The Indianapolis Colts are expecting the defensive side of the ball to make a tier jump in 2022 after making some big additions during free agency and the NFL draft.
Adding defensive end Yannick Ngakoue in a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders gives the Colts another talented pass rusher to work with opposite second-year edge Kwity Paye.
The Colts also added cornerback Stephon Gilmore to the secondary on a two-year deal, giving them a talented veteran presence in a pretty young group.
Then the Colts traded up in the third round of the draft to take safety Nick Cross while adding a pair of defensive tackles to compete for depth roles in 2022.
As of this writing, the Colts have yet to announce their group of undrafted rookie free agent signings, but that crop is likely to have a lot of defensive players on it. We will include some of the bigger names on that list on the depth chart even because they could have a role in impacting the roster throughout the spring and summer practices.
We also took a look at the offensive side of the ball earlier.
Following the draft, here’s a quick look at the updated depth chart on defense for the Colts: