 53rd overall, I know which direction I am going.
Allen has enough athleticism to run and cover. His college tape showed a player comfortable operating in space as well as inside the box. Nothing about his profile suggested a linebacker who could only stand in the middle of the defense and call plays.
If Anarumo wants Davis-Gaither at MIKE because of the green dot, then work Allen in elsewhere. That is coaching!
The answer cannot simply be, “They play different positions,” as if those positions were assigned at birth.
Other rookie linebackers are already producing
The rest of the 2026 linebacker class also makes Allen’s usage look strange.
Jacob Rodriguez, who went 43rd overall to Miami, was one of my favourite prospects in the entire draft. Through three games he already had 28 tackles and an interception and had taken over defensive communication duties for the Dolphins. He is now the betting favourite for Defensive Rookie of the Year at +300.
Anthony Hill Jr. went seven picks after Allen at No. 60 overall. He immediately won a starting job with Tennessee, recorded 34 tackles in his first three games and was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month for September.
Sonny Styles was obviously drafted much earlier at No. 7 overall, so the expectations are different, but he has already become an important part of Washington’s defense. He has started all four games, played more than 200 snaps, intercepted a pass, forced a fumble and earned NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Every prospect develops differently, so this is not as simple as saying Rodriguez and Hill are producing and therefore Allen would be doing the same thing if Indianapolis played him.
It does show that linebackers from this class are capable of contributing immediately.
Rodriguez, Hill and Allen were all generally in the same broad range of the draft process. Indianapolis chose Allen. I had Rodriguez and Hill around the same area myself, and plenty of evaluators viewed all three as high-end Day 2 linebackers.
Two of them are being allowed to play through mistakes and develop on Sundays.
The other has 11 snaps.
Find a way to play him
Maybe CJ Allen gets on the field and struggles, so that is possible. Maybe the missed camp time put him further behind than anyone outside the building realizes. Maybe Anarumo believes his assignments at WILL are not clean enough yet. Maybe Davis-Gaither simply has a much firmer grasp on the defense right now.
At some point, none of those explanations justify zero snaps.
The Colts did not draft Allen in the sixth round. They used their first selection of the draft on him. Ballard specifically said Indianapolis did not want to trade down again because it was afraid another team would take him.
Five months later, the coaching staff cannot find 15 snaps for him, so there is obviously a big disconnect somewhere.
Either the front office misjudged how ready Allen was, or the coaching staff is being too rigid with the way it views his role. I think both are true, but tend to lean towards the coaching staff being too rigid.
Whatever the answer is, Anarumo needs to figure it out.
This linebacker room is not good enough to have a second-round pick sitting on the sideline every week. Davis-Gaither is not Fred Warner. Carlies has not shown enough to deserve a protected role. Boettcher and Ajiake are getting opportunities despite entering the season with far less investment and expectation attached to them.
Allen needs those opportunities too.
Let him sit and learn when he needs to. Let him make mistakes when he gets on the field. Rotate him at MIKE, give him some snaps at WILL and see what happens.
The Colts spent the 53rd pick trying to find a long-term linebacker. They are never going to find out whether they did if they refuse to play him.
