The Indianapolis Colts made it clear this offseason they wanted to add more reliability and veteran presence to the defensive side of the ball, which ultimately led to them to signing cornerback Xavier Rhodes.
Filling in on the boundary after the Colts released Pierre Desir, Rhodes is hoping to bounce back after a down season in 2019. Head coach Frank Reich had plenty of praise for the 29-year-old cornerback.
“So going forward, we’re excited about Xavier (Rhodes). I’ve coached against Xavier several times,” Reich told reporters last week. “This guy is long, he’s tough, he’s physical (and) he’s got good leadership. We really think he’ll come in and make an impact.”
Rhodes is going to get the first shot at holding the starting boundary role opposite Rock Ya-Sin. He is getting the benefit of the doubt that he can bounce back in 2020 after allowing a career-high 131.1 passer rating, per Pro Football Focus.
Rhodes will get the chance to prove his worth as a starter before anyone else gets a shot on the boundary.
“Obviously, we’ll give him the respect that is due, but he’s got to earn it just like everybody else,” said Reich. “He’s got to earn it like just everybody else.”
Part of the reason Rhodes was brought in is to add that veteran element to the secondary, which is a young unit for the Colts. Reich expressed his excitement about the new additions having a strong presence in the locker room.
“We really are excited about where we’re going on defense with the addition of DeForest (Buckner), with our young players and our young defense,” Reich said. “I think we’ve made some moves there that are really going to help us, both with starters and some depth going forward that can help our defense to take the next step.”
The Colts defense should be better in 2020, and it will be interesting to see how much of an impact Rhodes makes.