Of the six cornerbacks currently on the Colts’ roster, only two of them are returners from 2024: Kenny Moore II and Jaylon Jones.
The rest are newcomers: Mekhi Blackmon, Johnathan Edwards, Xavien Howard and Charvarius Ward. There are new names and new faces, to go along with a new approach to playing defense under defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo.
“There has been significant change in that room,” general manager Chris Ballard said during his annual pre-season press conference Wednesday. “Some based on injuries from where we started, some based on look, we knew we needed to get better.”
Entering training camp, the Colts believed they were in a great position to bolster their cornerback play; rookie Justin Walley impressed from the jump and JuJu Brents was back to full strength after two years of recovering from a variety of injuries. Ward was living up to the expectations of being the team’s No. 1 corner, Moore was as reliable as ever in the slot and Jones was showing notable improvement as he entered his third season in the NFL.
“When we got Mooney (Ward), we thought that was a really good sign,” Ballard said. “It gave us a true number one corner with a proven track record.”
Ward, who is now entering his eighth season in the NFL, has started in three Super Bowls and recorded 70 passes defensed, 10 interceptions and three forced fumbles. In 2023, he led the league with 23 passes defensed (five interceptions, 19 pass break-ups).
Then, injuries struck: Walley sustained a torn ACL that ended his season, Brents and Jones went down with hamstring injuries and Moore missed about a week of training camp with a knee injury. In a matter of days, one of the deepest and most competitive position groups the Colts had looked completely different.
So, Ballard and the Colts had to pivot.
First, they went out and got nine-year veteran Xavien Howard, who has history with both Anarumo and Ballard. Anarumo was Howard’s defensive backs coach at the Miami Dolphins for the first two years of the cornerback’s career, and Ballard was part of the staff in Kansas City that worked out Howard when he was coming out of Baylor.
“We were really high on Xavien,” Ballard said. “And he has a proven track record of being a good player. I know the year out, he hasn’t played, but I think that might have ended up being good for his body cause he’s looked really good.”
Howard sustained a foot injury early in the 2023 season and was not picked up by another team after he was released by the Dolphins at the end of the season. In his eight years (100 games) with the Dolphins, the four-time Pro Bowler has 95 passes defensed, 29 interceptions, five fumble recoveries, four forced fumbles and two sacks. He led the NFL twice in interceptions (seven in 2018; 10 in 2020) and was a first-team All-Pro in 2020.