Learning Lou: Expect Colts to Play More Man Coverage in 2025

The Indianapolis Colts have made a change at defensive coordinator, and with that change in personnel will come some changes to the overall scheme. Lou Anarumo will bring more aggression to a Colts defense that has almost exclusively lived in the Tampa-2/Seattle Cover-3 coaching tree since 2000.
One way that he will bring more aggression to the defense is an increased use of man coverage. He wasn't among the league leaders last season in man coverage use, but he was significantly higher than his predecessor, Gus Bradley. Last season, the Colts ranked near the bottom of the NFL with a man coverage call rate of around 13-16% (depending on where you get your info).
The Cincinnati Bengals, again, depending on where you get your info, were around 24-27% in man coverage rate, which was closer to the league average. The shift from Bradley to Anarumo won't be massive in this regard, but the Colts should see a steady increase in man usage immediately in 2025.
So today, let's dive into a few ways that Anarumo likes to use man coverage and what situations he likes to rely on it for.
Cover-1 Man
Two-high safety looks are all the rage in the NFL right now to limit explosive plays and keep offenses contained in front of the defense. This thought process doesn't necessarily transition over to man coverage, however, as defenses typically prefer to play Cover-1 man over Cover-2
Anarumo is no exception to this, as he often relies on Cover-1 robber or Cover-1 with a rat defender in his man coverage looks. Cover-1 robber is one of his go-to third-and-long calls, forcing offenses to win their matchups across the board and survive over the middle of the field against a lurking strong safety.
To break it down in more detail, Cover-1 robber is a man coverage call featuring a deep centerfield safety and another safety coming down into a hook zone over the middle. This coverage specializes in protecting defenses against a backside dig at the sticks in backed-up situations.
If Anarumo believes that he is facing a team with a lack of man-beaters at receiver, he will throw Cover-1 robber at them a good bit. This play below came against the New England Patriots in Week 1 last season, as Anarumo let his defensive backs get physical with the Patriots' lackluster receiver room on third-and-eight for the stop.
Cover one robber with a five man rush to force the Patriots' lackluster WR room to win a one on one match-up. CB undercuts the throw with the robber help over top of the route. pic.twitter.com/dO9OV3Ln02
— Zach Hicks (@ZachHicks2) January 24, 2025
Anarumo likes to use Cover-1 with a rat defender when he truly wants to suffocate an opposing offense. Cover-1 rat is similar to Cover-1 robber, with the lone difference being the absence of the strong safety over the middle and replacing that player with a linebacker lurking closer to the line of scrimmage.
This type of coverage is perfect against offenses that like to utilize mesh calls and can also be effective at taking away checkdown options. The rat defender uses the pass rushers as a screen to potentially lurk on anything over the middle of the field and catch the quarterback unexpectedly on throws to a drag or in route.
Anarumo used this call quite effectively against the Colts back in 2023. The Bengals bring five rushers on the play and Mike linebacker Logan Wilson is sitting as the rat over the middle eyeing the checkdown or any potential short throws. The Bengals create quick pressure on the play and force an errant throw on third down.
5 man pressure look in dime from Anarumo. Press man across the board with a deep safety and a rat defender over the middle.
— Zach Hicks (@ZachHicks2) January 23, 2025
2023 Colts could never beat this type of design lol pic.twitter.com/0LPbHWJjW3
The result of using more coverage calls like these has paid dividends for the Bengals in recent seasons. Last season the Colts allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete 69.4% of their passes, which was tied for number 31 in the NFL. The Bengals held quarterbacks to just a 64.9% completion percentage, which was tied for number 11.
The Bengals' style of defense under Anarumo was not the bend-don't-break system that Colts' fans have grown accustomed to in recent years.
Man Blitz Calls
On top of calling Cover-1 at a much higher rate than the Colts, the Bengals also had a higher blitz rate. Anarumo isn't in the Wink Martindale tier of blitz rate, but he has shown the tendency in the past to blitz more frequently than previous Colts' defensive coordinators. His blitz rate plummeted to just 21.7% last season, but even that career-low mark was higher than the Colts' blitz rate in 2024 (just 15%).
Anarumo's blitz rate spikes a good bit on third down, getting up into the 30% range. He likes to attach man coverage to the back of his calls, with a deep safety over the top when he brings just five rushers on the play.
Anarumo also sells the blitz so often that he is able to mix in a zero blitz every now and then without the opposing offense expecting it. In these situations where he is bringing 6-7 rushers at the line, he will attach man coverage on the backend and rely on his rushers to get home. This increased rate in blitzing, even if it is marginal, will lead to more man coverage opportunities for the Colts in 2025.
Bengals were up 3 points on 3rd and 4 with 3 minutes to go, and they called a Zero blitz…Ballsy but it worked! pic.twitter.com/aUOFJfy4uW
— Erik Turner Cover 1 (@ErikJTurner) January 23, 2022
The Bottom Line
The Colts' defense is going to undergo a minor facelift this offseason. The scheme won't be drastically different from past years, but there will be a new emphasis and a new reliance on different coverage calls. Under Anarumo, the Colts are likely going to blitz at a higher rate and rely on man coverage at a higher rate than they ever did under Bradley.
For this type of change to work, the Colts need to add to the cornerback room. Jaylon Jones and Samuel Womack were solid players last season, but the Colts need at least another playable asset at outside corner this offseason. If either player struggles in the shift to more man, the Colts need to have a veteran ready to go in reserve.
Overall, the Colts' days of only sitting in soft zone coverage on key downs my be coming to an end. This isn't to say that the team will never call zone coverage again, but we will see the Colts mix in more coverages and allow these cornerbacks to get up and press opponents in man coverage. I'm sure this will be a welcomed change for most Colts' fans in 2025.
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