The Tennessee Titans and the Indianapolis Colts meet in Week 6, and the stakes feel as high as possible for a game this early in the season. Both teams desperately need a key divisional win to avoid falling into a potentially insurmountable hole.

Among the biggest individual matchups is a pair of franchise cornerstone rookies, LT J.C. Latham vs EDGE Laiatu Latu. A to Z’s Titans reporter Easton Freeze and Colts reporter Destin Adams sat down to dive into the significance of their first meeting:

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Rookie-On-Rookie Violence

Freeze: This is a faceoff a lot of people have been looking forward to ever since April when the Titans drafted an elite OT prospect and the Colts drafted an elite EDGE prospect with their first-round picks. And we’re getting a direct matchup between the two earlier than I expected!

Adams: Absolutely. The Colts' original plan was to ease Latu into the starting lineup, and their depth in the edge room was going to make that possible. But their entire roster has taken a massive blow with injuries to start the year, and no position group has been hit worse than their defensive line.

They lost their 2023 sack leader Samson Ebukam to a torn Achilles early in training camp. Then, since the season started, they've seen starter Kwity Paye miss two games and key rotational piece Tyquan Lewis land on the IR. And if that wasn't bad enough, star DT DeForest Buckner suffered a high ankle sprain during their Week 2 loss to the Green Bay Packers, which landed him on short-term IR.

So the Colts have been forced to go from easing Latu into the starting lineup to him being the top defensive lineman offenses focus their game plan around. And it’s only Week 6 of his rookie season! The Colts are hopeful that Paye will return to the field this week, and for the sake of Latu’s development, it feels like a necessity.

Freeze: The main reason we got together to discuss this matchup is because of how much we expect to see these two elite prospects go 1-on-1 this weekend. Per NFL Pro, Latu has aligned as the Colts’ right edge on 88.7% of his defensive snaps compared to just 7.3% as a left edge.

Now, it wouldn’t be entirely surprising to see the Colts move Latu around a bit more, given the disparity between the Titans' left and right tackles. If you’re trying to get after the QB, the path of least resistance is absolutely against the RT. But that’s the case for more than just the Titans, and the Colts have had Latu line up as the right EDGE (against the LT) very consistently, regardless. So, I think we’ll get a very healthy dose of this battle on Sunday.

Adams: Latu has spent 170 of his 177 snaps off the edge but has lined up in the interior five times and even twice as an LB. He’s spent 162 of his total snaps on the right side of the defensive line, where he has recorded 100% of his QB pressures this season.

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The Passing Game

Freeze: When we were evaluating Latham as a draft prospect, long before he was ever a Titan, the consensus was pretty clear for him: He’s a huge, powerful guy with incredible athleticism for his size, which lends itself to being a strong run blocker early who may take some time to figure out pass pro.

Well, so far, it’s actually been the opposite. Latham had his rookie debut struggles in Week 1, but since then, he’s improved overall in each game he’s played. And his strength has clearly been as a pass blocker! Latham has allowed 18 pressures on 138 pass blocks this season, good for a 13.0% pressure rate. That’s the 4th-highest among all left tackles with at least 80 pass blocks, per NFL Pro.

PFF’s pressure metrics are different from what NFL Pro has (everybody charts these things slightly differently), but they have over half of Latham’s pressures allowed, having come in his rocky Week 1 debut. No matter how you slice it, since the Chicago game, JC Latham has been fantastic at protecting his QB.

Adams: According to NFL Pro, Latu has only recorded the third-most snaps by an edge rusher on the Colts roster so far with 177. 106 of those snaps have been pass rush snaps, which is the second most on the team, trailing Dayo Odeyingbo with 129. He has been credited with one sack and 12 QB pressures, which is second on the team, only behind Odeyingbo with 13.

But Latu he leads the team with an 11.0% pressure rate, the second-best pressure rate of any rookie edge rusher, only trailing Los Angeles Rams Jared Verse. If we only look at Latu’s time on the right side (where he's spent most of his time), he has an even better 12.4% pressure rate.

His most recent outing against the Jacksonville Jaguars was his worst game as a pass rusher in his young NFL career. With the team missing four players across the defensive line, he was clearly a player the Jaguars came into the game with a plan to neutralize. He faced a double team at the highest rate of the year to date against the Jaguars. He ended the game without a sack and 0 QB pressures. 

