Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - HOT SEAT: Will Indianapolis Colts DC Lou Anarumo Make It Through the Season?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Another Lou Anarumo linebacker returns to the team as the Colts try to salvage this defense. Let's get to it. You are Locked-on Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to Locked-on Colts. I'm Zach Hicks, and on today's show, we're going to talk all about the Colts defense. We're going to conclude the episode by talking about where the heck the Colts go from here with this defense, because it has been a mess through five weeks.

Starting point is 00:00:39 In segment two, we're going to talk about the merits of potentially firing Luana Rumo. Would that change anything? Is even worth exploring that? Or where do the Colts go when it comes to who is calling the plays on defense? But first, we're going to start this show by talking all about Germain Pratt. The Prodical Son has returned to Indy. The Colts could not live with their own failure, so they had to turn right back to Germain Pratt at linebackers.

Starting point is 00:01:04 So we're going to talk about that and much more on today. episode, which is brought to you by Kalshi. For a limited time, download the Kalshi app and use code locked on and get $25 when you trade $25. Kalshi, trade what's next? All right, guys, so let's talk about Jermaine Pratt here. Now, this is a move that I've been joking about the Colts making since week one of this season. You just know that Lou Anerumo was essentially in that like green goblin mask, you know, that old Spider-Man movie from the early 2000s where it's telling him each and every week to pick up the phone and call Jermaine Pratt because this has been his guy, his entire career. He cannot go far without Jermaine Pratt following.

Starting point is 00:01:41 And that's what happened last year, right? The Colts facing some adversity on defense last season, opted to sign Jermaine Pratt a couple games into the season. He came in and in 12 games played, had 101 total tackles, five tackles for a loss, eight pass breakups and interception and a force fumble, and played very adequate football for the Colts. You know, I would not sit here and say that he was some plus, you know, force multiplier, like plus impact type player for the Colts defense, but he did steady the ship a little bit when it came to the Colts defense. And now they're in a similar situation this year where it's a mess right

Starting point is 00:02:17 now across the board. They just got eviscerated by Aaron Rogers in Pittsburgh, and I guess the Colts are looking for a little bit more stability. You know, Stephen Holder of ESPN even said, I wouldn't be shocked to see Dermain Pratt out there this weekend. And even with Pratt not going through an offseason program, even with him not being on a roster throughout the first month of the season. This is just the part for the course when it comes to Luanna-Rumo, and we'll see if Pratt can look the way that he did last season. So, again, he was productive for the Colts last year, but how much is still left in the tank?

Starting point is 00:02:48 Like, that's going to be the big question. Like, clearly there wasn't enough interest among other teams to get him on a roster going into this year. So, like, how much of a known commodity is he, or how much of a one? commodity is he at this point, but honestly it can't get much worse with what we're seeing from the Colts linebackers, so maybe he can just steady the ship a little bit. And even if he just brings the level of play that he brought last year, that's something that he's bringing to the fold. But yeah, the Colts are in a little bit of dire straits when it comes to linebacker because

Starting point is 00:03:19 Akeem Davis Gaither is their green dot at Mike Linebacker, and he's been hot and cold, I guess, to be generous about his play, because when he's cold, he's Antarctica cold, and when he's hot. He's, you know, like room temperature hot, so it's not really like a true hot and cold situation. But Akeem Davis Gaither has been their mic and probably, I mean, even with how poorest play was against the Pittsburgh Steelers, probably been their best linebacker this year. The young players that they're rotating at Willbacker, Will. C.J. Allen, excuse me, C.J. Allen, at the Will linebacker, C.J. Allen just looks out of place playing that spot. It's really not a natural spot for him. And I just don't understand the need to kit him at

