Veterans and rookies for the Indianapolis Colts will report for training camp on July 24th, with the first practice taking place on July 25th.
Between now and then I will be previewing the Colts’ 91-man roster with a look back at each player’s 2023 season, along with what’s ahead for 2024.
I’ll be going through the Colts’ roster alphabetically, so up next is defensive end Laiatu Latu. To stay up to date with our other previews, be sure to head over to Colts Wire.
2023 Season Review
On the field, Latu was viewed as one of the top defenders in this year’s class, but some uncertainty around a previous neck injury left many wondering where in the draft he would be taken. Clearly, the Colts were comfortable with what they learned during the pre-draft process about that injury and viewed him as the top defensive player in this year’s draft.
“Excited about we got Latu,” said Ballard. “He’s a really great kid. I know the medical is going to be a question. Like our doctors said, he played two full years with it and had 22.5 sacks.
“I had a ton (questions about Latu’s health),” added Ballard. “You can imagine. I asked a ton of questions. Anytime you have any kind of neck injury. You remember (Clayton) Geathers – Clayton went through it. It wasn’t as bad as Clayton’s. (I) asked a ton of questions – career length, what’s the chance of it happening again – we asked a ton of questions on it.”
Latu comes to the NFL after two years at UCLA where he was one of the most disruptive pass rushers in the sport. In 2022, Latu’s 65 pressures were the fourth-most that season. He also recorded 12 sacks. This most recent season, Latu logged 62 pressures–the fifth-most–and 15 sacks, ranking first among edge rushers in pass rush win rate.
“I think he’s going to produce pretty quickly as a rusher, I think he knows how to rush,” said Ballard. “Now of course, there’s going to be an adjustment period as there is with any rookie rusher and he’s pretty polished. This guy is a pretty polished product in terms of rushing. Of course, you’re going to have to learn especially against the tackles who are so good in our league and the protection schemes are so good. So, that will be an adjustment for him. But, smart kid – he’ll figure it out.”
2024 Season Preview
Latu will have an immediate role in the Colts’ pass rush rotation, and will be tasked with bringing some added consistency to this unit. Although the Colts ranked fifth in total sacks last season, they ranked 23rd in total pressures and pressure rate, according to PFF. In order to repeat that level of sack production, they’ll likely need to get after the quarterback with more consistency.
As Ballard mentioned, Latu’s pass rush repertoire is polished and he should make a quick impact. Also contributing to Latu’s potential quick success will be playing in a deep rotation, allowing defensive coordinator Gus Bradley to really play matchups, putting Latu in positions to be successful. On top of that, a deep rotation will help keep Latu fresh throughout the game and create one-on-one matchups for him to exploit.
“I would say he’s real slippery,” Kwity Paye said. “He gets on and off blocks real easy, can bend the corner, turn the edge, and just really manipulating the O-line. You know, just his counters and his spins, everything like that, just watching his film, it’s crazy.”
However, while Latu’s impact may happen quickly, there is often still some sort of learning curve for rookies. During OTAs and minicamp, Latu got his first taste of NFL experience, and identified that he needs to work on his secondary pass rush moves.
At the NFL level, even the best pass rushers can’t always plan on winning their reps with speed or power, and when the offensive line stops the first move, the best pass rushers have a counter they can lean so that they aren’t taken out of the play immediately.
“At times, moves will work crisp out here,” said Latu, “but there’s times where I feel like it works crisp, but they’re still latched on to me. Now I’ve got to figure out a way where I can use their momentum or use my momentum to shift their hands off of me or try to reduce some type of surface level on my body.
“So I’ve just been in the film room trying to watch how to beat certain tackles off of certain sets because everyone is talented out here. Everyone’s so good from the top down. It’s just a blessing that I get to go up against them every day.”
Latu should be considered a top candidate to be the Defensive Rookie of the Year this season.