Indianapolis, IN — The Indianapolis Colts have been desperately trying to replicate their golden pass rush era, which was headlined by a star-studded wrecking crew off the edge of Dwight Freeney and Robert
Mathis.
Despite not rostering a superstar edge rusher since those two retired, the Colts have found success in the 2020s by taking a pass-rush-by-committee approach. Winning with the aggregate hasn’t been sexy nor consistent from year to year, but it did culminate in a franchise-record 51 sacks in 2023.
For the majority of the Chris Ballard era, the Colts have consistently struggled to generate edge disruption, despite spending multiple top-round draft picks to no avail. Trading away a middle-of-the-pack first-round pick for DeForest Buckner ahead of the 2020 NFL Draft was indeed praiseworthy and shouldn’t be disregarded.
However, while Buckner’s presence has been the Colts’ saving grace on defense since arriving in Indy, he provides a near-perfect example as to why the aforementioned lack of consistent pass rush, particularly off the edge, has remained: Chris Ballard and Co. can identify proven talent that still has juice, but projecting NFL pass rushers is where they’ve fallen flat.
So no, the Colts’ front office hasn’t neglected its pass rush all of these years, but they’ve certainly missed their fair share of darts thrown. Credit where credit is due, they’ve brought in talent via free agency, which has subsequently paid dividends nearly every instance; it’s the hit rate in drafting that’s been abysmal. As a result, continuity has faltered, not flourished.
In succeeding years, here are the sack leaders of the Ballard era:
2017: Jabaal Sheard – 5.5 sacks
2018: Denico Autry – 9.0 sacks
2019: Justin Houston – 11.0 sacks
2020: DeForest Buckner – 9.0 sacks
2021: DeForest Buckner – 7.0 sacks
2022: Yannick Ngakoue – 9.5 sacks
2023: Samson Ebukam – 9.5 sacks
Not only did each player listed either have a career-high showing or prove to be a reclamation project gone as intended, but each wound up leading the team in sacks. Every player who led the Colts in sacks throughout the first seven years under this front office was acquired via trade or free agency. It wasn’t until the 2024-25 season that a player Chris Ballard drafted led the team in sacks (Kwity Paye – 8.0).
In total, here are the first and second round picks under Ballard, as well as their corresponding season-high sack total:
Kemoko Turay (2018 – R2, P52): 5.5 sacks
Tyquan Lewis (2018 – R2, P64): 4.0 sacks
Ben Banogu (2019 – R2, P49): 2.5 sacks
Kwity Paye (2021 – R1, P21): 8.5 sacks
Dayo Odeyingbo (2021 – R2, P54): 8.0 sacks
Laiatu Latu (2024 – R1, P15): 6.5 sacks (so far)
J.T. Tuimoloau (2025 – R2, P45): N/A
It hasn’t been all bad, especially as of late, with recent draftees showing legitimate promise, but the process leaves a lot to be desired.
The bottom line is that the Colts need to improve at drafting pass-rush talent, and it’s hard to say after almost a decade that this front office suggests anything other than disappointment. Dayo Odeyingbo did blossom enough to earn himself a big payday with the Chicago Bears this past offseason, but a somewhat stagnant Kwity Paye rookie contract, coupled with waiting on Laiatu Latu to truly ascend, has more or less invited impatience into the equation.
As previously mentioned, the Colts have been able to make a collective pass rush work, as opposed to the typical one-man band who sets the tone (Myles Garrett, Micah Parsons, and Aidan Hutchinson, to name a few). They’ve been able to win with the aggregate, even setting a franchise record in 2023, but even then, those 51 sacks ranked just 5th-best leaguewide that season.
While you have to give props to the front office for knowing when to strike on ascending players and reclamation projects or guys with juice left via free agency, drafting pass rush talent has not netted the same results. As alluded to, flashes from Laiatu Latu and J.T. Tuimoloau prove that, at least, the jury is still out, so while patience is of the utmost importance, it’s simultaneously true that time is running out for this regime to right its wrongs.