Starting point is 00:03:58 will linebacker, you could just have him play the mic and have Davis Gather play it. And then Bryce Betcher, essentially, like after playing the first two series was mostly benched in this past game because he made such a poor mistake on that 80-yard touchdown. The Colts opted to roll with Allen and Austin Adjicay for the rest of the game. So, yeah, again, the Colts linebacker room is a bit messy right now. Jermaine Pratt likely slides in as that Will linebacker next to Akeem Davis-Gather, so I know a lot of people are probably like, okay, cool, give Jermaine Pratt the green dot and get Davis Gather off the field. I don't think that's how it's going to go. I think it's

Starting point is 00:04:33 going to be Davis Gaitther still gets a majority of the snaps. And Jermaine Pratt comes in and plays that outside linebacker spot. I think that's what Pratt always played under Luanna Rumo as well. I don't think he was ever the green dot. It was mostly Logan Wilson handling the green dot, but I could be corrected by Bengals fans. I know it was Vaughn Bell early on, and then I think it got passed on to Logan Wilson. So Jermaine Pratt was more so the C-Ball, get ball, off-ball linebacker rather than the green dot guy in that system with the Cincinnati Bengals. And even last year, Zaire Franklin was the green dot, not Jermaine Pratt. So, I mean, I think Pratt could handle it.

Starting point is 00:05:07 I mean, because that's what Davis Gather didn't really have any, like, experience as a green dot before this time either. So I'm sure that Jermaine Pratt could take over it. But I think it will likely be a lot of Akeem Davis Gather at Mike. And then when Jermaine Pratt gets into the fold, he will be that other linebacker, that will linebacker. And we might still see the rookies rotate in every now and then. but it'll probably, I mean, knowing Luana Ruma, it'll probably be his two Bengals boys running out there at linebacker more so than anybody else.

Starting point is 00:05:34 Maybe on passing downs, we see some Austin Ajikai or C.J. Allen, but I think it would be a lot of the Bengal boys out there early and often for the Colts. So, yeah, does this move really do anything for me? Not really. I think the Colts issues still persist. Maybe the communication can be a little bit better. Maybe the tackling could be a little bit better, which remain proud in here. but you do lose a little bit in past coverage, which is saying something because their past defense hasn't been great this year. But yeah, I don't think it really does too much to move the needle for me. I mean, Dermain Pratt, we know what he is at this point. He is a big, stiff linebacker that can be good moving downhill, but moving laterally and having to open up and move in space, it's not really going to be the best. But again, he brings a level of dependability,

Starting point is 00:06:20 it brings a level of physicality that maybe you're not getting from the rookies. But I just don't think that that's the biggest issue right now is like the rookies making all these mistakes. I think the issue right now is kind of everything, right? It's Grover Stewart getting blown off the football. It's your edge rusters, not getting any pass rush. It's your corners and safety is not caring out there. I mean, again, I don't want to go too hard on effort. But looking like they're not caring out there and then them calling themselves out after the game for not putting enough effort in there, you know?

Starting point is 00:06:48 So I think that there are a lot more issues than just, okay, Jermaine Pratt's going to come in here and be a really nice big. end aid for us, but I guess it's something, right? It's some kind of move to maybe add a little bit of stability. But, yeah, we'll see what it means for the Colts going forward. We'll see if Pratt even suits up this week for the Colts, but I'm still very concerned about this Colts defense, especially the run defense. We're going to talk about that coming up because a lot of people have wanted Lou Anerumo fired after this past game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Starting point is 00:07:17 I don't think that's too crazy of a take, considering what we've seen from him this year. but would that actually accomplish anything? Would the Colts gain anything from firing Luana Rumo? We're going to talk about that here in just a moment. But first, a new football season brings some big questions. Who makes the playoffs? Who wins their division? Who takes home the title?

