If the Colts are going to get real value out of this rookie class, CJ Allen may end up being the one who matters most.
That’s not because the spotlight is shining brightest on him. It’s because the job in front of him is bigger than the usual second-round assignment.
Indianapolis needs him to step in, stabilize the middle of the defense and do it quickly. And if he pulls that off, it would be another reminder that Chris Ballard still knows how to find help in the draft, especially after the first round.
Ballard’s draft record is a mixed bag in plenty of areas, but there’s no denying he has landed a lot of quality players over the years. Jonathan Taylor, Alec Pierce, Josh Downs, Bernhard Reimann and Tanor Bortolini all came in rounds 2-4.
That matters here because the Colts’ current core is not built entirely through the draft, with Daniel Jones, DeForest Buckner, Sauce Gardner and Cam Bynum all arriving by trade or free agency. Still, the roster’s depth of proven talent leans heavily on Ballard’s draft work.
The problem on defense is that the list gets thin fast. Right now, the only proven defenders Ballard drafted and still on the roster are Laiatu Latu and Grover Stewart. Stewart may or may not still belong in that top-12 conversation, but the larger point is obvious: Indianapolis needs its young defensive picks to hit.
That is where Allen comes in.
NFL.com recently ranked Allen eighth among eleven Defensive Rookie of the Year contenders, which says plenty about the expectations around him. It also says plenty about the pressure on the Colts’ rookie defenders as a group. AJ Haulcy and Bryce Boettcher are part of that picture too, but Allen carries the heaviest load.
The reason is simple. The Colts traded away their first-round pick in the Sauce Gardner deal and also sent out their 2027 first-rounder.
Gardner is a stud, and with Charvarius Ward and Justin Walley alongside him, the cornerback room should be a strength. But the defense still needs someone in the middle who can handle traffic, clean up plays and keep everything from spilling apart.
That role used to belong to Zaire Franklin. It didn’t seem to fit Lou Anarumo’s scheme last year, and Franklin was traded this offseason. Now the burden shifts.
Allen isn’t the only rookie in the mix. Hunter Wohler is currently ahead of Haulcy and Allen, while Akeem Davis-Gaither has Boettcher running with the second team at linebacker. Even so, Allen is the one expected to be a day-one factor.
Or, more accurately, day four. He missed the start of camp with an injury, but he was back on the practice field Friday.
His workload was limited, and he may need a few more days before he’s fully up to speed. Once he gets there, the Colts are going to ask a lot from him.
That’s a steep ask for a second-rounder, but not an unheard-of one. Nine of the eleven players on NFL.com’s DROY list were first-round picks, with Miami’s Jacob Rodriguez the lone other second-rounder. Rodriguez was taken ten spots ahead of Allen.
And second-round linebackers have already shown they can make noise in this race. Cleveland’s Carson Schwesinger won the award last year, while Seattle’s Nick Emmawori finished second.
Schwesinger had the kind of support system that makes life easier for a rookie linebacker. The Browns’ defensive front, with Maliek Collins and Mason Graham inside and Alex Wright plus Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett on the edge, kept him protected. He still had to make the plays, and he did, finishing with 156 tackles, sixth-most in the league.
Allen has the ability to play at a similar level, but the Colts need a few things to break right around him. Buckner and Stewart have to stay healthy in the middle. The cornerbacks need to be as good as they look on paper so Allen can attack downhill without everything falling apart behind him.
Even then, the rookie will have to carry the heaviest part himself. The knock on Allen is that he’s dependable more than dazzling. He slipped from his early draft projection into the middle of the second round, and the usual concern is that he doesn’t have the rare athletic traits that create highlight plays.
That might be true. It also might not matter much for what Indianapolis needs.
The Colts don’t need him to be flashy. They need him to tackle in the middle of the field and keep the defense in order.
That is a lot to ask. It’s also why a DROY trophy feels like too much.
A top-five finish, though? That would be a strong rookie season and exactly the kind of outcome that would make Ballard look smart again.
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It is also a reminder of how unsettled this group still is, even with camp underway. The Colts have left the door open to adding a free agent at the position, which keeps the focus on performance but also suggests the team is not ready to treat the current battle as finished business. For a receiving corps trying to find order, the next stretch of practices could matter just as much as the opener. [Read more 🡒]