The staff members of Sports Illustrated’s Monday Morning Quarterback team recently predicted the winners of each major NFL award, and the most popular selection for Defensive Rookie of the Year was the Colts’ Laiatu Latu.
Of the nine individuals who made predictions, four of them selected Latu to win this award. The next closest player was Minnesota pass rusher Dallas Turner who received two votes.
Latu was the first defensive player taken off the board in this past April’s draft and has looked the part since arriving in Indianapolis.
Whether it be in one-on-ones, the team portion of practice or in preseason games, Latu was consistently disruptive. In the preseason, this included a pressure that eventually resulted in a Kenny Moore interception against Denver, and then a sack on his first pass rush attempt against Cincinnati.
“It’s crazy, man,” said Kwity Paye about Latu. “The way how he just bends, like just seeing him, how he plays. Sometimes, the tackle will get him on his inside shoulder, and he just takes the shoulder away, drops, bends, and just keeps going. Like it’s amazing to see how he could manipulate the O-line and just play, man.”
In the Colts deep defensive front rotation, at least based on what we saw during the preseason, Kwity Paye and Tyquan Lewis were handling the early, more run-heavy downs, with Latu then taking Lewis’ place during more obvious passing situations.
Ample snaps in those situations will give Latu the opportunity to pin his ears back. The depth of the defensive line should also give him one-on-one opportunities to capitalize on with offensive lines also having to worry about Paye, DeForest Buckner, and others.
In 2023, Houston Texans’ defensive end Will Anderson won the Defensive Rookie of the Year award. For some context, he finished the season with 59 pressures and seven sacks, according to PFF.