Colts Must Get More Out of This Position Group for 2026

Now that the playoffs are fully underway, teams that are eliminated are already in the midst of evaluating things for the 2026 regular season. The Indianapolis Colts are among these squads.

There are areas of the roster that need a change-up, but perhaps none more than the defensive line to help with the lack of a pass-rush.

ESPN shares this thought in a piece highlighting the top priorities for each eliminated team. Here's what multiple contributors had to say for Indy.

"Re-tool the defensive line. The Colts have stuck with this group for years, but the results have been too intermittent to assume this group returns en masse.

This will be tricky with no first-round pick, but the Colts need more juice on the edge."

Laiatu Latu 😤#ProBowlVote pic.twitter.com/08AKOrK780
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) December 14, 2025

The Colts have struggled to muster a consistent pass-rush over the last few years, but this was crystal clear for the 2025 season.

As a team, the Colts only logged 39 sacks, with promising edge rusher Laiatu Latu contributing to 8.5 of those (led the team).

After that, the production falls off a steep cliff. Below are the rest of the players behind Latu, along with their sack totals by rank.

DT | Adetomiwa Adebawore - 4.0 sacks
DT | DeForest Buckner - 4.0 sacks
DE | Kwity Paye - 4.0 sacks
DT | Neville Gallimore - 3.5 sacks
DE | Tyquan Lewis - 3.0 sacks
S | Nick Cross - 2.5 sacks
LB | Zaire Franklin - 2.0 sacks
DE | Samson Ebukam - 2.0 sacks
CB | Kenny Moore II - 1.5 sacks
CB | Mekhi Blackmon - 1.0 sacks
S | Cam Bynum - 1.0 sacks
DT | Chris Wormley - 1.0 sacks
LB | Austin Ajiake - 0.5 sacks
DT | Grover Stewart - 0.5 sacks

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It didn't help that superstar defensive tackle DeForest Buckner was limited to 10 games due to multiple neck issues that landed him on injured reserve two separate times.

However, even without Buckner, these numbers aren't encouraging when observing the defensive trenches from the outside.

The silver lining is that Adetomiwa Adebawore and Neville Gallimore were able to secure a good number of sacks considering they're rotational pieces, but the defensive ends are where the eye immediately goes to.

Colts defensive end Kwity Paye (blue and white uniform) sacks Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. — Nov 23, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Indianapolis Colts defensive end Kwity Paye (51) sacks Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) in the second half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Kwity Paye, Samson Ebukam, and Tyquan Lewis were wildly underwhelming in the sacks and QB pressures department, and after multiple seasons of underperforming, change is needed.

Paye, Ebukam, and Lewis are all free agents this year. It's important to have skill and depth, but the Colts have been reading this story for a while with little to no improvement.

If anything, these three specific edge rushers took a step back during the 2025 season, especially the former first-rounder (2021) Paye.

As ESPN points out, the Colts don't have a first-rounder this year after trading for former New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner.

Even without a first-round pick in this year's draft, the Colts have to figure out a way to work with the rest of their selections. There is also the obvious route of signing key free agents to help with this issue.

Indianapolis can't continue to have a lack of a prominent pass-rush. Too often quarterbacks weren't pressured, allowing opposing field generals to operate to dissect Indy's coverage.

We'll see how general manager Chris Ballard decides to look into the defensive trenches. Given how much he loves that area of the roster, it's assumed that whatever must be done to elevate it in 2026 will be.

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