The Indianapolis Colts have high aspirations for their defense in 2020 after making some big additions to the unit this offseason. But one of their homegrown pieces in linebacker Bobby Okereke will have plenty of eyes on him in his second season.
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Emerging as a big piece of the linebacker corps during the second half of his rookie campaign, Okereke will be fighting for the starting MIKE role with Anthony Walker Jr. while also likely seeing some work at the SAM spot.
Okereke told reporters Wednesday some of the things he took from his rookie campaign and where he wants to improve for Year 2.
“Yeah, probably just the technique of using my hands more. I think I was blessed to have Coach (Matt) Eberflus as my first-year linebacker coach – kind of just the technique of using our quick punch and our long arm,” Okereke said. “I’ve got long arms kind of in that same mold as Darius Leonard, E.J. Speed – just being able to use our athleticism and long arms to keep linemen off us to be free to run and make plays.”
The Stanford product was drafted in the third round in 2019 in the new type of mold among linebackers. Lengthy, rangy and athletic, Okereke fits perfectly into the system that has been implemented in Indy.
Though he didn’t see a whole lot of playing time during the first half of his rookie season, Okereke remembers the game in which everything started to click.
“Yeah, I would honestly say that switch for me kind of flipped after that Chiefs game,” said Okereke. “Getting that win was a lot of confidence for our team, but a lot of confidence for me knowing that I can come in and play with Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs and really come in and play versus anybody and play at a high level.”
Okereke finished his rookie season with 65 tackles (48 solo), 1.0 sack, two tackles for loss and two passes defended in 16 games played and eight starts.
The Colts defense should be a unit that improves as a whole in 2020, and there will be plenty of eyes on the second-year linebacker out of Stanford.
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