{"id":837422,"date":"2026-03-27T18:40:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T18:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/837422\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T18:40:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T18:40:13","slug":"colts-named-top-landing-spot-for-dj-reader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/837422\/","title":{"rendered":"Colts named top landing spot for DJ Reader"},"content":{"rendered":"

March 27, 2026, 1:38 p.m. ET<\/p>\n

The Indianapolis Colts<\/a> were named a “best landing spot” for one of the top remaining free agent defenders.<\/p>\n

Mason Cameron of Pro Football Focus<\/a> recently selected destinations for the top remaining free agents. When it came to defensive tackle DJ Reader, he was paired with the Colts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Adding Reader would give the Colts defense a key piece familiar with the system and bolster a defense that struggled against interior runs,” Cameron wrote. “Indianapolis finished the 2025 campaign ranked 27th in PFF run-defense grade (53.8) when facing A and B gap runs.”<\/p>\n

Reader is currently ranked as the third-best free agent defender still available on Gregg Rosenthal’s<\/a> big board.<\/p>\n

Reader spent four seasons in Cincinnati from 2020 through 2023, playing under Lou Anarumo. That familiarity with his defense would help Reader hit the ground running.<\/p>\n

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

His most productive years as a pass rusher came from 2021 to 2023, when he generated 30-plus pressures each year. In 2025, Reader recorded 20 pressures. Against the run is where Reader has often made an impact.<\/p>\n

“While playing under Anarumo in\u00a0Cincinnati<\/a>, Reader put together the strongest stretch of his career, earning an 82.0-plus PFF overall grade in 2022 and 2023,” Cameron added. “Before his departure, Anarumo had high praise for Reader, both on the field and in the locker room.”<\/p>\n

Does signing DJ Reader make sense for the Colts?<\/p>\n

Adding more depth to the interior defensive line is never a bad thing. However, that is not where the Colts’ greatest needs lie currently.<\/p>\n

This offseason alone, the Colts acquired Colby Wooden in a trade and signed Derrick Nnadi and Jerry Tillery. This trio joins DeForest Buckner, Grover Stewart, and Adetomiwa Adebawore.<\/p>\n

Not to say that upgrades still can’t be made, but there are bigger issues — like at linebacker and edge rusher — for the Colts to tend to.<\/p>\n

Reader doesn’t provide a long-term option at tackle either, which is what the Colts really need at this position, with many of the players currently under contract set to be free agents in 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"March 27, 2026, 1:38 p.m. ET The Indianapolis Colts were named a “best landing spot” for one of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":776554,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2059],"tags":[95878,2005,7,2004,392,2381,6,49915,95900,102813,95882,100529,110331,100487,95903,113667,95906,95883,95881],"class_list":{"0":"post-837422","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-tagadetomiwa-adebawore","18":"tag-tagamerican-football","19":"tag-tagcolby-wooden","20":"tag-tagderrick-nnadi","21":"tag-taggrover-stewart","22":"tag-tagindianapolis-colts","23":"tag-tagjerry-tillery","24":"tag-tagoverall-positive","25":"tag-tagsports-news","26":"tag-typestory"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837422","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=837422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/776554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}