The Indianapolis Colts made it a point during the 2019 NFL Draft to add more speed, athleticism and competition to a linebacker corps that was thinner in the eyes of the front office than most anticipated.
Having Darius Leonard enjoy a historic rookie season along with the underrated production of Anthony Walker alongside him was solid, but the depth in the room was questionable if and when any one of those players went down with an injury.
This led general manager Chris Ballard to select three linebackers in the draft, two on the second day. Those selections now set the Colts up to have one of the more heated position battles throughout the roster, one that hasn’t been seen at the linebacker position in quite some time.
Barring injury, we know that the aforementioned Leonard has a starting spot. He’s the prototype for the Colts defense. He’s the Mark 42 of Iron Man suits, the linebacker that is supposed to set a new bar for athleticism and production. He’s not going anywhere.
However, all of the spots behind Leonard are expected to be up for grabs. This includes the starting role that Walker claimed in 2018.
The Colts added three linebackers to all three positions in the middle of the defense. Second-round pick Ben Banogu is expected to compete at SAM while third-round pick Bobby Okereke will work at MIKE and fifth-round pick E.J. Speed will work behind Leonard at WILL.
The biggest competitions are likely to take place at SAM and MIKE. Though Banogu was drafted to work mostly in that spot, former seventh-round pick Matthew Adams will be the one competing with him at that position. Adams wound up carving out that particular role down the stretch of the 2018 regular season.
How often the Colts use the SAM backer will be a development to watch. They rarely used it in 2018 given how much frequently they were in their nickel defense, bu with the addition of Banogu, they could be looking to go more toward the traditional 4-3 front rather than the 4-2-5 nickel packages.
The other position battle to watch will be in the middle at MIKE between Walker and Okereke. Walker had an underrated 2018 campaign, but his struggles in coverage are likely what forced the Colts to add a rangy linebacker like Okereke, who has already drawn comparisons to Leonard.
It could be that the Colts use Walker mainly on early downs to help against the run while Okereke sees most of his work on third downs and passing situations given his immense range and length.
The Colts defense is expected to be a unit that is far more athletic than the group from the previous season, and much of that will stem from how the heated linebacker competition pans out during training camp and the preseason.
