What’s One Position Indianapolis Colts Must Sort Out?

INDIANAPOLIS — After all the offseason tinkering to the Indianapolis Colts roster, there’s still at least one starting position that needs to be settled.

There are several candidates to replace veteran defensive end Jabaal Sheard, who became a free agent. The question is, who will earn the job? Reduced offseason practice time could mean it’s a revolving door handled by rotation and constantly re-evaluated.

Colts general manager Chris Ballard and defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus have conceded that defensive tackle Denico Autry could move outside, where Al-Quadin Muhammad, Kemoko Turay, Ben Banogu, and Tyquan Lewis will be vying for snaps.

The March acquisition of All-Pro defensive tackle DeForest Buckner means Autry has to move from where he’s played. The seventh-year pro, who is entering a contract year, has started 25 of 26 games in his two Colts seasons with mixed results. He had a career-high nine sacks in 12 games in 2018, but 3.5 sacks in 14 starts last season.

“That is a good question and I know there has been some talk about that,” Eberflus said about Autry in a Monday Zoom video conference call. “I certainly agree that that is something we should look at and we are looking at. We will see how that plays out … but that is certainly a big thought for us. That is kind of what Autry did before and Tyquan. They have both done that. They both have played left end, they’ve played right end and they’ve played inside. So having players like that is certainly a good thing for our defense.”

Turay and Lewis were both drafted in the second round in 2018, but have had issues. After being criticized for his work ethic as a rookie, Turay was just starting to emerge as an effective pass rusher in year two when he suffered a season-ending broken ankle in his fourth game. Lewis has also had difficulty staying healthy — he’s missed 15 games so far.

Turay had 1.5 sacks in his abbreviated 2019, but still needs to develop as a run stopper. Lewis didn’t do much of anything in nine games with just five tackles. He showed promise with a couple of sacks in starting six of eight games as a rookie.

Muhammad, a 2017 sixth-round pick claimed off waivers from New Orleans, has shown steady progress in four starts in each of the past two seasons in 31 games with the Colts. He had 28 tackles each year and the three sacks last season were his first as a pro.

Ballard reminded in a conference call after April’s NFL draft that 2019 second-round selection Ben Banogu is also an option. Banogu struggled at times in adjusting to the NFL with 11 tackles and 2.5 sacks in 16 games as a reserve.

“Look, Denico, Muhammad – I mean I love Denico and I love Muhammad,” Ballard said. “We’ve still got Turay. We’ve still got Banogu. It’s a good group. We’ve still got Tyquan. I like our front.

"We’ve got young players and they’ve got to come on. We drafted them for a reason. Let’s see them play and come on. All of them have played pretty good football in spurts. Now we’ve got to get them to do it a little more consistently. We like their talent and we like our defensive line. We think we’ve got a good group.”

As the Colts faded with seven losses in their last nine games to finish 7-9 last season, the defense played its part in not protecting leads and allowing an average of 34.5 points in the last four losses.

Eberflus cited injury issues, but conceded the performance was unacceptable.

“I think our football team was just disappointed in how we finished the year last year,” he said. “We are all aware of that. Our eyes are forward now working on this 2020 season. But just to look back and reflect as we look back on it, I just think some of it was continuity in terms of injury at times and I just think we need to perform better as a group and as a football team.”

Sheard, who just turned 31 and has 51.5 sacks in nine seasons, is still a free agent.

(Phillip B. Wilson has covered the Indianapolis Colts for more than two decades and authored the 2013 book 100 Things Colts Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. He’s on Twitter @pwilson24, on Facebook at @allcoltswithphilb and @100thingscoltsfans, and his email is phillipbwilson24@yahoo.com.)

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