Film Room: What Does Stephon Gilmore Bring to the Colts?

Colts' GM Chris Ballard has made one of the biggest free agent signings of his career, inking former All-Pro CB Stephon Gilmore to a two year deal. What does the veteran corner bring to the defense?

Indianapolis Colts' General Manager Chris Ballard has made a major free agent signing, as the team announced that they have agreed to terms with 2019 Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore. Gilmore, 31, has reportedly agreed to a two year deal worth up to 23 million dollars with the team.

This signing could have major implications on the Colts' defense. Gilmore is a five-time Pro Bowler (two-time All-Pro) that has started in 125 games in his 10 year career. He has accumulated 116 pass deflections and 27 interceptions in the NFL.

Last year, Gilmore was surprisingly traded to the Carolina Panthers halfway through the season. He missed the first half of the year due to an injury, but did suit up for eight games with the team. He finished the year with 16 tackles, two pass deflections, two interceptions, and only 16 receptions allowed in coverage.

While Gilmore certainly isn't the DPOTY caliber corner that he once was, he is still a really good starter in this league. In today's film piece, I go into detail on how this star corner can still be a difference maker for this Colts' team.

Aggressive Playmaker

Being a former All-Pro with the success that he has had in his career, Gilmore is willing to take more risks in the secondary than most players. He is confident in his reads, and when he sees an opportunity to make a big play, he doesn't hesitate one bit.

This play against the New England Patriots last year is a great example. He is lined up in the slot over the Patriots' favorite target in Jakobi Meyers. He reads the slant route quickly in his drop and explodes downhill to get in front of his man. While Gilmore does get a little help from his linebacker, he is able to jump the route and come up with the interception.

Physical Savvy

Gilmore is a veteran cornerback that certainly plays like it on the backend. I wouldn't describe him as grabby, by any means, but he understands how to disrupt routes by being physical without getting flagged.

This play against Antonio Brown is a great example. Gilmore is once again lined up in the slot. Brown does a good job of setting Gilmore up to the inside before quickly changing direction back outside. While Brown is one of the more sudden players in the league, Gilmore is able to slow him down by throwing a quick jab in as he works to the outside.

This physical play by Gilmore is just enough to disrupt the route without drawing a flag.

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On top of knowing when to be physical (and when not to be), Gilmore is also well-versed in route combinations. He can read when an offense is trying to pull off coverage by using rubs and picks, and he knows how to adjust to this.

He is lined up in man coverage with Brown on this two-point conversion try. The Buccaneers try to set up a rub route by motioning Brown behind the inside slot receiver. Gilmore quickly shifts inside to match Brown.

Once the ball is snapped, Brown quickly shoots to the outside, attempting to rub the outside cornerback off of the corner route. Gilmore (and the outside corner on the play) recognize this and quickly switch before the rub route can create an opening.

This is a high-level IQ play by Gilmore and the Panthers' defense to shut down this two-point conversion.

Trailing Top Receivers

The Panthers brought Gilmore over mid-season and immediately asked him to be a corner capable of trailing top receivers. Despite coming off of a major injury earlier in the year, Gilmore held up really well in this role.

He matched up with star players of all shapes and sizes. He lined up against Kyle Pitts, Terry McLaurin, Stefon Diggs, and Antonio Brown in the games I watched. Looking just at his game against Pitts in week eight, it was a darn good performance.

He followed Pitts everywhere on the limited snaps he played and effectively shutdown the star tight end. Gilmore allowed just 19 yards on two completions, and he came away with an interception in his first game back.

The Bottom Line

Stephon Gilmore may not be a corner that completely locks down one side of the field anymore, but he is still one of the top players at the position in the NFL. He is an easy mover that brings a veteran savvy to the cornerback room. He is also competitive enough, and talented enough, to slow down any receiver in the league that he matches up with.

In Gus Bradley's heavy man-match MOFC system, Gilmore is going to fit perfectly. He won't see as many slot snaps as he did in 2021, but he will likely rotate sides based on match-up with the Colts.

Overall, this is a great signing to sure up a major weakness on the Colts' team. Chris Ballard effectively upgraded the pass rush (Yannick Ngakoue) and the cornerback room (Rock Ya-Sin -> Gilmore, Xavier Rhodes -> Brandon Facyson) on a defense that was already really good a year ago.

While the new system may lead to some growing pains, the moves made on the defensive side of the ball this offseason absolutely set the team up for success. Gilmore was the final piece to the puzzle on defense.

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