The Colts’ former 2024 rookie first round pick received league-wide recognition following a solid pro debut year.
The Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA) named Colts’ first-year pass rusher Laiatu Latu to their 2024 PFWA All-Rookie Team—following a solid, albeit unspectacular pro debut campaign.
Originally selected by the Colts with the 15th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft (and the first defensive prospect chosen entirely), the seemingly polished rookie pass rusher was thrust into a much more prominent role early on than initially expected—because of other injuries to Indy’s defensive end position.
During 17 games (1 start) in 2024, Latu recorded 32 tackles (16 solo), 4.0 sacks, 38 QB pressures, 5 tackles for loss, 3 forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, and a pass defensed.
Per PFF, Latu was their 32nd best graded edge rusher (+71.5 overall grade)—featuring a pass rushing grade of +72.1, during his promising rookie season.
Regarded as the most polished pass rusher among this past year’s draft class, Latu showed some consistent flashes and had a handful of impact plays generating pass pressure. He still needs to improve his run defense to stay on the field for more extended snaps though—which will likely never be his calling card, given being undersized as an edge rusher.
That being said, it’ll be interesting to see how the ‘Mad Scientist,’ new Colts veteran defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, plans to deploy Latu during his 2nd-year, perhaps utilizing him with some more interesting looks and wrinkles to generate extra pass pressure out there.
