Indianapolis Colts’ Biggest Draft Need is Outside Linebacker

The Indianapolis Colts have to fix a lot of issues in this year’s NFL Draft. While everyone is expecting the offensive line to be their top priority, the Colts should focus on their lackluster outside linebacker group.

There is no question that the Indianapolis Colts will live and die by how Andrew Luck plays in 2016. However, his performances will mean absolutely nothing if the team’s defense cannot stop opponents from moving the football and scoring.

The Colts’ pass defense was vulnerable for much of the 2015 season as the team finished 24th in passing yards allowed (259 YPG) and tied for 12th in passing touchdowns allowed (29 TDs). Most people believe the secondary was why the defense played so poorly. The team had many of its defensive backs get injured during the season, which caused the entire unit to struggle throughout the entire season.

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While the secondary was certainly an issue, the Colts’ outside linebackers were an even bigger concern. In the Colts’ 3-4 defense, they need their outside linebackers to be sack machines. The Colts’ outside linebackers were nowhere close to being sack machines for them.

As a team, the Indianapolis Colts struggled to generate a solid pass rush in 2015 and finished tied for 22nd in total sacks with 35. However, their outside linebackers only contributed 14 sacks to that total. Free agent acquisition Trent Cole only mustered up three sacks, veteran Erik Walden could only add three more and Jonathan Newsome only had one. Meanwhile, a 34-year-old Robert Mathis carried the position group with seven sacks.

The lack of an elite passer rusher at the position really put the result of the Colts’ defense in a tough spot. It is hard for defensive players to stay with their coverage assignments when the quarterback has four to seven seconds to throw the ball.

It is pretty obvious the Colts need to draft a young pass rusher, who can immediately start at outside linebacker. Unfortunately, this year’s draft class does not possess a lot of pass rushing outside linebackers. The Colts have to strike early in the draft if they want to get a difference maker at outside linebacker.

These are the best-rated outside linebackers of the first two rounds of the draft. Also, each of these players is projected to play well as a 3-4 outside linebacker.

• OLB Leonard Floyd (1st Round)
• DE/OLB Noah Spence (1st Round)
• OLB Kamalei Correa (1st – 2nd Round)
• OLB Kyler Fackrell (2nd – 3rd Round)

There are other notable pass rushers like Shaw Lawson or Kevin Dodd, but these players would not fit the team’s defensive scheme. The Colts need a 3-4 outside linebacker while these guys project better as a 4-3 defensive ends. Also, the Colts avoid drafting a 4-3 defensive end and forcing him to play out of position as a 3-4 outside linebacker. They tried to do this with Bjoern Werner, and it miserably failed.

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The Indianapolis Colts need to stop relying on Andrew Luck and the offense to cover the team’s below-average defense. The best way to fix this problem is by drafting a pass rusher at outside linebacker. While the Colts may have other concerns, the need of a young outside linebacker is too glaring to ignore early in the draft.