Why Colts DE Laiatu Latu is a top breakout candidate for the 2025 season.
Our team of NFL Wires editors selected one breakout player from each of our respective teams for the upcoming 2025 NFL season. For the Indianapolis Colts, I selected defensive end Laiatu Latu, and there are two primary reasons behind that choice.
The first was that the underlying numbers from Latu’s rookie season showcased a player who won his one-on-one matchups regularly. Latu finished the 2024 season with 38 pressures, an amount that isn’t going to leap off the stat sheet and ranked 50th out of all defensive ends.
But a more telling stat when it comes to long-term success is PFF’s pass rush win rate metric–or how often a pass rusher beats the blocker across from them. In that regard, Latu ranked 27th out of 119 eligible defensive ends, and oftentimes, when there is consistency, the production will follow.
The second reason that I’m bullish on Latu is the new Colts’ defensive scheme under Lou Anarumo.
Making things difficult for the entire Colts’ pass rush last season was that opposing quarterbacks often picked apart the secondary with the quick passing game. When the ball is out of the quarterback’s hands so quickly, it makes getting home regularly quite difficult.
But this season, this new-look defense will be more aggressive and utilize disguises in coverage, which can help take away those quick throws and lead to hesitation, providing an extra split-second or two for the pass rush, and that can be all it takes to turn a completion into a pressure or sack.
“He does it the right way,” Steichen said via the team site of Latu earlier this offseason. “The way he works, his work ethic is tremendous. I think you’ll see a big jump from Year 1 to Year 2. I think he had four (sacks) his rookie year, if we can get into double digits in Year 2 that’d be tremendous.”