What started off as a day of celebration, with owner Jim Irsay making his return from his medical issue, took a drastic turn for the worse. A loaded Colts defensive line sustained a massive blow on Sunday.
Starting defensive end Samson Ebukam suffered a torn Achilles tendon during practice, a league source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to the IndyStar, ending his season before it got off the runway, after just three days of training camp.
Ebukam is coming off an outstanding year, obliterating his previous best with a career-high 9.5 sacks to lead a Colts pass rush that got home to the quarterback 51 times overall, fifth-most in the NFL and the most by any Colts defense since the team moved to Indianapolis from Baltimore in 1984.
The 29-year-old edge rusher played a crucial role in that emergence.
Ebukam was the most notable and splashy investment the Colts made in the free agency cycle in 2023, signing a three-year, $24 million deal. Up until that point, Ebukam was regulated to a rotation player in six seasons with the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers. However, the Colts had faith in him and believed he could be more in the right situation, and they were right.
Ebukam made his home on the field, playing a career-high 702 snaps for the Colts in 2023, led the team in sacks and finished second in quarterback hits (17, tied with Dayo Odeyingbo) and pressures (44), trailing only star defensive tackle DeForest Buckner in those specific categories.
Embed from Getty ImagesLosing a player of his caliber will hurt, but the Colts have a number of options to supplement the loss of Ebukam being on the shelf.
Indianapolis put its first-round pick to good use, snagging UCLA defensive end Laiatu Latu, the first defensive player selected in the 2024 draft and a seamless fit in the LEO position Ebukam occupied last season. Colts’ defensive coordinator Gus Bradley invented the LEO role to give smaller edge rushers an opportunity to get on the field, and Latu represents the kind of pass rusher the Colts want to keep on the field as much as possible.
“He’s explosive, like we said when we drafted him,” Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen said on Sunday. “He’s got an arsenal of pass-rush moves. You can see him and how explosive he is coming off the edge, so it’ll be fun to watch this year.”
Latu will not be the only player who will be expected to contribute and help fill Ebukam’s role in the defense.
A quartet of defensive ends, Ebukam, Kwity Paye, Dayo Odeyingbo and Tyquan Lewis where no strangers to significant on field time, playing more than 400 snaps last season, and the added presence of Latu was already expected to somewhat change the playing-time picture.
When Ebukam went down in practice Sunday, Lewis took over his position on the starting defensive line, and the Colts also have Odeyingbo, who rushes mostly from the interior but has the athleticism and speed to play on the outside on running downs.
Indianapolis also has a couple of other depth options that they can go to at the LEO position. Veteran defensive end Genard Avery, a speed option who has accumulated 8.5 career sacks, is back after a season-ending knee injury cut short a promising training camp last year. The Colts also have capable developmental prospects in second-year edge rushers Isaiah Land and Titus Leo. Land had six tackles and a sack in just 31 snaps last season; Leo was a sixth-round pick a year ago.
But the loss of Ebukam takes a proven veteran out of the fold, placing more pressure on the shoulders Latu to be an impact player from the word go.
A healthy Ebukam would have given the Colts flexibility and bring Latu on slowly asking him to focus mostly on rushing the passer right away. Now, the rookie might have to be more of a complete player immediately.
“Right now, we’re seeing a skill set that we saw in college: his speed off the ball, his moves,” Bradley said. “But once the pads come on, when you don’t know it’s pass and it’s run-pass, can you convert run to pass? Can you have all those moves and see that skill set transfer over into all situations? He seems like he’s headed in the right direction.”
The loss of Ebukam means the Colts need Latu to stay on that track.