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Starting point is 00:10:08 All Access members also get a text line to me and Jake and receive bonus content as well. So tap the link in the show notes or go to LockdownColts.com. So yes, when it comes to Luana Rumo, you know, I was someone who, in a way defended his performance last year as a colds defense coordinator because one, I think if you look at a lot of the advanced numbers, it really wasn't that bad. Like they were 17th in EPA per play, 23rd in success rate against, which was a bit high. But I think when you factor in all the injuries they had in the secondary, the still the lack of pass rush that Chris Ballard gave Anarumo. I think being 17th in EPA per play last year was pretty solid, all things considered. But going into this year with the cornerback room they had on paper, with,

Starting point is 00:10:50 you know, again, it's still a lackluster defense, which is part of the equation, but they are paying a lot in the secondary. There are some things the Colts could do with this defense to be at least better on paper or at least return the same results of last year, but instead we've seen them plummet down the rankings. And this comes in the face of they played against Houston without Nico Collins. They played against Washington with Athen Calcamacus starting most of that game. Like, they've had, like, I know they've had some tough opponents in here, but they've had a couple of easy ones the last couple weeks. Even the Steelers, right?

Starting point is 00:11:24 They came into that game 29th in EPA per play on offense, and the Colts look terrible in that game. They're one of the worst defensive performances of the week. So on the year now, the Colts are sitting at 27th in total EPA allowed on defense, 27th and EPA per play as well. They rank 26th in success rate, 22nd in EPA per pass allowed. And here's the big one, 30 second, which is dead last in EPA per rush, allowed, you know, the overall EPA that they've allowed per rush this season would actually rank

Starting point is 00:11:56 as the fourth best rush offense in the NFL, only behind like, I think it's Kansas City and Indy and somebody else. So they have been dreadful and run defense. Their past defense hasn't been much better. They're allowing a high success rate, high conversion rate in the red zone. Like, they have really, really struggled on defense this year. They're allowing a lot of explosive plays. And it really just begs the question, like, what are we doing to fix this? Because Jermaine Pratt's not going to come in here, and all of a sudden they're a top 10 defense, right? They have a lot of issues, and it's really hard to nail down exactly what the issues are, because it's everything, right?

Starting point is 00:12:30 When you look at this defense, like, one, the pass rush, like we all knew this past rush was going to be lackluster this season. When you look at who they're rolling out there at edge rusher, I mean, anyone who is even somewhat interested in the Colts and knew that that was going to be a major concern for this team. I also think Louana Rumo hasn't helped the problem because he's not. blitzing at all. They have one of the lower blitz rates in the NFL this season. So they're not even trying to create that pressure. A lot of what they're doing with their pass rushes is, is having their edge rushers contain rush on the outside, and then basically saying, okay, if Tommy and Buckner

Starting point is 00:13:03 can't get there, then the quarterback's going to throw a ball, right? Because we're not going to be able to get pressure on the quarterback. So they're kind of conceding before the play is even gone. But I think that's partly in due to scheme, but also partly there because of the talent they have at edge rusher. But even aside from that, right, we've seen the issues. at linebacker. We've seen the secondary, just not even playing remotely up to par. I would honestly say their best player in the secondary, like if you consider like the overall game, the last three weeks has been Justin Wally, who really struggled the first two games. I think he's someone who has, you're seeing like the effort on display every single play, you're seeing the tackling,

Starting point is 00:13:39 you're seeing the fits in the run game, you're seeing him get better in the past game. Like I think Wally has taken some steps forward where what we're seeing from like the two outside corners, like their run fits had been lackluster. Their effort on given plays have not really been there. And even like Sauce Garner, like he's not targeted very often, but when he is targeted, you're not seeing him get those pass breakouts. I don't even care about interceptions at this point. Like separate man from ball and get them behind the sticks.

Starting point is 00:14:04 And we're not even seeing that from the top paid corner that they traded two first round picks for. Safety play, I think, has been a mess as well from tackling to communication back there, to Cameron Bynum's just not being the playmaker they need him to be. right now. So these issues go far beyond just like one position group or one thing. But I do think that all is reflective on your defensive coach, right? You're seeing communication issues each and every week. We already saw the issues in week one, right, where they had Cameron Biden and them calling the defense, and then they had to transition the green dot over to Akeem Davis Gather. And while we have seen improvement with communication, we still see a lot of communication issues across the board regardless.

