Latest news with #LaiatuLatu
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Indianapolis Colts' OTAs: The big question at defensive end
The Indianapolis Colts will begin Phase III of the offseason programs on May 28th, which means the start of voluntary Organized Team Activities (OTAs). Rather than only doing individual drills as the Colts have been doing, they will now be permitted to do 7-on-7 or 11-on-11 team drills, although no live contact is allowed. Advertisement So with this important part of the offseason schedule about to begin, I wanted to highlight one big question facing each position group. Up next are the defensive ends. Below you can find our previous position previews. Indianapolis Colts big question: Can Laiatu Latu make a Year 2 leap? Laiatu Latu is going to play a pivotal role in determining how good this Colts' pass rush is this season. Latu finished his rookie season with 38 pressures, which were the second-most on the team, and he also recorded four sacks. Compared to the rest of his position group league-wide, Latu ranked 50th in pressures. Advertisement While at the end of the day, results matter most, that final pressure number from Latu may not be indicative of the success he had as a rusher. By PFF's pass rush win rate metric, Latu ranked 27th among all defensive ends. What that tells us is that he was winning his matchups regularly, and with that, the production will often follow. "He does it the right way," Shane Steichen said via the team site earlier this offseason. "The way he works, his work ethic is tremendous. I think you'll see a big jump from Year 1 to Year 2. I think he had four (sacks) his rookie year, if we can get into double digits in Year 2 that'd be tremendous." The addition of Lou Anarumo as the defensive coordinator should help Latu and the Colts' pass rush as a whole. For one, we will see more movement up front to help create advantageous matchups. But in addition to that, we frequently saw opponents last season take advantage of the Colts' secondary through the quick passing game, which made it very difficult for the defensive line to get home regularly. Anarumo's more aggressive scheme should prevent some of that, which then will give the rushers more time to get to the quarterback. Advertisement Without Dayo Odeyingbo, the Colts lost their top pressure-getter from the 2024 season. Replacing that production will be a group effort, but a lot of that responsibility could fall on Latu's shoulders. This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Indianapolis Colts' OTAs: Can DE Laiatu Latu make a Year 2 leap?
USA Today
24-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Indianapolis Colts 2025 NFL combine preview: Defensive line
The 2025 NFL Combine kicks off this upcoming week. So let's preview the event through the Indianapolis Colts' lens and take a look at the defensive line unit. For a deeper dive into the combine specifically and what you need to know from the Colts' perspective, click here. To preview other position groups, follow the links below: Quarterback Running back Wide receiver Tight end Offensive line What's the need for the Colts along the defensive line? This is a unit that GM Chris Ballard has already invested heavily into–in terms of both salary cap dollars and draft capital. So considering that Kwity Paye, Laiatu Latu, DeForest Buckner, and Grover Stewart are all under contract in 2025, the need here certainly isn't pressing. However, that doesn't one doesn't exist either. The need at defensive will largely depend on what happens in free agency. Specifically, does Dayo Odeyingbo end up playing elsewhere and do the Colts move on from Samson Ebukam? If those scenarios play out, then at least some depth is going to be needed, but there's also a lot of production potentially leaving as well, with Odeyingbo leading the Colts in pressures last season. At defensive tackle, the depth behind Buckner and Stewart has to get better. Last season, by PFF's pass rush win rate metric and run stop rate metric, both Taven Bryan and Raekwon Davis ranked near the bottom of their position group in those categories. Along with improved play being a need, Bryan is also set to be a free agent and Davis is a possible cut candidate as well. While there are other positions that are likely to take priority this offseason over the defensive front, when you add together everything just discussed with Ballard's affinity for adding to the trenches, and the fact that this draft class is loaded along the defensive line, you get a recipe for an addition at some point in the draft. What does the Colts current defensive line depth chart look