The Indianapolis Colts had to do something. The middle of their defense wasn't good in 2025, just as it hadn't been good in the seasons before last year. This offseason, the team shipped Zaire Franklin to the Green Bay Packers and didn't re-sign Germaine Pratt.
In their place, the team signed veteran Akeem Davis-Gaither and drafted CJ Allen in the second round and Bryce Boettcher in the fourth round. Those moves will hopefully be a boon to a somewhat underperforming defense. They also likely mean bad things for third-year linebacker Jaylon Carlies.
Under defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, who took the job in Indy last offseason, the inside linebacker position is devalued. The players are tasked with being good at stopping the run, being solid in coverage, and not much else. Franklin and Pratt were terrible in coverage, and that's one reason they are gone.
Jaylon Carlies could be an odd man out with the Indianapolis Colts
But because off-ball LB isn't overly valuable in the scheme, general manager Chris Ballard and head coach Shane Steichen aren't likely to keep more than four inside linebackers on the active 53-man roster. Davis-Gaither, Allen, and Boettcher are almost certainly going to hold three of the spots, and the fourth could go to Austin Ajiake.
Carlies would seemingly be the odd man out. Not helping him is that the team didn't get a long look at him last season. In his second year, the linebacker missed 12 weeks while spending time on injured reserve with shoulder and ankle issues. He played only two defensive snaps all season.
As a rookie in 2024, he saw action on 242 defensive snaps, and he was poor in pass coverage (he allowed 14 of his 15 targets to be completed for a touchdown and a quarterback rating allowed of a dismal 124.4). He did have a sack and started six games, however.
The problem is that he likely lost ground this offseason by not doing anything at all. The hope is that CJ Allen will be a Week 1 starter and the green dot in Anarumo's system. He could be the next multi-year Pro Bowler that the team drafted.
Bryce Boettcher was excellent in pass coverage in college, and he might have a chance to start sooner rather than later. Akeem Davis-Gaither spent five seasons (2020 through 2024) under Anarumo when both were with the Cincinnati Bengals, so Davis-Gaither can probably help Boettcher and Allen acclimate to the new system faster.
As for Ajiake, he has a lot of work to do to get better, especially in cleaning up his tackling technique. He whiffed on 17.6 attempts in 2025. Still, he doesn't carry the same recent injury concerns that Jaylon Carlies does. That's why, at the end of August, when final roster cuts are made, Carlies could be looking for a new team.
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