Freeze: Well, here’s where I find this matchup interesting. Latu is a formidable test for Latham, but I don’t see a world where the Titans send consistent help to cover him on the left side of the line like the Jaguars did in Week 5.

As anybody who has watched the Titans this year knows, they have to do everything in their power to help the right side of the line. There aren’t additional resources to attribute to backing up Latham all game as he faces Latu. This seems like a spot where you have to trust the rookie on an island against a strong opponent. And frankly, this is exactly the kind of thing you get drafted at 7th overall to do.

As for styles, I’m very excited to see Latham face a player as well-rounded as Latu. You can’t make any assumptions with him: this isn’t somebody you know you’ll see mostly speed or mostly power from. He can and will hit you with both. With Latham’s overwhelming size, the area he has to be most cautious in is smaller, quicker athletes getting around the edge. That’s where I’d give Latu the advantage.

Where I give Latham the edge is countering Latu’s speed-to-power.  It’s such an effective tool in his toolkit against most of the league. But Latham is just too big and strong. Latham is one of just 12 OTs this season with a 100% anchor rate according to PFF, meaning he hasn't lost against a single bull rush. I don’t see that being too effective for Latu this weekend.

Adams: You're right that Latu is a technician as a rusher. He has a deep bag of pass-rush moves, and he can deploy any number of them on any given Sunday. He isn't afraid to get down and dirty and overpower his assignment with a bull rush, but he can also win with a perfectly timed spin or chop.

It’s not often you see a rookie so polished in that regard, but Latu’s tape at UCLA was full of him utilizing so many different pass-rush moves. And through the first five weeks of his NFL career, we’ve seen plenty of glimpses of them as well.

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The Run Game

Freeze: Where Latham has left a decent amount to be desired is in the run-blocking game. And in a roundabout way, I think this isn’t actually alarming long-term.

His best outing as a run blocker came in Week 1 (his worst as a pass blocker), and he has been generally average since. Titans running backs have been getting hit at or behind the LOS at an unacceptably high rate so far this year, and he’s been a part of that issue.

But the reason I don’t find this too alarming is twofold. One, when you look at the run charts for the Titans, they’re having more success running off the left with JC Latham and Peter Skoronski than in any other direction. The vision of those two becoming a 600lb, recent-1st-round-pick, two-man run-grating machine is all there on tape: it’s just too inconsistent.

And as far as OL development is concerned, it’s a lot easier to develop run blocking than pass protecting. Bill Callahan’s run scheme is legendary. He’s the man for the job to whip JC into elite shape in the long run. Whether or not he’s a big plus for the Titans in this game running the ball, however, is fair to question.

Adams: I honestly wasn't expecting to see Latu make much of an impact in the run game as a rookie.

In college, UCLA often took him off the field in clear rushing situations and prioritized him as a pass rusher. The Colts have done this as well, to an extent, but with so many injuries piling up, they have had to use him more in that regard.

According to NFL Pro, so far this season, he has only logged 68 snaps as a run defender but has recorded a solid nine tackles and seven stops. 

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Matchup Predictions

Adams: I think the matchup with the Titans will be an intriguing one for sure because it largely depends on which side he lines up against.

When he’s facing off with Latham, I’d expect him to utilize his speed and finesse to win reps. But if he ever lines up over Titans RT Nicholas Petit-Frere, I’d expect him to show off both his speed around the edge and his play strength to bully Petit-Frere on his way to the QB.

I think Latu will end this game with a sack, and I even think we could see his first multi-sack game of his young NFL career. But that is contingent on Paye returning to the lineup to take some of the pressure off the rookie’s plate.

Freeze: As far as how Latham will fare, I’m excited to see him get this test against a talented contemporary. I think as the Titans continue to assign resources towards stopping the bleeding at RT, He’s going to be leaned upon more and more to be a true island LT. That's a huge task for a rookie, but so far he’s shown that in pass pro he’s got what it takes.

Latu is a good enough player to get his regardless, however. And if the Colts (wisely) play him as the left EDGE more in this one to get him on NPF… let’s just say I’ll be eyeing his over for sacks.

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