INDIANAPOLIS — The Colts are bringing back a familiar face with plenty of leadership ability as insurance in a thin linebacker room.
Indianapolis signed veteran linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. to the practice squad on Monday, bringing back a former starter who was the brains behind the defense from 2018 to 2020.
Walker, a fifth-round pick by the Colts in 2017, took over as the starter at middle linebacker in 2018 and made 319 tackles over three seasons, all while putting together game plans and serving as the voice of the defense next to Shaquille Leonard.
Indianapolis let Walker leave for Cleveland in free agency after his rookie contract, and he spent three seasons with the Browns, then one in Miami.
Walker is no longer a starter, but he adds experience and leadership to a linebacker room that has precious little starting experience outside of Pro Bowl middle linebacker Zaire Franklin.
Unable to add a key player at the position in either free agency or the NFL Draft, Colts general manager Chris Ballard has instead made a series of veteran acquisitions, focusing his attention on cornerback because of new defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo’s desire to play more dime coverage, which requires six defensive backs and one linebacker, a “dime linebacker” that is often a safety.
Indianapolis is expected to start veteran special teamer Joe Bachie next to Franklin, and the Colts claimed Chad Muma off waivers from the Jaguars, but both players have mostly been reserves in their careers. Second-year linebacker Jaylon Carlies will open the season on injured reserve due to an ankle injury suffered in the preseason against Baltimore.
Ballard indicated last week that he’d continue to add players to the linebacker position, and Indianapolis worked out a handful of veterans in the days following the NFL’s cut to 53-man rosters.
Walker, who made 68 tackles and 8 starts for the Dolphins a year ago, was cut loose in that roster reduction, making him available for the return to Indianapolis.
“We kept four, knew we wanted to add another guy,” Ballard said after the move to pick up Muma. “We’re still going to bring some other guys in. It’s different than it was in the past because in the past, we usually kept six and dressed six in the schemes we were in before. But now you know a little differently, where he’ll play some dime. So, we’re really only playing with a (middle) and a (weak-side linebacker).”