PHOENIX – While several core pieces of Lou Anarumo's Colts defense will return in 2026, general manager Chris Ballard this offseason has been tasked with replacing over 5,000 snaps on that side of the ball.
Gone are two of the Colts' three defensive players to play over 1,000 snaps in linebacker Zaire Franklin (1,112, traded to the Green Bay Packers) and safety Nick Cross (1,111, signed with the Washington Commanders). No Colts player was on the field for more defensive snaps than Franklin, with Cross one snap behind him. Now-Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Kwity Paye's 721 defensive snaps were sixth-highest in 2025, too.
And several other starters or rotational guys either remain unsigned (linebacker Germaine Pratt, defensive end Tyquan Lewis) or signed with other teams (defensive tackle Neville Gallimore, defensive end Samson Ebukam and safety Rodney Thomas II, among others).
Those departures, though, have come with several additions: Defensive ends Arden Key and Michael Clemons, defensive tackles Derrick Nnadi, Jerry Tillery and Colby Wooden, linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither, cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt and safeties Jonathan Owens and Juanyeh Thomas all joined the Colts in March.
Two under-the-radar quasi-additions, too, are cornerback Justin Walley and safety Hunter Wohler. Both 2025 draft picks were in the midst of promising training camps before sustaining season-ending injuries in August.
And, too: Cornerback Sauce Gardner only played 196 snaps after being acquired from the New York Jets last November.
So the Colts' defense will have plenty of familiar faces – like defensive tackles DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart, cornerback Kenny Moore II and safety Cam Bynum, among others – it'll have a different feel in 2026.
With that in mind, here's what we heard on Monday from general manager Chris Ballard about the state of the Colts' defense, sorted by position group:
Defensive end
Key and Clemons "both add an energy and toughness that we wanted," Ballard said. Key signed with the Colts after spending the last eight seasons with the Raiders (2018-2020), San Francisco 49ers (2021), Jacksonville Jaguars (2022) and Tennessee Titans (2023-2025) – and the amount the Colts had to face him over the last few years was eye-opening when he became available as a free agent this offseason.
Ballard said head coach Shane Steichen always had to plan for keeping Key – a "disruptive" player – from wrecking a gameplan.
But while Key and Clemons are new additions to that room, two returning players should be significant factors for the Colts in 2026. Third-year defensive end Laiatu Latu, who had 8 1/2 sacks in 2025, "still has more upside and I think we're starting to see it," Ballard said.
The goal for Latu is to turn pressures into sacks more frequently. Latu had 61 total pressures, per Pro Football Focus, good for 15th-most among defensive ends in 2025, suggesting those opportunities certainly exist for the former first-round pick.
Opposite Latu is J.T. Tuimoloau, a 2025 second-round pick who Ballard said the Colts believe will take a step forward in Year 2.
Defensive tackle
While interior stalwarts DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart remain high-level players, both are 32 years old – so building depth behind them was a key charge this offseason.
Wooden said he played out of position with the Packers last season, with Green Bay using the 2023 fifth-round pick more as a nose tackle after shipping Kenny Clark to the Dallas Cowboys as part of the blockbuster Micah Parsons trade. The Colts saw the same thing on tape, and this year, Wooden will be part of a rotation behind Buckner, with Nnadi slotting behind Stewart. Adetomiwa Adebawore, who flashed down the stretch of 2025, will be a part of this group, as will Tillery, who provides positional flexibility across the defensive line.
Linebacker
Franklin's departure leaves a significant void within the spine of the Colts' defense, certainly. But Ballard pointed to the Colts wanting to get younger on defense, which could involve seeing if third-year linebacker Jaylon Carlies could work his way into a prominent role.
The Colts had high hopes for Carlies going into 2025, but he was sidelined due to injuries in both OTAs and training camp, and then spent more than half the season on injured reserve until being activated in December.
"Unfortunately, (he) has been hurt, so we just don't know. He's very talented," Ballard said. "He's as talented as anybody we've had, but he's got to find a way to stay healthy."
Davis-Gaither's experience with Anarumo – he played for the Bengals from 2020-2024, with Anarumo as his defensive coordinator there – was a key factor in signing him as a free agent, Ballard said.
But linebacker is a spot the Colts could look to address in the 2026 NFL Draft, too. That doesn't mean the Colts will use a second- or third-round pick on a linebacker, though. The Colts have had success drafting linebackers on both Day 2 (Shaquille Leonard, Bobby Okereke) and Day 3 (Franklin, EJ Speed, Anthony Walker Jr., Matt Adams) in previous drafts.
"We think it's really good in the draft at linebacker and every level, not just high," Ballard said. "We think it's good on that in the back part of it, too."
Cornerback + safety
The Colts only made one move at cornerback, signing another one of Anarumo's former Bengals in Cam Taylor-Britt. Safety, though, saw the departures of Cross and Thomas and the additions of Owens, Thomas and, again, Wohler.
The Colts had tracked Thomas, a 2023 undrafted free agent who signed with the Cowboys, for a few years. But don't sleep on Wohler, a 2025 seventh-round pick who consistently impressed during training camp last year before sustaining a season-ending Lisfranc foot injury.
"You know our feelings on Hunter," Ballard said. "We've been pretty dogmatic on what we think he can be for the team. Now whether it's as a role or a starter, we'll see. That'll work itself out."
