{"id":216286,"date":"2025-02-12T16:49:52","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T21:49:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=216286"},"modified":"2025-02-12T16:49:52","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T21:49:52","slug":"can-the-colts-defense-become-an-all-time-unit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/02\/12\/can-the-colts-defense-become-an-all-time-unit\/","title":{"rendered":"Can the Colts Defense Become an “All-Time Unit?”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Indianapolis Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin recently had an interview with Jim Rome<\/a>. Franklin said he believes the Colts\u2019 defense can be an \u201call-time unit\u201d by adding a playmaker.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got Pro Bowlers at this point, playmakers at all three levels: myself, DeForest, and Kenny Moore,\u201d Franklin said. \u201cSo, adding another dynamic playmaker to that mix, whether it\u2019s secondary, D-line, or linebacker room, is only going to add to that and help make this an all-time unit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Franklin was right when he said he, DeForest Buckner<\/a>, and Kenny Moore II<\/a> are playmakers on the Colts\u2019 defense. But can the team surround that trio with quality players this offseason and create an elite unit?<\/p>\n

Can the Colts Defense Become an “All-Time Unit?”<\/h2>\n

New Sheriff in Town<\/h3>\n

The Colts parted ways<\/a> with defensive coordinator Gus Bradley following this past season. Bradley spent the last three years in Indianapolis. During that span, the Colts defense finished 29, 28, and 27th in points allowed. Yeah, that\u2019s certainly not elite-level defense.<\/p>\n

Enter Lou Anarumo, the former defensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals. Colts fans should be optimistic<\/a> about his hiring.\u00a0\u201cThe Colts are moving from one of the NFL’s most static and predictable defenses under recently fired defensive coordinator Gus Bradley to one of the game’s more unpredictable and varied attacks under Anarumo, ESPN\u2019s Stephen Holder<\/a> wrote.\u00a0Anarumo will bring a much more aggressive defense to Indy than Bradley did. And like Holder stated, his defense will be more unpredictable.<\/p>\n

The Bengals\u2019 defense was bad in 2024, allowing 25.5 points per game (26th in the NFL,). However, the main reason for that was Cincinnati losing key defenders over the past few years like safety Jessie Bates III<\/a> and cornerback Chidobe Awuzie.<\/p>\n

When Anarumo had great defenders in Cincinnati, he did an outstanding job. A great example is the AFC Championship Game against the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> during the 2021 season. The Bengals shut down Patrick Mahomes, who was sacked four times and threw two interceptions.<\/p>\n

Chris Ballard’s Last Stand<\/h3>\n

Again, Anarumo needs to have the right personnel in Indianapolis. And for that to happen, Colts general manager Chris Ballard must step up and deliver. Ballard hasn\u2019t always done the greatest job, of building a team. But maybe, he\u2019ll make the right moves this offseason.<\/p>\n

The Colts own the 14th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. One good move would be using that pick to select a safety like Georgia\u2019s Malaki Starks<\/a>. He\u2019d be an ideal replacement for free agent Julian Blackmon if he leaves this spring.<\/p>\n

Signing a quality linebacker like Nick Bolton<\/a> would also help. With E.J. Speed and Grant Stuart set to be free agents, Bolton would be a fantastic pickup, playing next to Franklin.<\/p>\n

If JuJu Brents can stay healthy, he can team with Moore and Jaylon Jones to form a solid cornerback unit. Besides those three, the Colts have several playmakers like Franklin, Buckner, Grover Stewart, and Laiatu Latu.<\/p>\n

Can Ballard come through and build an \u201call-time\u201d defense around those holdovers? Based on his track record, don\u2019t count on it. But anything\u2019s possible.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: Grace Hollars-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Indianapolis Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin said his team’s defense can become an “all-time unit” if they add another playmaker.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4890,"featured_media":216441,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[54,12],"tags":[1619,7800,4817,32778],"class_list":["post-216286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorials","category-colts","tag-chris-ballard","tag-indianapolis-colts-news","tag-lou-anarumo","tag-zaire-franklin"],"modified_by":"Will Koshover, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4890"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216286"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":216442,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216286\/revisions\/216442"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}