NFL.com’s Chad Reuter put together his projection of what he believes the All-Rookie Team will look like this season, and not included on the defensive side of the ball was the Colts’ Laiatu Latu.
On the offensive side, however, Reuter did list Tanor Bortolini at right guard, a position that has Will Fries returning.
Instead of having Latu as one of the defensive ends, Reuter chose Dallas Turner and Jared Verse. Now, these were the second and third edge rushers taken in the draft, so it’s not as if this is any sort of reach on Reuter’s part, but Latu is going to be in a position to succeed right away.
Latu comes to the NFL after being one of the most productive pass rushers in college football the last two years, accumulating 60-plus pressures and finishing top-five each year in that category, along with double-digit sacks.
GM Chris Ballard believes that Latu already has a fairly “polished” pass rush repertoire and while there will be some growing pains, as is the case for any incoming rookie, he should make a fairly quick impact.
Assisting Latu with that early production potential will be the defensive front he’s joining. For one, this is an attacking front under defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, where the job of the defenders is to go and get the football, which fits Latu’s skill set well.
But on top of that, he will be lining up next to players like DeForest Buckner, Grover Stewart, Kwity Paye, Dayo Odeyingbo, and Samson Ebukam, taking some of the attention off of Latu.
And with that depth, Bradley can play really play the matchups with his rotations, putting Latu in positions where he can be successful, specifically, obvious passing downs where he can really pin his ears back.
Perhaps a part of Reuter’s math as he was constructing this All-Rookie Team – and I’m only speculating here – is that because of this depth the Colts do have up front, Latu may not have the same number of pass rush opportunities as Verse or Turner, which could result in less overall production.
Before the team reconvenes for training camp on July 24th, the focus for Latu during this time off is to continue refining his pass rush moves, primarily, making sure he can counter the offensive lines counters.
At the NFL level, having a secondary pass rush move to lean on is a must because pass rushers won’t always be able to win with just pure speed or power and need a counter so they aren’t taken out of the play immediately.
“It’s really just knowing those counters off of my finesse moves,” said Latu during minicamp, “and really just knowing how to read blocks, how to work the techniques that I’ve been learning in the room and trying to apply it on the field in certain situations. That’s kind of where I’ve been at.”
Recently, in Conor Orr’s ‘100 Bold Predictions’ over at Sports Illustrated, he picked Latu to win Defensive Rookie of the Year.