Indianapolis Colts Biggest Offseason Needs: Inside Linebacker
By Andrew Ites
The Colts are in desperate need of an infusion of talent at the inside linebacker position, and general manager Chris Ballard will surely make that a top priority this offseason.
The Colts came into the 2017 season with issues at inside linebacker. While Jon Bostic played well on a very cheap free agent contract last season, he may not be back in 2018 and Indianapolis doesn’t have much talent behind him.
Bostic and Antonio Morrison played nearly every single snap at inside linebacker in 2017. Morrison was one of the worst linebackers in the league last season, and Anthony Walker and Jeremiah George didn’t perform well enough to take Morrison’s job as the starter.
George and Walker were the only other inside linebackers to get defensive snaps last season.
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The Colts could choose to address this issue in the draft. The 2018 draft class has three very strong inside linebacker prospects.
Georgia’s Roquan Smith is the headliner as he could be a top-five pick. Alabama’s Rashaan Evans and former Longhorn Malik Jefferson round out the top three, and they could all be first round picks.
This year’s class of free agents doesn’t have a ton of big names at inside linebacker, but there are some quality options for the Colts if they choose to go after them.
Demario Davis had a strong season with the Jets, and Avery Williamson is one of the most underrated linebackers in the league. NaVorro Bowman and Paul Posluszny are both older options, but they both played well last season. Anthony Hitchens is also an intriguing free agent as he worked with the Colts’ potential defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus in Dallas.
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Chris Ballard can address the inside linebacker position in a number of different ways, but they must add some talent there if they want to improve on defense in 2018.