Colts believe a young player will shock people and could play a factor in filling a glaring hole on the team’s roster

The Colts are banking on Jaylon Carlies taking the next step in his career, but he has a giant hurdle to overcome first.

Destin Adams — NFL News Writer
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Colts LB Jaylon Carlies, CB Jayon Jones and former safety Nick Cross combine for a tackle
Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Indianapolis Colts took a pretty passive approach during the opening stages of free agency.

The team’s main focus was retaining their top two in-house free agents, Daniel Jones and Alec Pierce, and they have added needed depth throughout their roster.

They have struggled to add starting-caliber players in free agency, though. Akeem Davis-Gaither is the only projected starter that the Colts signed, and the linebacker position is far from solidified. Colts general manager Chris Ballard seems to think the answer at linebacker could already be on the roster, though, in a young player who’s struggled with injuries.

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Colts GM Chris Ballard is excited to see a healthy Jaylon Carlies factor into the LB room

We’d really like to see JC (Jaylon Carlies), JC has to stay healthy, but we think he has the skill set to be a really good inside backer. Theres been other years we’ve gone into this really young. We arn’t scared to go in to it with a young player, as long as they win the job and can execute what Lou and them want.

Chris Ballard

Colts GM

The Colts drafted Jaylon Carlies in the fifth round of the 2024 NFL Draft. He was a safety in college at Missouri, but the Colts announced directly after drafting him that they were moving him to linebacker.

During his rookie season, he started six games, and it became clear right away that he was the best coverage linebacker on the Colts roster. His season was cut short by an injury after 10 games.

His second year in the NFL was even more limited due to injury. He only appeared in three games and never looked healthy. He had to battle injuries throughout training camp, and with the new defensive scheme coming in, it was a bad time to be playing behind the eight ball from the jump.

2026 is going to be a big year for him, and there’s a massive opportunity in front of him. Step one will being 100% healthy by the time training camp arrives, and then it will all be about how much he can show this defensive staff that he belongs in the rotation at linebacker, in a room that is pretty bare behind Gaither-Davis right now.

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