Jaylahn Tuimoloau’s grip on a roster spot in Indianapolis is looking awfully shaky after another quiet preseason showing.
The Colts don’t use August to game-plan for opponents, and like every other team, they’re really using these exhibition games to sort out who belongs and who doesn’t. For some players, that’s a chance to grab a role.
For others, it’s a fast track to the wrong side of the roster bubble. Tuimoloau is starting to look like the latter.
That’s a bad place to be for a former second-round pick, especially one who was already a disappointment as a rookie and spent plenty of time as a healthy scratch. A player taken that high is supposed to contribute early. Tuimoloau hasn’t come close.
The first two preseason games of 2026 haven’t changed the picture. Against the Atlanta Falcons on Saturday, he was practically nonexistent. Tuimoloau logged 25 defensive snaps, with 14 pass-rush reps and 11 against the run, and finished without a single stat.
No pressures. No tackles. Not even a missed tackle attempt.
That kind of line tells the story all by itself: he wasn’t making plays, and he wasn’t even getting close enough to force action. And since only presumed backups were on the field, this wasn’t a case of him getting buried by starters. He still couldn’t separate himself from reserve-level competition.
That’s a problem for a Colts defense that already has questions at edge rusher. Chris Ballard has gotten some credit for his drafting, though that remains open to debate, but the team has repeatedly struggled to find real answers at quarterback and on the edge.
Kwity Paye, who left for the Las Vegas Raiders in free agency, posted eight sacks in a season twice, but managed just four last year. That’s not the kind of production that inspires a ton of confidence.
Laiatu Latu looks like the exception. After going in the first round of the 2024 draft, he turned in a strong second season, finishing with 61 total pressures and holding up well against the run. He could be even better in year three, provided there’s some help around him.
Right now, Tuimoloau doesn’t look like part of that solution.
If anything, he’s trending toward being a healthy scratch again in 2026. There’s no obvious reason to play him if he isn’t helping and hasn’t shown he can get anywhere near consistent NFL impact.
There is at least one reason the Colts might still be patient: they invested too much draft capital to walk away this soon. But if he can’t produce this season, the leash could get very short. And if Indianapolis eventually does move on, it would clear space for someone who might actually give them something on the field.
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Anthony Richardson Puts Colts Protection Debate Right Back In Focus
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The bigger question is how much freedom Richardson will have to direct things at the line, because the Colts appeared to change their protection approach between the two plays. One snap pointed to the growing importance of his ability to identify pressure and set the slide, while the other showed how quickly a small breakdown can snowball into a turnover. For a young quarterback still learning the edges of NFL defenses, it is the kind of detail the Colts have to get right before the games start counting. [Read more 🡒]