Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo seemingly gets a lot of respect around the league despite the underwhelming results of his past defenses. Indy certainly likes the DC as the team keeps giving Anarumo players that previously played under him, the latest being linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither.
This follows a trend that began last year, during Anarumo's first season with Indianapolis. General manager Chris Ballard signed a slew of former Cincinnati Bengals, Anarumo's former team, such as linebackers Joe Bachie and Germaine Pratt, and cornerback Mike Hughes, among others.
None of those moves truly worked out well. Pratt made tackles after being signed early in the season, but he was terrible in pass coverage. This is likely one reason he remains a free agent currently.
Indianapolis Colts add another Lou Anarumo disciple by signing Akeem Davis-Gaither
Earlier this week, Indy signed cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt, another former Bengal, even though the Colts didn't seemingly need the position. Taylor-Britt was quite awful last season, is still working his way back from a Lisfranc injury in 2025, and even when Anarumo was still the DC in Cincinnati, he was benched a couple of times.
Davis-Gaither should have a decent chance to start for the Colts at inside linebacker. The team traded Zaire Franklin to the Green Bay Packers, and, as stated previously, Pratt is a free agent, and one who shouldn't return. But the new Indy acquisition might not fix a position that was a glaring weakness last season.
After spending five seasons with the Bengals, all the time playing with Lou Anarumo as his defensive coordinator, the linebacker started 13 games for the Arizona Cardinals in 2025. He was solid against the run, but as with Franklin and Pratt, Davis-Gaither was wretched in pass coverage.
He might have even been worse than what the Colts were dealing with this past season. Davis-Gaither allowed 79.4 percent of the 63 times he was targeted in coverage to be completed, and five went for touchdowns. His passer rating allowed was a terrible 122.4.
While he was involved in 117 tackles, he also whiffed on 12 percent of his tackle attempts, a poor number for an off-ball linebacker. In other words, Akeem Davis-Gaither was exactly what the Indianapolis Colts had last season, and that wasn't good.
The question fans might be asking is why Ballard keeps bringing in players who might have played under Anarumo but weren't good. Maybe the defensive coordinator has good feelings about them, but Ballard's job is to make the best decisions for the team, and he has the final word in doing so. He doesn't appear capable of doing that with Anarumo.