Indianapolis Colts: Darius Leonard can better All-Pro debut season
Heading into his sophomore campaign, Indianapolis Colts linebacker Darius Leonard looks to improve upon his All-Pro debut season.
Nearly a year and a half ago, the Indianapolis Colts selected South Carolina State linebacker Darius Leonard 36th overall in the 2018 NFL Draft. At the time, I liked the pick, even though it was a bit of a reach. Coming out of a small school, the thought was it would take Leonard a bit of time to adjust to the league, especially after the quad injury he suffered during the pre-draft process. However, I and many others could not have been more wrong.
The 2018 season was a revelation for the second-round linebacker, who proved general manager Chris Ballard and his scouting department do a pretty good job of finding players the right guys throughout college football.
Inserted as the starting weak side linebacker at the start of training camp, Leonard turned heads right away. As the regular season began, he showed the rest of the league just how good he could be.
In the opener against the Cincinnati Bengals, he had nine combined tackles and a fumble recovery. The next week at Washington, he recorded a season-high 19 tackles (15 of which were solo) and a sack en route to being named AFC Defensive Player of the Week.
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Throughout his rookie season, Leonard proved time and again he was quickly becoming one of the league’s best off-ball linebackers. By season’s end, he had compiled 163 combined tackles (111 solo), eight pass deflections, seven sacks and two interceptions in 15 starts. This excellent debut season led to him capturing Defensive Rookie of the Year, as well as an AP First Team All-Pro nod.
That was just the start for Leonard. Per NFL.com’s Logan Reardon, Leonard stated the following goals for 2019:
"“I want 200 tackles. I want 10 sacks. I want to be NFL Defensive Player of the Year, I want to be All-Pro, Super Bowl champion, Super Bowl MVP. Just everything with my name at the top of the charts.”"
The last two players to win the Defensive Player of the Year in their second seasons? J.J Watt and Luke Kuechly in 2012 and 2013, respectively That’s pretty good company for Leonard to potentially join. Furthermore, the second-year linebacker is continuously motivated by past comments from critics.
“Last year, I was called the worst draft pick by Bleacher Report,” said Leonard in the same NFL.com report. “I screenshotted it and every day I looked at it and it kind of gave me the drive to prove that I wasn’t the worst draft pick and I could play at the next level.”
Entering his second season in defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus’ defense, Leonard is poised to take the next step towards his stated goals. The last time someone had 200 solo tackles in a season? 1993 when Hardy Nickerson set the all-time NFL record with 214 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Atlanta Falcons legend Jessie Tuggle has the only other two 200-tackle seasons with 207 in 1991 and 201 in 1990. If Leonard can hit even 200 combined tackles and 10 sacks, Leonard will most likely win the Defensive Player of the Year, plus earn his second All-Pro nod in as many seasons.
A Super Bowl Champion plus an MVP nod? Those goals will be much harder to reach, but they aren’t unattainable either.
The Colts are the team to beat in arguably the AFC’s weakest division (the East can give them a run for their money), as the only true test they face are the Texans, led by Watt and third-year signal-caller Deshaun Watson. Other potential AFC title contenders include the Patriots, Chargers, Chiefs, Ravens and Steelers. The Browns are also on the rise.
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As recent history has shown, betting against Leonard and the Colts might not be the best idea. The last time they were underestimated as last year — which ended in a run to the Divisional Round. Will they be able to make a deeper run than that in 2019? Only time will tell.
If Leonard has anything to say about it, though, the Colts will be hoisting the Lombardi Trophy come next February down in Miami.