What exactly is going on with the Indianapolis Colts' linebackers? News broke this week that the club was fielding offers for leading tackler Zaire Franklin. Germaine Pratt, who arrived a month into the 2025 season and played rather well alongside Franklin, is a pending free agent. Chris Ballard has given little indication about the team’s plans regarding Pratt.
Ballard has now traded Franklin and could re-sign Pratt. Even if he doesn’t, he will no doubt bring in new linebackers via free agency or the draft. But just for a moment, let’s consider what happens if none of those things come to pass.
Franklin is traded. Pratt signs elsewhere. No one new is acquired. Indianapolis still has eight linebackers under contract, either on the active roster or signed to futures contracts. How many of them can you name?
Indianapolis Colts linebackers in 2026 are anybody’s guess
If you’re a real fan, you probably got Jaylon Carlies. He was a 2024 draft pick who looked pretty good during his rookie season. He was out most of last year. Carlies has started six NFL games.
There’s Jacob Phillips. He was signed last season and spent the year on the injured list, where he remains. Phillips hasn’t played an NFL game since 2022. He has eight career starts.
Then there’s Segun Olubi, special teams stud, who has been with the Colts since 2022 and started a couple of games back in ’23.
And five other guys who have never started in an NFL game. That adds up to 16 total professional starts across the board. That’s what the Colts currently have after Franklin and Pratt. And as we said, there’s a chance that Franklin and Pratt will both be gone in 2026.
So to repeat the question. What exactly are the Colts doing at linebacker?
It might just be that they are following a trend that has been simmering for at least the past decade, which has de-emphasized the position as a whole. It is analogous to what appeared to be happening with running backs on offense.
As the league has intentionally shifted focus away from running and toward downfield passing, running backs have become less significant than the players involved in passing – receivers, pass protectors, and, of course, quarterbacks.
On defense, with teams using more three receiver/one back sets, defenses have emphasized the component parts that slow passing attacks – pass rushers and coverage players. Linebackers have traditionally occupied a middle ground.
Very few teams run the traditional 4-3 defensive front anymore, though they may still call it by that name. It is far more common to run a 4-2-5 with an extra defensive back on the field to offset the extra receiver on offense.
But it goes even deeper than that. If you want to get very granular, a lot of teams are actually running something akin to a 2-2-2-1-4 defense. Amid that jumble of numbers are players who, at one time, were traditional linebackers.
The Super Bowl-winning Seattle Seahawks defense is the state-of-the-art version of this new defense. In the front seven, they rotate through four players who are essentially hybrids of defensive ends and outside linebackers.
In the parlance of modern defense, they are now referred to as edge rushers. But any of them can drop into coverage like a linebacker, giving the defense tremendous flexibility.
On the back end, Nick Emmanwori is the prototypical hybrid safety, who is big enough to also fulfill traditional linebacker duties.
The Seahawks still employ two traditional linebackers who play a few yards off the ball, behind the linemen, and are tasked with stopping running plays the way linebackers have always done. But the other players are playing hybrids of what were once pure linebacking positions.
It is possible that what the Colts are doing is simply an extension of that trend. It is hard to imagine they will literally go linebacker-free in 2026, but Lou Anarumo may employ hybrid players to a greater and greater extent.
There will be no shortage of linebackers floating around in free agency next week. Devin Lloyd is an excellent player in his prime. Another Devin – Bush – should get plenty of interest. Future Hall of Famer Bobby Wagner will make a lot of tackles for somebody next year. Two-time Pro Bowler Tremayne Edmunds, still just 27, was released last week by Chicago.
The Colts could sign any of them. I’ve thought for a while that they would scoop up former Bengal Logan Wilson at a bargain price and reunite him with Anarumo. We’ll find out about all these potential players soon enough.
Then again, perhaps they won’t sign any of them. I’m not suggesting they will literally go linebacker-less in 2026. They will have bodies on the roster to plug into particular defensive packages.
But maybe they are realizing – along with the rest of the league – that the traditional linebackers who have worn the horseshoe with distinction – from Mike Curtis to Shaq Leonard – maybe their days are numbered.
Maybe the players who once defined defensive football in the NFL are being replaced by quick, agile linemen and oversized athletic unicorns at safety who can better defend against modern passing attacks.
Maybe Jaylon Carlies will turn out to be the Colts' top linebacker after all. Maybe the answer to the question “what are the Colts doing at linebacker?” is simply this:
They are getting ready for the future of NFL defenses.