With Gus Bradley taking over as the new defensive coordinator of the Indianapolis Colts, there will be one task he must achieve above all else.
Fix the pass rush.
An aspect of the Colts defense that has been a detriment for far too long, the hope is that Bradley will bring some new life into the pass rush with his Legion of Boom style of defense.
The Colts have some solid pieces in place for Bradley to work with. Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner should thrive in this scheme while the young talents of Kwity Paye and Dayo Odeyingbo should intrigue Bradley plenty.
But there is no denying that the Colts need to add more life to this room, especially on the edge. The Colts simply haven’t gotten enough consistency from their edge rushers during Chris Ballard’s tenure despite the efforts of throwing early-round draft picks at the wall.
Allowing players like Denico Autry and Justin Houston to walk in free agency wound up hurting the Colts more than anything. Now, the pass rush faces a monumental challenge of taking a step forward.
While Bradley’s defensive scheme will feature a lot more single-high safety looks than the one Matt Eberflus implemented, the front should look very similar.
Bradley’s defense mostly uses even fronts to get pressure and if there’s one similarity between the schemes, it’s the lack of a blitz.
Over the last four seasons, Bradley’s defense has blitzed at one of the lowest rates in the league.
| Season | Blitz Rate | League Rank |
| 2018 | 17% | 30th |
| 2019 | 13.7% | 32nd |
| 2020 | 16.3% | 32nd |
| 2021 | 12.1% | 32nd |
This means the Colts are going to be looking to get pressure with their four down linemen for the majority of their games. That has been an issue for the defense.
Even without using the blitz, Bradley’s defense in Las Vegas was still able to impact the quarterback in 2021. While they registered just two more sacks than the Colts (35-33), the Raiders finished with the fourth-most quarterback hits in the league (68).
Fixing the pass rush may take some time. It’s unlikely to happen right away. But the Colts have to find a way to improve their pressure numbers going into the 2022 season or else they’ll be just another fringe playoff team fighting for a spot during the final week of the regular season again.
