{"id":768633,"date":"2026-02-22T09:51:32","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T09:51:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/768633\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T09:51:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T09:51:32","slug":"big-opportunity-for-colts-to-bolster-major-positional-need-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/768633\/","title":{"rendered":"Big opportunity for Colts to bolster major positional need in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Feb. 20, 2026, 10:34 a.m. ET<\/p>\n

The 2026 NFL offseason is setting up well for the Indianapolis Colts<\/a> to tackle arguably their biggest positional need.<\/p>\n

ESPN NFL analyst Ben Solak<\/a>\u00a0recently ranked each position group this offseason from strongest to weakest, taking into account both the league-wide free agent class and the incoming draft class.<\/p>\n

At the top of the list was the edge rusher position. As Solak put it, it’s a good year to need “any sort of edge rusher at all.”<\/p>\n

“If your favorite team’s general manager can’t find a good fit at edge rusher this offseason, tell him to take a hike,” Solak wrote. “The main thing that impresses me is the variety.”<\/p>\n

With that said, Solak did add that it’s a “bad year” to need a truly elite pass rusher — unless trading for Maxx Crosby.<\/p>\n

Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\n

The need at defensive end is twofold. In one respect, the\u00a0Colts<\/a>\u00a0simply need depth here. Samson Ebukam, Tyquan Lewis, and Kwity Paye.<\/p>\n

Beyond that, as GM Chris Ballard said when discussing the defensive front, the Colts<\/a> need “more fuel” up front.<\/p>\n

Particularly from the defensive end position, the Colts struggled to generate steady pressure beyond Laiatu Latu. As a unit, Indianapolis finished the season ranked 30th in\u00a0ESPN’s pass rush<\/a>\u00a0win rate metric.<\/p>\n

In part, the Colts’ overall pressure numbers look okay because of the sheer number of opportunities they had to get after the quarterback with the defense playing with multi-score leads throughout the first half of the year. But from an efficiency standpoint, or when pressure was needed at a key moment late in a game, the Colts weren’t effective enough.<\/p>\n

However, whether it’s through free agency, the draft, or both, Chris Ballard is positioned well to bolster this position group in the coming months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Feb. 20, 2026, 10:34 a.m. ET The 2026 NFL offseason is setting up well for the Indianapolis Colts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":730185,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2059],"tags":[95878,2005,7,2004,392,2381,6,49915,95900,95882,95892,95903,97373,97541,98488,95896,95888,95895,95899,97372,95883,97375,95881],"class_list":{"0":"post-768633","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-indianapolis-colts","8":"tag-accessfree","9":"tag-colts","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-indianapolis","12":"tag-indianapolis-colts","13":"tag-indianapoliscolts","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-sstssportsnflcolts","16":"tag-sstsncolts","17":"tag-tagamerican-football","18":"tag-tagespn-inc","19":"tag-tagindianapolis-colts","20":"tag-tagkwity-paye","21":"tag-taglaiatu-latu","22":"tag-tagmaxx-crosby","23":"tag-tagnational-sports","24":"tag-tagnfl","25":"tag-tagnfl-hub","26":"tag-tagoverall-neutral","27":"tag-tagsamson-ebukam","28":"tag-tagsports-news","29":"tag-tagtyquan-lewis","30":"tag-typestory"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116113669149997683","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=768633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/730185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=768633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=768633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=768633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}