The Indianapolis Colts announced the signing of defensive tackle Sheldon Day to a one-year deal, adding some much needed depth to the nose tackle position along the interior defensive line.
The 25-year-old spent the last two and a half seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, including winning a Super Bowl in 2019. He was mostly a rotational piece working at the one-technique, which is where he will likely stay with the Colts.
Here are three things to know about the Colts’ new defensive tackle in Day:
Warren Central grad, Notre Dame product
Colts fans should be relatively familiar with Day’s name. Though he wasn’t a star rising through the ranks, he is an Indianapolis native who graduated from Warren Central High School and eventually went on to play at Notre Dame for the Fighting Irish.
Day had a monster senior year with Notre Dame. That 2015 season included 15.5 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks. It wasn’t enough to make him a Day 2 pick, but he did wind up getting drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL draft.
Jacksonville Jaguars & San Francisco 49ers
Day has seen a bit of work against the Colts in his career. He was drafted by the Jaguars in the fourth round of the 2016 draft and even though he saw very limited time during his rookie season, he logged 203 snaps on the defensive side of the ball.
When his second season rolled around in 2017, Day was waived by the Jaguars halfway through in November. He had played just 125 snaps during his second season but wound up being signed by the 49ers a few days later.
Day spent the next two and a half seasons with the 49ers working as a rotational piece along their studly defensive line. In that time, he recorded 4.0 sacks and 9.0 tackles for loss.
Role with the Colts
After the Colts traded for DeForest Buckner, they have their B-gap settled. Behind Buckner will be Denico Autry and Tyquan Lewis. This means that Day is likely to work with nose tackle Grover Stewart, who is coming off of a strong season in his third year.
Stewart is likely to be the starter given the trust he earned during the second half of the 2019 season. Both will likely be competing in the middle of the defensive line, but it’s more likely that Day holds a depth role while working in the rotation with Stewart at the one-technique.
