Indianapolis, IN — The Indianapolis Colts sent shockwaves throughout the NFL after adding superstar cornerback Sauce Gardner by way of two first-round draft picks and second-year wide receiver AD Mitchell.
While the Colts’ cornerback room is the biggest benefactor of such acquisition, another unit among the defense is an underrated winner: the pass rush.
Obviously, the addition of top-tier talent immediately improves a defense, but specifically, the Colts’ inconsistent yet productive pass rush should receive a steady boost of sorts. Said inconsistency mainly sprouts from the defensive end room. Second-year EDGE and 2024 first-round pick Laiatu Latu is slowly but surely coming into his own, but outside of him and perennial double-team eraser in DT DeForest Buckner, production has come too few and far between.
To be fair, Indy’s recent stretch of uninspired cornerback play has been arguably the biggest contributing factor. Lou Anarumo’s Colts defense has been without top corner Charvarius Ward for three consecutive weeks, with recent Injured Reserver Jaylon Jones only returning in Week 9 against the Steelers. During that stretch, and even during moments early in the season when Ward and Co. were healthy, consistent pass rush production has diminished. As of recent, though, teams have gameplanned to attack Colts cornerback with quick-hitters in the pass game.
For example, against the Steelers, quarterback Aaron Rodgers averaged just 2.7 air yards per attempt against the Colts defense, the 3rd-fewest by a quarterback in a game this season according to Next Gen Stats. This was by far the fastest time-to-throw in Week 9, a blazing 2.14 sec average, while Rodgers went 1-3 for 12 yards on passes over 10 air yards.
So, yes, the Colts pass rush, particularly its edge room, has been lacking, but so has the personnel throughout the backend. Injuries are inevitable part of the game, so while no team is ever expected to be at full strength, the Colts are inching closer to what the potential of a Lou Anarumo defense in Indianapolis can offer.
Entering Week 10, the Colts defense sits firmly in the upper quartile of pass rush numbers (T-6th with 26 sacks; 9th in pressure rate at 36.9%) but sports a middle-of-the-pack get-off rate (0.86 sec). Meanwhile, the Colts are averaging the 7th-most yards given up through the air (244.8 ypg) and have surrended the T-8th most amount of passing touchdowns (15).
What’s keeping the Colts defense afloat is its opportunistic style of play defensively (T-4th most takeaways with 13) paired with its historically efficient offense. Given that football is inherently a team sport, it only makes sense that a given unit works better in concert, and that’s exactly what this Colts team expects will improve with the addition of cornerback Sauce Gardner.
“When you’re sticky on the backend with the coverage guys that we’ve got, adding [Sauce Gardner] to the fold makes the QB hang onto the ball a little more which helps the pass rush,” head coach Shane Steichen explained the inherent nature between the defensive front and its backend. “It goes hand in hand — pass rush helps the coverage on the backend. Anytime you add an elite player like that to the backend, it’s going to help everybody.”
Of course the offensive-minded genius understands what goes into making a complete defense. Shane Steichen wouldn’t be able to pick apart defenses if he didn’t understand that side of the ball inside and out, therefore he knows more than anyone just how excited defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo is to add a chess piece like Gardner to the mix.
“I love the addition of Sauce [Gardner]. It gives us another pro bowl corner. The guy’s been a lockdown player his whole career and gives us the chance to match him and [Charvarius] Ward up on different receivers, two super smart football players,” defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo told Pat McAfee. “I can’t say enough about Sauce Gardner being on our team. We just elevated our whole defense.”
As Anarumo said, the defense singlehandedly gets elevated with Gardner’s talents. His dependable coverage in the backend should allow a more confident operation to be deployed, with the Mad Scientist playing ventrilloquist to a level previously thought impossible.
Sauce Gardner doesn’t just offer elite man coverage from boundary corner, he has top-tier zone eyes and press ability that will fit like a glove for what Anarumo wants to do across the defensive backfield. Gardner has showcased an ability to follow/carry and given receiver, and when you pair that Charvarius Ward’s talents, the possibilities seem endless.
“They’re going to give us a lot more time now that we picked up one of the top dudes to play this game,” second-year pass rusher Laiatu Latu said regarding Sauce Gardner’s influence on the defensive front from the backend. “It’ll definitely give us more time to rush up front.”
“It just opens up the possibilities of everything we can do,” explained longtime Colts linebacker and team captain Zaire Franklin on what adding Sauce Gardner does for the defense in totality. “Obviously, it’s more work to put it, but when you get a guy like that able to walk into your building mid-season, healthy and ready to go.. It’s definitely a huge positive.”
The biggest talking point surrounding Lou Anarumo’s firing after last season was that he was scapegoated. After leading them to a Super Bowl just a short few years earlier, the Cincinnati Bengals’ front office refused to provide him a worthwhile stable of horses, and then shipped him out of town once he couldn’t play miracle worker. Thankfully for the Colts, they had a stable for the taking. Now, full of thoroughbreds, Anarumo and Co. are poised for a deep playoff push.
