Colts May Not Be Doing Their New Coach Any Favors

The Indianapolis Colts' defensive line was quite underwhelming over the last two seasons under position coach Charlie Partridge.

The Colts were lackluster at accumulating consistent pressure on quarterbacks, and the sacks weren't much to take home, either. This led to Partridge leaving for Notre Dame and Indy signing veteran d-line coach, Marion Hobby.

Hobby has a wealth of experience in college and the pros. However, his most notable tenure was coaching the defensive trenches for Lou Anarumo with the Cincinnati Bengals (2021-2024).

While it's refreshing to get Hobby into the fray in Indy, he doesn't have a superstar like Trey Hendrickson as an anchor, so his work will be cut out for him.

The Athletic's James Boyd points out something glaring: Indy might not have done enough to help Hobby transition well in his first year in the Circle City.

"One could argue, however, that Indy failed to give Hobby another starting-caliber edge rusher to work with. The Colts have only added rotational defensive ends this offseason."

Marion Hobby coaches his team from the sideline. — Feb 13, 2022; Inglewood, CA, USA; Cincinnati Bengals defensive line coach Marion Hobby against the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports

Indianapolis didn't have much of an intimidating defensive end room last year. While Laiatu Latu took a step in the right direction by leading the team with 8.5 sacks, Kwity Paye and Samson Ebukam were ghosts at times.

Now, Paye is with the Las Vegas Raiders, and Ebukam is with the Atlanta Falcons. While their departures aren't much of a loss, the Colts haven't really done much to this point to replace them amicably.

As Boyd points out, they signed veteran rotational edge rusher Arden Key, as well as Micheal Clemons. They also drafted George Gumbs Jr. and Caden Curry.

Key could suddenly jump to a starter-level talent, but in eight years, his best season was 6.5 sacks in 2021 with the San Francisco 49ers and 2024 with the Tennessee Titans.

As for Clemons, he's been wildly inefficient and is most famous for cursing at fans as a member of the New York Jets.

Jets DE Micheal Clemons going at Browns fans 😭 (via nicole_guizzotti/TT) pic.twitter.com/xvY8HNUNGF
— Overtime (@overtime) December 29, 2023

Transitioning to the draft picks, Gumbs and Curry. Gumbs is a wildly athletic edge rusher, but is considered a project who might need multiple seasons to hit his potential.

As for Curry, he was a stud with the Ohio State Buckeyes in 2025, but as a sixth-round talent, he'll have a steep hill to climb for playing time.

Obviously, Latu is the top man in the Colts' edge room, but Jaylahn Tuimoloau is the biggest wildcard.

Last season, Tuimoloau saw little playing time despite being Indy's second-round pick in the 2025 draft.

Tuimoloau will need to showcase far more to give Hobby and Anarumo confidence that he could be a viable starter opposite Latu.

While this piece has mentioned defensive ends, it's worth noting Indy did well to pad the defensive tackle depth behind DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart by adding Derrick Nnadi, Jerry Tillery, and trading for Colby Wooden.

Marion Hobby walks on the field before a game starts. — Nov 26, 2017; Glendale, AZ, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars defensive line coach Marion Hobby against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It's not the defensive tackle position that has a massive question mark, though; it's the edge. Boyd makes an excellent point to highlight that the Colts failed to really make this group better with the talent they added on paper.

Regardless, if the Colts want to succeed and help the coverage, as well as assist Hobby with his new team, that edge group has to be far better than the last two seasons.

It doesn't matter if the Colts have great defensive backs like Sauce Gardner, Charvarius Ward, and Cam Bynum in the secondary. If there is a lackluster pass-rush, they can only cover for so long.

This position group has the most fog surrounding it on the Colts' roster, and the criticism from Boyd, as well as others, is very fair.

It will take a combination of Tuimoloau stepping up, Key being more than a rotational talent, and Latu making a star-like leap to dispel the detractors and help this defense stave off offensive competition to succeed.

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