The Indianapolis Colts have almost completely revamped their linebacker corps, as backups Austin Ajiake and Jaylon Carlies are the lone memorable holdovers from last year’s defense.
Specifically, the Colts sent former All-Pro linebacker Zaire Franklin to the Green Bay Packers in an earlier offseason trade, while fellow veteran starter Germaine Pratt remains unsigned as a free agent.
Initial indications are that rookie 2nd round pick, CJ Allen, as the Colts top pick in this year’s draft class, should
be opening game starter at ‘MIKE,’ potentially even wearing the green dot on his helmet for the 1st-team defense.
What remains up for grabs is who will potentially be starting at the ‘WILL’ linebacker spot alongside him.
The Favorite: Akeem Davis-Gaither
After moving on from some veterans, the Colts went bargain bin hunting for a new veteran linebacker of their own, signing Akeem Davis-Gaither on a 1-year, $2.73M deal. He reunites with Indianapolis veteran defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, who previously coached him as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals defense.
Entering the 2nd year of an $11 million contract he signed in the 2025 offseason, the 28-year-old Davis-Gaither was a salary cap casualty of the Arizona Cardinals earlier this offseason after recording 117 tackles (51 solo), an interception, 5 passes defensed, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery during 17 starts (13 games) this past year.
Per PFF, Davis-Gaither earned just a +49.0 overall grade, which was the 71st best among 88 qualifying linebackers at his position this past season. That being said, he did record a +66.9 run defense grade, which graded at exactly league average, being the 44th best respectively. It was a much stronger grade than how he fared in coverage, receiving just a +36.5 coverage grade. Rejoining Anarumo, he’s hopeful for a rebound year.
The Challenger: Bryce Boettcher
The 2nd linebacker selected in the Colts recent draft class, the 6,1”, 230 pound Boettcher is a former First-Team All-American for the Oregon Ducks defense, after leading the Big Ten in tackles (136) this past season.
The former infamous two-sport athlete, after also being drafted by the Houston Astros in the 14th round of the 2024 MLB Draft, features energy, instincts, and exceptional movement skills in space. The Colts really like him, but expectations may have to be tempered a bit for the intriguing rookie—at least from the get go.
That being said, even if Boettcher doesn’t initially win a first-team starting defense spot during training camp, he should immediately contribute on special teams and play a factor at some this season defensively with injuries.
The Verdict:
Initially, Davis-Gaither should win the first-team defense spot playing alongside rookie CJ Allen. One, because the Colts probably don’t want two starting rookie linebackers playing alongside one another (if they can help it) beginning in Week 1, and two, it may be hard for Boettcher to initially unseat the veteran Davis-Gaither, given his prior experience in Anaurmo’s system and defensive scheme (and really, in the NFL, collectively).
That being said, when analyzing each of the two competing linebackers’ respective skill-sets, it’s not hard to envision a scenario where Davis-Gaither plays on obvious running downs, hence starting on early downs, while Boettcher could eventually rotate in as a subpackage coverage linebacker during passing downs in nickel. It may not happen immediately from the start, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it eventually happens down the road.
