The Indianapolis Colts made a splash move this offseason by trading cornerback Rock Ya-Sin to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for defensive end Yannick Ngakoue.
While Ngakoue has only been with his new team for a few months, his personality is already making an impression. The palpable energy he’s brought to Colts training camp hasn’t gone unnoticed by his head coach.
“He brings an energy, a confidence – proven production year in and year out. This guy’s a playmaker. So that kind of leadership. It’s just been consistent,” Reich told reporters Thursday. “He brings that kind of consistent playmaking ability to us.”
Ngakoue will be on his fifth team since the start of the 2020 season. That kind of movement for players with his kind of production—at least 8.0 sacks every year since 2016—is odd, to say the least.
Now with a new, but familiar team in the Colts, they are embracing his unique personality.
“It’s unique now. He’s got a unique personality, and I like that. We celebrate that around here,” Reich said. “It’s team first, absolutely has to always be team first, but we kind of celebrate the uniqueness of each personality and he’s definitely in that category.”
Ngakoue has made a positive impression on his new teammates and coaches to begin training camp and even though he would describe himself as humble and caring, he knows there’s a switch that needs to be flipped when he’s on the field.
“Humble, caring, loving. Definitely have a soft side to me. I mean, not here on the field – for instance, I love my puppy. I have a Belgian Malinois. That’s my guy. So, he brings out the soft side in me,” Ngakoue said Thursday. “Got to flip the switch. It’s every man for themselves out there. That’s my whole mentality when I go out there and I try to scratch and claw each and every play.”
The Colts need that proven production from Ngakoue. With Kwity Paye entering a promising Year 2, DeForest Buckner returning as the engine of the defense and Dayo Odeyingbo hoping to make a larger impact, Ngakoue can be the steady piece of the defense that the Colts have needed.
It shouldn’t be too much of an issue, especially given the familiarity he has with the scheme.
“It’s great. Just being able to build that chemistry with the d-line as well as with the whole defense. It’s just great being back in the same scheme with Gus (Bradley),” Ngakoue said. “It feels super familiar.”
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