Starting point is 00:14:43 We're seeing just like overall usage of players be weird, young players being like weirdly used or not used at all. It has just been very reflective on the job that Luann Rumo has done this season. But here's the thing, right? If you fire him, you have to promote somebody on this staff that's also underperforming right now to take over. And then you have to hope that they streamline the communication that somehow makes the communication better. Like that would be a weird ask, right, to say like, okay, we're having these. communication issues, we're having these game planning issues. Let's get somebody in the role who's never done it before, or I think they have like one guy on role who has done it before

Starting point is 00:15:20 and have him, who has done it like 10, 15 years ago. And somehow that's going to clean up the communication issues. Like I feel like a lot of any firing of Lou Anaruma would be more of a statement than anything else, which maybe that's needed right now, right? Maybe I'm not even trying to push back against that. Like maybe you just need the statement of, hey, this isn't been good enough. Let's move on from Anirumo. But I just, I don't really know. where the Colts go from here with this defense, right? Like, there's no big answer coming. Like, again, Germain Pratt's not going to fix everything.

Starting point is 00:15:50 They can't, I hope they don't make another big trade because I don't want to keep burning draft capital when they have another draft class coming up and you want to at least give the next GM some picks to work with in this next class. So I don't think that you can make some big trade. I don't think some big signing is coming to fix everything because the issues go beyond just like what one player can fix. They have effort issues. They have communication issues.

Starting point is 00:16:12 they have physical. I mean, it's just been a mess across the board. So I don't really know how you fix this defense. I know we're going to talk about it in the final segment, like where the Colts go from here and maybe some potential adjustments they can make. But maybe just firing a Luanarumo, like, sends a message because maybe that's what's needed. You know, sends that message. You get like Chris Hewitt elevated into the play calling role,

Starting point is 00:16:36 and Hewitt can just keep it simple. And maybe that can be a solution for this team. but yeah, I do think a lot of the fans calling for like Anuromo's firing are justified here because we have seen this defense crumble the last couple weeks, go downhill. They're on a downward trajectory right now, and that's never where you want to be in the NFL. And, and again, when you are the worst run defense in football like the Colts are this year, that is almost like a pride thing, right? Like a lot of run defense is all 11 defenders being on the same page and being involved in the run game,

Starting point is 00:17:08 but also just, again, a pride thing. like we're not going to let them run all over us. It kind of takes your soul a little bit when a team is running all over you, like teams have the last couple weeks against the Colts. So they're allowing a lot of explosive runs. They're allowing a lot of runs for scores. They're not creating turnovers on run plays. And other teams know that when they need to get, you know, key couple yards here or there,

Starting point is 00:17:30 like they can just run the football on the Colts. So it has been a mess across the board. I think Luanna Rumo has been a big part of the mess because, again, whatever is happening below you when you are someone who's in a manager type of role, it's reflective on you. And a lot of this defense is reflective on Luana Rumo. The communication's been bad. The physicality's been bad.

Starting point is 00:17:50 Just the want to hasn't been there. And if the Colts wanted to make that move, which I don't think is going to happen this year, I would be in favor of it. And I'm usually not in favor of firing coaches midseason. But at this point, it is getting bad on defense. And again, I don't think a Jermaine Pratt signing is going to all of a sudden fix this thing. So I think a lot of people are justified in calling for some type of firing or some type of move. And I don't think it's going to happen, but, you know, I wouldn't hate it if it did happen.

Starting point is 00:18:18 So, yeah, that has been a mess on defense. But where do the Colts even go from here when it comes to defense? You know, again, the worst run defense in football, bottom 10 pass defense in the league. Can it get better? We'll talk about that here in just a moment. Running a business shouldn't feel like you're trying to connect a bunch of systems that were never designed to work together. One app for accounting, another for inventory, another for sales, and somehow none of them actually talk to each other.

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Starting point is 00:20:25 Make this your most rewarding season ever with Fandul. Visit fandul.com to get started. Already locked on Colts Everdeers. We are back for a final time talking about this Colts defense and where the Colts go from We talked about the Jermaine Pratt signing at the beginning of the show and how this can be like a minor band-aid, but it feels like you're putting a band-aid on like an amputated leg at this point, so I don't know how much that band-aid is really going to help. And we also talked about the merits when it comes to firing Luana Rumo and how just poor this defense has been. And I mean, again, I don't think anyone's wrong for calling for Luan Rumo's head at this point in the season.

Starting point is 00:21:05 But where do the Colts go from here? Like, can they improve? Can they get better? I want to say they can improve marginally, but I do think it's out the window that this defense is going to be some like top 10 unit or even like a top 15 unit. Maybe they can improve from like the 27th defense to the 20th best defense and that can give their offense a chance to win some of these games. The first part of this though is the star is actually playing like stars.

Starting point is 00:21:31 Like I know that Soss Gardner has been fine this year. Like I don't think he's been terrible this season by any means. but Soss Gardner has been a good player for the Colts this year, but there needs to be more. Like he doesn't get targeted very often, but there needs to be more on the plays that he is targeted. Like the D.K. Metcalf reception he allowed for a first down on a third down, I believe, this past game. That's something that you want your star player to make. I mean, D.K. Metcalf beating on a back shoulder, like, come on, man, we got to be able to make those plays there. Obviously, the commander's play is where the effort wasn't there and the ball was over his head.

Starting point is 00:22:02 Those are ones that, again, you want your star cornerback to be able to make. it goes even beyond him, right? Like Mooney Ward, I think the play needs to be better. I think the effort needs to be better there. I think just the overall coverage can be better. You know, the DPI he had against the Steelers wasn't good enough. And it allowed the Steelers to get at the one-yard line and score soon after that. Cameron Bynum, not really taking the ball away, not being a force in many of these plays. Like, he's getting paid big money that they need more out of him. Like, the only big money player on this defense that's performing is DeForest Buckner. And DeForest Buckner's been great this year, but that's really the only guy we can say has been great this year on defense.

Starting point is 00:22:39 I think Grover Stewart, we can even extend this to Grover Stewart. Stewart needs to be better this year. He is struggling, especially in a lot of his nose tackle duties. He is getting blown off the football, and he needs to be much better if the Colts want to go anywhere with this defense. So first and foremost, it is these highly paid players actually performing like their contracts demand for the Colts. And then from there, I think they just got to get the communication things fixed.

Starting point is 00:23:01 I mean, it would go so far if the Colts. just were on the same page on a lot of these plays. I mean, you look at a lot of the big plays that the Pittsburgh Steelers had in this game. Like the Jalen Warren touchdown was a miscommunication between, I guess it was between Justin Wally and Bryce Betcher. I'm assuming it was more on Betcher because Betcher really didn't play after that moment. So by looking at who was kind of punished for the play, I think it was more on Betcher. But that was another thing where like we didn't even get a motion on the play. There was really nothing that should have confused the defense. And you get an open running back out of the backfield, you get the mistackle from Betcher, and it turns into a long

Starting point is 00:23:37 touchdown. Like, those are the little things that turn a game. I mean, especially when the Colts, you know, midway through the fourth quarter, we're down by two points. If you can prevent that 80-yard touchdown, maybe it's a different story in that game. So getting the communication cleaned up, getting the run fits a little bit, a little bit tighter, which maybe Jermann Pratt can help with that. I think that could go a long way. And then maybe just, again, getting some different guys involved. I know that, you know, when your starters are struggling, everyone wants to talk about getting some backups in, where part of my little pushback I'm going to have here is, like, if the starters are performing poorly, like do you think the backups, the guys they beat out, are going to play much better?