like? DeForest Buckner Grover Stewart Kwity Paye Samson Ebukam Raekwon Davis Tyquan Lewis Laiatu Latu Adetomiwa Adebawore Isaiah Land Durell Nchami Pheldarius Payne Relative Athletic Scores of past offensive line draft picks for Colts The RAS formula–which was created by Kent Lee Platte–takes all of the measurements and times from the NFL Combine and Pro Days and converts them into an easily comparable figure that ranges from 0 to 10, allowing us to see how players of the same position group stack up athletically to one another. On the RAS scale, 5.0 is considered average, with 8.0 or higher being in the top 20 percentile of the position group from an athleticism standpoint. The higher the RAS, the better the athlete. Ben Banogu: 9.70 Tyquan Lewis: 9.53 Kwity Paye: 9.34 Laiatu Latu: 9.37 Titus Leo: 8.48 Tarell Basham: 8.20 Kemoko Turay: 8.27 Adetomiwa Adebawore: 9.72 Jonah Laulu: 9.62 Curtis Brooks: 9.51 Eric Johnson: 9.39 Robert Windsor: 8.68 Grover Stewart: 7.79 Which defensive linemen were invited to the NFL combine? Tommy Akingbesote, Maryland Darius Alexander, Toledo Tyler Baron, Miami Tyler Batty, BYU Zeek Biggers, Georgia Tech Yahya Black, Iowa Warren Brinson, Georgia Vernon Broughton, Texas Jordan Burch, Oregon Jamaree Caldwell, Oregon Abdul Carter, Penn State Alfred Collins, Texas Howard Cross III, Notre Dame Fadil Diggs, Syracuse Ethan Downs, Oklahoma Donovan Ezeiruaku, Boston College Joshua Farmer, Florida State Ashton Gillotte, Louisville Mason Graham, Michigan Kenneth Grant, Michigan Mike Green, Marshall Eric Gregory, Arkansas Ty Hamilton, Ohio State Derrick Harmon, Oregon Jared Harrison-Hunte, SMU Ahmed Hassanein, Boise State Tonka Hemingway, South Carolina Cam Horsley, Boston College Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, Georgia Jared Ivey, Mississippi Cam Jackson, Florida Landon Jackson, Arkansas Sai'vion Jones, LSU Jah Joyner, Minnesota DeAndre Jules, South Carolina Kyle Kennard, South Carolina Steve Linton, Baylor Sean Martin, West Virginia Rylie Mills, Notre Dame Walter Nolen, Mississippi Omarr Norman-Lott, Tennessee Oluwafemi Oladejo, UCLA Payton Page, Clemson James Pearce Jr., Tennessee Aeneas Peebles, Virginia Tech JJ Pegues, Mississippi Jordan Phillips, Maryland Antwaun Powell-Ryland, Virginia Tech Jahvaree Ritzie, North Carolina Elijah Roberts, SMU Que Robinson, Alabama Ty Robinson, Nebraska Kaimon Rucker, North Carolina T.J. Sanders, South Carolina Jack Sawyer, Ohio State Nic Scourton, Texas A&M Elijah Simmons, Tennessee Tim Smith, Alabama Barryn Sorrell, Texas Nazir Stackhouse, Georgia Josaiah Stewart, Michigan Shemar Stewart, Texas A&M Bradyn Swinson, LSU Junior Tafuna, Utah Jay Toia, UCLA JT Tuimoloau, Ohio State Shemar Turner, Texas A&M Princely Umanmielen, Mississippi David Walker, Central Arkansas Deone Walker, Kentucky CJ West, Indiana Mykel Williams, Georgia Tyleik Williams, Ohio State
USA Today
11-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Colts still select DE Laiatu Latu in 2024 NFL redraft
With hindsight being 20/20, who would the Indianapolis Colts end up with in a redraft of the 2024 NFL draft class? Ali Bhanpuri and Tom Blair of set out to redraft the entire first round, knowing what we know now after seeing how the 2024 season unfolded. For the Colts at 15th overall, they would still end up selecting defensive end Laiatu Latu in this scenario. 'Colts don't have any options here who would obviously improve their fortunes. Laiatu Latu did not live up to preseason Defensive Rookie of the Year hype, but he did still provide Indy with desperately needed pass-rush help.' Defensive Rookie of the Year Jared Verse went eighth overall to Atlanta, while cornerback Quinyon Mitchell wasn't on the board either after being taken at 11th by Cincinnati. In this redraft, the Colts could have went with defensive end Chop Robinson, but Blair and Bhanpuri stuck with Latu instead, noting continuity and the Colts sticking with the player they know. Given the Colts issues in the secondary, Nate Wiggins and Cooper DeJean could have been options in a redraft as well. Latu would tally 38 pressures last season, the second-most on the Colts, along with four sacks, which was the third-most, according to PFF. Although the production was, at times, up and down, the pass rush consistency was often there. Latue would rank 29th among all defensive ends in pass rush win rate. In terms of long-term viability, that's a very good sign. We also saw Latu's run defense improve as the season progressed as well. Compared to the rest of the 2024 rookie class, Latu was third in pressures, trailing Verse and Robinson. He was second in run-stops and second in run defense grade.
