You can ask anyone: who’s the best defensive lineman on the Indianapolis Colts, and the answer will undoubtedly be defensive tackle DeForest Buckner. Buckner isn’t just the best on the team, he’s one of the best defenders in the league. Figuring out who’s the second-best defensive lineman for Indianapolis could be a bit more challenging.
Usually, the answer would be defensive tackle Grover Stewart, however, Stewart is currently serving a six-game suspension for violating the league’s PEDs policy. That means the conversation would be between guys like Kwity Paye, Samson Ebukam, and Dayo Odeyingbo. While it may seem close, Odeyingbo has silently been Indy’s second-best defensive linemen this season.
On Sunday, during the Week 10 game against the New England Patriots, Odeyingbo filled the silence, delivering a thunderous three-sack performance. After recording all three sacks in the first half, Odeyingbo finished the game with four total tackles and three additional quarterback hits.
Dayo Odeyingbo has statement game against Patriots
Odeyingbo revealed that he had a little extra motivation for Sunday’s game in Germany, because he had about 13 family members in attendance, many who have never seen him play. While this special occasion led to the best game of his career, it wasn’t a fluke performance— Dayo Odeyingbo has been playing well all season.
He now leads Indianapolis in sacks with six. Odeyingbo also has 22 total tackles (fourth amongst Indy defensive linemen), seven tackles for a loss (tied for first on the team), and 11 quarterback hits (also tied for first). He’s done all that despite not being a starter. While Odeyingbo has played in all 10 games, he has only started one. In fact, he has only played 54% of the defensive snaps for the Colts this year.
That means that Odeyingbo is being productive and efficient, making his plays count. People who have been locked in on the Colts all season noticed that and that’s why there have been calls for him to play more. With his versatility, and his most recent performance, it’s probably safe to say that he’ll receive more snaps in the second half of the season.