Starting point is 00:24:15 But I do think in some cases there could be some merit to it. Like when you look at like Hunter Woller, for instance, getting in over A.J. Halsey a little bit more, especially on like run downs or early downs. Because Woller is just such a clean tackler and a, you know, position sound. player. I think that you could live with that a little bit more than the highs and lows of A.J. Halsey were I think the highs of Halsey have been really good, but the lows have been really rough, especially again with the communication issues like we saw against Baltimore in week one, where he overran that throw to Zayflowers that turned into the long touchdown.

Starting point is 00:24:48 So maybe getting a Hunter-Waller out there a little bit more on early downs, and then you can go to more three safety stuff on passing downs that gets both of them on the field, or even just get Halsey in there for Woler on passing downs. I think that could be a solution there, but again, I don't think this Colts defense is going to go to high places this season. There are just too many issues across the board. There's really no solution coming for the edge rush issue that they had this year. Like, Leatu-Latu is clearly not going to be that guy for them. Arden Kiya's hurt, but even when he was healthy, he was more so fine.

Starting point is 00:25:19 The rookies are rookies, right? Like George Gums Jr. and Caden Curry aren't going to turn into Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney. And even if they were, it wouldn't be in year one, right? It would be multiple years down the line. So you're not going to have this solution at edge rusher. Like Carl Lawson's not going to fix anything, just like Jermaine Pratt's not going to fix the entire linebacker.

Starting point is 00:25:38 They really whiffed in the offseason when it came to edge rusher, and they're just going to have to live with that. Because, again, I don't want them trading picks in a season where they probably won't make the playoffs. Trading picks for a Cleo Mac, trading picks for all these guys, isn't going to fix anything, right? Because they're not a Cleo Mac away from being an ASC contender. So I think they just had to live with the bed they've made here when it comes.

Starting point is 00:26:00 to defense and the bed they made at edge rusher is just not going to be good enough. So we can talk about these little changes in other areas, but I think when it comes to edge rusher, they're kind of stuck with what it is here. I will say, like, I'm not even like a big Brian Flores type of guy in terms of like bring a 90% blitz rate or something like that. I know it's kind of what he did against the Saints this past week, but maybe we can do a little bit more than like a 19% blitz rate or more than a 20% blitz rate because you have these big, long corners. I know they're not playing super well, but let them just get physical at the line

Starting point is 00:26:33 of scrimmage, bring pressure, and just, you know, cause some kind of chaos. Maybe half the time you allow a 30-yard gain, but the other half of the time you're getting a sack. That's better than what we're getting right now, where it's like most of the time you're allowing a 30-yard gain and you're not getting any sacks. So maybe you just got to blitz a little bit more. Like, just throw caution to the wind and just, you know, blitz a little bit more. Like, maybe that could really help this defense, but overall, if you take anything away from this episode, again, I sound very nihilistic here, but the defense is in a rough place. Again, part of this is because of the issues they had in the offseason, not getting in a true Mike linebacker that could call the

Starting point is 00:27:13 defense from day one. They thought CJ Allen could be that. I guess he's not. And then having really no backup plan for that, like Akeem Davis-Gaithers never done it, and now he's doing it. Cameron Bynum, we saw the issues in week one. So that really has plagued them when it comes to communication issues, the lack of edge rusher attention in the offseason, which we all knew was going to plague them, has really hurt them, and then the underperformance of all the guys in the secondary. All of that has contributed to the Colts being one of the worst defenses in the league, and Lou Anirumo and Chris Ballard are the face of this thing.

Starting point is 00:27:43 They're the reason why the Colts are here where they're at right now. So I don't think there's much growth here coming from this defense unless the light really clicks on for some rookie or, I don't know, Jalen Toomelowout somehow becomes a superstar. I don't think that's happening, but, you know, sure, why not, right? Like, none of this is really realistic for what's going to happen this year. So the Colts are kind of stuck with the bed that they've made, and we'll see, again, if we can have marginal improvement because I think that's the ceiling of what we're looking at with this Colts defense.

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