{"id":230516,"date":"2025-04-28T15:30:03","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T19:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=230516"},"modified":"2025-04-28T13:54:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T17:54:56","slug":"colts-missed-on-linebacker-in-2025-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/04\/28\/colts-missed-on-linebacker-in-2025-nfl-draft\/","title":{"rendered":"The Colts Missed Out On a Key Position In the 2025 NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2025 NFL Draft is over, and the Colts had another good selection<\/a> of players. However, there was one crucial position that the Colts should have picked in the draft, but they went in a different direction. This is not to say that Chris Ballard<\/a> did a bad job. Rather, it is to say that an opportunity was missed. The Colts still have deficiencies on defense, and the biggest concern right now is at linebacker. After losing EJ Speed<\/a> and Grant Stuard<\/a> this offseason, a void was created and needs to be filled.<\/p>\n

Chris Ballard has done a tremendous job<\/a> so far this offseason. He has been aggressive and has met the needs of the franchise. Now that the draft is over and the linebacker position is still thin, it is expected that a linebacker will be acquired at some point this offseason. The draft had several great choices at linebacker, but the market<\/a> also has some players who can impact the Colts defense.<\/p>\n

The Colts Missed Out on Drafting a Linebacker and Need to Look to the Market<\/h2>\n

The current market<\/a> for free-agent linebackers is quite thin, but unfortunately, the Colts are thin<\/a> as well. However, there are still many veterans out there who can make plays and impact a defense. If the Colts decide to fill the void at linebacker, they will need to be strategic with who and how they approach this.<\/p>\n

C.J. Mosely<\/h3>\n

C.J. Mosley<\/a> has played in 10 NFL seasons and has been to five Pro Bowls. He has played for two powerhouse defenses in his career. His first team was the Baltimore Ravens<\/a>, before moving on to the New York Jets<\/a>. 2024 was certainly a down year for him in terms of production, as he suffered multiple injuries<\/a> that sidelined him for 13 games. That being said, though, in three starts last year, he still managed 13 solo tackles and 17 total tackles. Mosley is not a flashy guy in terms of sacks and turnovers. However, he is a tackling machine who can put pressure on the quarterback and make plays in the backfield. His type of playing style would fit nicely with Lou Anarumo<\/a>‘s defense, and he would be a great complement to Zaire Franklin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Von Miller<\/h3>\n

Naturally, talking about free agent linebackers cannot happen without mentioning Von Miller<\/a>. Without a doubt, Miller is the best available linebacker on the market right now. This eight-time Pro Bowler and three-time First-Team All-Pro is entering his 13th year in the league, but has had a tremendous drop-off in production over the last four years. Unfortunately, Miller is not void of talent, but rather void of youth. It is unlikely that the Colts would acquire a 36-year-old linebacker on the decline. However, with Miller’s accolades and accomplishments, his name needs to be mentioned.<\/p>\n

Isaiah Simmons<\/h3>\n

Isaiah Simmons is a free agent, currently on the New York Giants<\/a> roster. Simmons is an interesting case as he came into the league with a lot of promise and struggled to hold the starting role over the last two seasons. In 2024, this former first-round pick only started one game. It should be noted that Simmons went from inside linebacker to safety<\/a> with the Giants. The decline in his production and presence on the field took a big hit when he made this switch. Should a team like the Colts pick up this former linebacker, rest assured, he would go back to that position. Although the change in position was certainly odd, it speaks to Simmons’ athleticism and versatility. This type of athlete could greatly benefit from the type of unconventional style of defense that Lou Anarumo coaches.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: [Kelly Wilkinson\/IndyStar] – USA Today Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Indianapolis Colts missed out on selecting a key position player in the draft and will now need to look to the linebacker market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5012,"featured_media":230745,"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":[12,54],"tags":[1619,56,4817],"class_list":["post-230516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colts","category-editorials","tag-chris-ballard","tag-indianapolis-colts","tag-lou-anarumo"],"modified_by":"Michael Zimmelman","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230516","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\/5012"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230516"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":230746,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230516\/revisions\/230746"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}