Colts Linebacker Preview: Much Heaped On Jaylon Carlies' Shoulders

When the offseason began, Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard spoke to the local media and lamented the fact that he had not injected enough competition into the roster, which he believed contributed to the team's downfall in 2024.

Complacency in some players' status on the team, and some others who just outright weren't getting the job done, allowed the Colts to be outmatched routinely.

Many people's minds immediately went to the linebacker position following Ballard's comments. The Colts had a significant amount of "second-chance" yards allowed to opponents all year, leading to several huge performances on the ground, and overall, runners were able to pick up yards after contact, and receivers got yards after the catch. Although the defense as a whole faltered, the linebackers' fingerprints were all over the issues, with lowlights showing missed tackles, not being in the right spots, and sometimes, what appeared to be a lack of effort.

Fast forward nearly six months and linebacker is one of the positions on the team with the least amount of work done to it. They re-signed backups/special teamers Segun Olubi and Cameron McGrone to one-year deals, signed free agent special teamer Joe Bachie, and signed a handful of practice squad players to futures contracts. However, they allowed E.J. Speed and Grant Stuard -- who combined to play over 1,200 defensive snaps in 2024 -- to leave in free agency. Perhaps the Colts felt it was addition by subtraction?

To the Colts' credit, this scheme under new defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo will be less relient on linebackers and more so on defensive backs. Rather than seeing base defense with three true linebackers, we're going to see many more instances of safeties playing linebacker, so the need for depth at linebacker isn't as great.

So, what should expectations be for the Colts' linebackers this season?

LIKELY STARTERS

Zaire Franklin, Jaylon Carlies

The Colts felt confident in not making any moves that impacted the starting group because of their faith in Franklin and Carlies. As a pair, this is a solid linebacker group that complements each other well. Franklin is best against the run but has had struggles in coverage. It's vice versa for Carlies; at least from what we know about him as a player. After converting from safety to linebacker coming into the NFL last year, he was forced to miss seven games due to injuries. However, he put some good things on film while he was on the field.

Despite the Colts' confidence in their starting pair, there are some big issues regarding not bringing in anyone who could reasonably compete to start.

First, the Colts are ushering in a new defense under Anarumo, but both Franklin and Carlies had to sit out all offseason while recovering from surgeries. At best, they won't be able to acclimate to this scheme until training camp. So, not only did the Colts not bring in anybody that other teams would consider suitable starters to compete for snaps, but they also have very little proven insurance behind these two players, who they are very reliant on, but who weren't healthy enough to participate in their offseason program.

Now, maybe Franklin and Carlies get healthy and stay that way, and this is me making too much out of something that doesn't become an issue, but the ingredients for something to doom the defense are right in front of them. It's a very risky game of chicken.

Despite the questionable approach to getting to this group, the duo of Franklin and Carlies does provide a lot of upside. Franklin keeps finding new ways to affect the game each year, and would look even better if he could cut out some of the correctable lowlights. Carlies could really make a big impact in year two if he stays healthy.

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PRIMARY BACKUPS

Segun Olubi, Joe Bachie, Cameron McGrone

This is an interesting group because it was assumed that Olubi would be the next linebacker up behind Franklin and Carlies if the Colts didn't make any other notable moves. However, during mandatory minicamp, we saw a significant amount of Bachie and McGrone filling in for Franklin and Carlies.

This could be the Colts just seeing who fits best where, especially since Bachie knows Anarumo's defense from their days together with the Cincinnati Bengals. Still, I imagine these three will be the primary backups with bigger roles on special teams.

ON THE BUBBLE/PRACTICE SQUAD POTENTIAL

Jacob Phillips, Liam Anderson, Solomon DeShields, Austin Ajiake

Phillips has seen a good bit of action in his career, starting eight-of-20 games, but he hasn't played since 2022. His issue is mostly due to injuries, having landed on Injured Reserve in 2021, 2022, and 2023. He signed a reserve/futures deal with the Colts in January. Liam Anderson and Austin Ajiake have both been with the Colts since 2023, primarily as practice squad players. DeShields is a rookie undrafted free agent with a lot of athleticism. He'll be intriguing to watch this summer.

Colts Linebacker Preview: Much Heaped On Jaylon Carlies' Shoulders

LIKELY STARTERS

PRIMARY BACKUPS

ON THE BUBBLE/PRACTICE SQUAD POTENTIAL

Positional Previews

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