Why Colts' Safety Room Should Evolve in Lou Anarumo's Second Year

The Indianapolis Colts enter year two of Lou Anarumo's defense with a new-look defensive back room.

As a defensive backs specialist himself, Anarumo prefers to have as many chess pieces throughout his backfield as possible, and the offseason additions of rookie A.J. Haulcy and veteran Juanyeh Thomas have provided him with much more coverage upside than he had in his first year as the Colts' defensive coordinator.

As both the vocal and lead-by-example captain of the DBs, sixth-year safety Cam Bynum is fresh off a career-best season in his first year in Indianapolis and is now set to lead a hungry backfield to great heights.

Second-year defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo is licking his chops at the prospect that his new-look defense, and specifically his defensive backs, presents. Follow along as we break down why exactly the Colts feel so much more confident in their defensive backfield this time around.

Indy's New Look Backend

As briefly touched on, Cam Bynum immediately made his presence felt after signing with the Colts to a four-year, $60 million deal in the 2025 offseason.

He led the team in interceptions (4), which was also a career-high of his, during his first season with the Colts, and is now poised to continue his upward trajectory as a leader of a new-and-improved defense in both his and defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo's second year with the team.

The Colts' defense lost a two-year starter at strong safety in Nick Cross earlier this offseason when he signed with the Washington Commanders in free agency.

While they'll no doubt miss his tackling chops and ability to play in the box, the defense is set to improve in coverage, as Cross's uninspiring forced incompletion rate (2%) as a starter was not getting the job done.

Enter A.J. Haulcy.

Yes, a rookie is set to take the reins at strong safety, and for good reason.

A.J. Haulcy not only sports a promising combination of coverage and tackling ability, but it's his versatility that intrigues Anarumo most. The Colts' defensive coordinator runs a multiple defense that regularly has players disguising and changing course post-snap, and Haulcy showcased such potential throughout his four-year college career.

In college, Haulcy logged 1,383 snaps at free safety, 1,057 snaps in the box, and 369 snaps in the slot. He started in all 48 possible games during his career, adding special-teams contributions every step of the way.

Not only that, but Haulcy is no slouch when it comes to producing. In his final two seasons at the college ranks, he totaled 162 tackles, hauled in eight interceptions, and broke up 12 passes.

Haulcy did have a 15.2% missed tackle rate during said stretch, but cleaning up the inconsistencies that led to such mistakes should be ironed out once he finds his footing in the NFL. It'll be a big jump from Nick Cross, who has become a guaranteed tackle if he is around the ball, but Haulcy's playstyle offers much more potential from the backend, even as a rookie.

Outside of Haulcy, safeties Hunter Wohler and Juanyeh Thomas add some promising depth to the equation.

Wohler was slated to become the starter at strong safety before Haulcy was added to the mix, whereas Thomas has been viewed as a low-risk, high-reward free agent signing who can provide some strong relief run if called upon.

Both safeties will provide strong competition for the rookie once training camp arrives later this month, with Wohler serving as the Nick Cross type as a run-stuffing box option, whereas Thomas is more of the free-ranging safety across the backend.

The Colts are excited about their new-look safety room for the upcoming season, and the talented cornerback trio of Sauce Gardner, Charvarius Ward Sr., and Justin Walley will only make life even easier for them.

Lou Anarumo's Vision for Safety Room

Anarumo's affinity for utilizing versatility and multiple looks throughout his defense means that he is ideally afforded players with such capabilities to execute the vision at hand.

The good news for him, secondary coach Chris Hewitt, and the rest of the Colts' defense is that their new-look safety room has various options at their disposal for the upcoming season.

"We're moving guys around, we're job swapping a whole bunch of different techniques," Anarumo began to explain about how his new-look depth at the position, specifically regarding how it'll allow him to call more plays that directly involve the backend.

"We do a circuit where everybody on the defense does a particular – other than the big guys, but does a different type of coverage technique. So, they all could be in a place where maybe the quarterbacks are not used to them playing this particular technique or coverage. So, we try to throw off their indicators on man and zone. So, I think the more guys we have that can do certain things, that helps us for sure.”

Not only will their collective versatility allow for more exotic looks in the backend, but the Colts' depth at safety means that Anarumo can more confidently run three-safety sets like he's shown to do in the past.

There's been a new wave of three-safety sets across the league to combat the increasing passing attacks that feature three-wideouts, and Anarumo was one of the first defensive coordinators to utilize such practices.

“The big nickel type guys that you see Baltimore, and certainly Seattle did it this year – just a matter of using that particular player," Anarumo explained.

"If you have that guy, you're a little stouter against the run, you’ve got a bigger guy out there on a slot receiver, good blitzer from that alignment, and then maybe you lose a little something in coverage. But those two teams have done a good job with the way they've played it.”

Anarumo referenced starting strong safeties Kyle Hamilton (Baltimore) and Nick Emmanwori (Seattle) as two of the bigger strong safeties in question, but with the way the Colts' safety room is currently designed, that player still exists; they're just likely in the form of a third safety instead of an every-down starter.

Rookie safety A.J. Haulcy has the potential to be such a player at 215 lbs, despite being a few inches shorter than those players who were referenced, but for now, it's more likely Anarumo elects to lean on his depth to ensure a fruitiful introduction to the league.

Second-year safety Hunter Wohler, who was poised for a big-time role as a rookie had he not had his season ended in training camp with a Lisfranc injury, projects as the go-to third safety in question, which is a strong fit. Nick Cross would've been the perfect third safety for Anaurmo's defense, but alas, he's evolved enough to continue earning full-time duties elsewhere.

Lou Anarumo will have his hands full with a bunch of rookies and second-year players set to take on big roles in this upcoming make-or-break year for the Colts' regime, but at least he's being afforded perhaps the most talented defensive backfield of his eight-year career as an NFL defensive coordinator.

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