One of the cornerstone values for this Indianapolis Colts team over the past few years has been to instill and maintain the faith in their own guys. The Colts have made a few moves to bring in free agents from other teams, along with the occasional trade.
But, Indy has put on a clinic in terms of rewarding their own players and keeping them in-house.
One player obtained via free agency in 2023, Samson Ebukam, came in and immediately made an impact on this Colts defense. In his first year, Ebukam led the Colts in sacks with 9.5 last season. The former San Francisco 49ers and L.A. Rams standout looked to be a mainstay on this defensive unit, and fans were expecting another productive year out of him in 2024.
Unfortunately, Ebukam suffered an Achilles tear over the weekend and is officially out for the season.
#Colts veteran DE Samson Ebukam, who went down in practice yesterday, tore his Achilles, source said. His season is over before it began. pic.twitter.com/8AG1r4AP1K
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 29, 2024
Without Ebukam, that means the Colts will turn more of their attention to 2024 first-round pick, Laiatu Latu, out of UCLA. He'll join Kwity Paye and Dayo Odeyingbo as the team's primary pass rushers for the upcoming campaign.
Latu isn't just in the "next man up" conversation. He should be the man going forward, if the Colts lived in an ideal world.
The Colts have proven they can get after the quarterback as a team, but Laiatu Latu was drafted to be a game-wrecker
Over the last few seasons, the Colts haven't had a true, franchise leader at the pass rusher position. Sure, Ebukam led the team in sacks last season. But, this is a team that saw four players end the season with a minimum of 8.0 sacks.
Needless to say, it seems as though some of the season-long predictions for Latu's rookie season look even more disrespectful after the Ebukam injury. Latu will be in the spotlight even more so, now.
Indianapolis has been waiting for their next franchise pass rusher, and Latu can prove himself as that player with a strong rookie campaign. Coming out of UCLA, he was arguably the most polished, pure pass rusher of his class. There were a lot of talented players at the position in the 2024 class, but Latu was, by far, the most pro-ready in terms of his tape.
Watching his tape, versus every other one of his peers, it was very clear. Latu plays with an edge. His demeanor, on the field, could be described as mean, nasty and physical. That's they type of player this defense needs to lean on in the coming years.
Now, Latu will simply have his chance at becoming that player a whole lot sooner with Ebukam out for the year. This isn't how the Colts planned for 2024 to go, obviously, but now, the expectations should be even higher for the first-round pick.