INDIANAPOLIS — Laiatu Latu finally looked like the pass rusher the Colts have been trying to find.
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Latu picked up one sack, two quarterback hits and five pressures, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats.
More importantly, he was a force off the edge throughout the game, looking like the kind of player who can serve as the tip of the spear.
Los Angeles quarterback Matthew Stafford gets the ball out of his hands faster than almost any quarterback in the NFL, and the Colts secondary gave Stafford a lot of options early in the down. If Stafford had held the ball a little longer, Latu might have made an even bigger impact.
The Colts have been looking for a game like this from the 2025 first-round pick.
“It was really big for himself, for the team, for his confidence,” defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said.
Buckner needs Latu to take the step. The Pro Bowl defensive tackle has been the primary target of almost every offensive line for half a decade in Indianapolis, facing a double team in almost any situation. The Colts have long needed another player like Buckner on the edge.
Latu is supposed to be that player. Indianapolis was ecstatic when Latu fell to the No. 14 pick in 2024; the Colts believed they’d finally found the natural rusher they needed after spending a lot of high draft picks on projects who needed their rush to catch up with their athleticism.
“I always go back to, with Latu, that it is he’s a football player first,” defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said. “And just his savviness, his feel for the game, that’s going to get him to be a potential high sack guy.”
But the transition to the NFL is tough for edge rushers.
Latu recorded just four sacks as a rookie, and even though he showed a good first step and an ability to beat tackles up the field, the UCLA product struggled to finish plays. By season’s end, he ranked only third on the Colts in quarterback pressures.
“I think just going into Year 2, these guys grow and develop,” Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen said. “And, obviously, their pass rush moves get better, they get stronger, they get faster.”
Latu spent a lot of time this offseason building strength, learning to add some power to his game even though he is more of a speed rusher who relies on finesse.
He believes the biggest difference in his game is knowing when to get to his second move.
“Working certain second moves off my first move, it’s more so an instinct thing,” Latu said. “Worked on it a lot in the offseason, for sure.”
An edge rusher’s first move isn’t always going to work in the NFL, and if a pass rusher presses the first move too long, he can rush himself out of plays, an issue at times for Latu as a rookie. Latu’s initial skills were evident, but he had trouble finishing plays at the quarterback.
Latu believes the second move can make the difference.
“If I might be a little too high in my rush, I might come back inside, so that I’m not running past the quarterback,” Latu said. “Or, you know, if I’m in power, be able to snatch off quicker so I can get him down.”
Latu also acknowledged that he was thinking a lot as a rookie, trying to catch up to a game that moves a lot faster at the NFL.
“I see a lot of things slowing down,” Latu said.
The first three weeks, it was tough to tell if the next step was coming. Latu recorded six pressures in two games, but he was still having a few issues finishing his rushes.
The Los Angeles game could be a big step forward.
When Buckner watched Latu’s film from the Rams game, he saw a rusher who looked far more comfortable in his own skin.
“Not thinking a lot, just going,” Buckner said. “Trusting in his own abilities.”
Latu has to keep it going. One game does not make a season, and to be the kind of force the Colts need, Latu has to play like he did in Los Angeles every Sunday.
But the Rams game was a sign that Latu might be headed in the right direction.
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