Colts To Retain DC

The Colts’ loss in Week 18 knocked them out of the postseason picture, and defensive struggles plagued them all season.

Despite this, defensive coordinator Gus Bradley will be retained, according to general manager Chris Ballard’s end-of-year press conference.

“I know that’s been a hot topic for everybody, and it’s an area we need to improve,” Ballard said, according to Joel A. Erickson of the Indy Star.”But in a little bit of defense, the year before, [Bradley] comes in, and we kind of had, I don’t want to say a veteran team, but we had some veteran players, and I just said, ‘Look, we’re going to go young in some spots [in 2023], and we went young in the secondary.”

Indeed, Indianapolis relied on a variety of inexperienced players at the corner and safety areas, with varied success. The club ranked 16th in the league in terms of passing yards allowed per game, although the unit was hampered by backend breakdowns. Cornerbacks Julius Brents and Dallis Flowers were both injured, leaving the squad shorthanded for significant portions of the season.

With 51 sacks, the Colts’ front seven had a solid season in terms of pass rush production. This ranked seventh in the league, although the club struggled against the run, in addition to secondary errors. As a result, the Colts allowed 350 yards per game (24th in the NFL) and 24.4 points per game (28th in the NFL). This offseason, the team will prioritize improvements in both areas.

“The points definitely need to come down,” Ballard remarked.”We’ll continue to have lengthy discussions about where we’re going and how we’re going to get there, but we had new starters on defense.” We did some wonderful things as well.”

After Matt Eberflus was hired as the Bears’ head coach, Bradley took over as the Colts’ DC in 2022. Indianapolis had mediocre results in various areas last year, but he earned a vote of confidence after the campaign. Both Bradley and head coach Shane Steichen will be retained after the 2023 season, which includes the decision to release former All-Pro linebacker Shaquille Leonard as part of the broader goal of getting younger (and healthier) at a number of positions.

The latter showed promise in his first year as head coach, and quarterback Anthony Richardson showed promise before suffering a season-ending injury. These characteristics will contribute to optimism on attack, but the team’s defense will be one to keep an eye on in the coming months. There will undoubtedly be roster changes, but there will be some continuity on the sidelines.