Indianapolis, IN — There’s much to be said about Colts general manager Chris Ballard’s hit rate, or lack thereof, of drafting defensive ends. Often opting for potential over production, he’s reversed course over the past couple of draft cycles, selecting Laiatu Latu and J.T. Tuimoloau in back-to-back drafts.
Tuimoloau was drafted in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft (45th overall), serving as the seventh installment of first and second-round defensive ends drafted under this regime.
This article, which focuses on Tuimoloau, is the second entry to a new article series that’ll cover each Colts rookie from the 2025-26 season.
Expectations — J.T. Tuimoloau was virtually regarded as a day-one run defender who provided viable depth amongst the defensive end room. His long arms were a selling point for both the run and pass games, but particularly the former.
Most notably, Tuimoloau was fresh off a dominant final year in college, where he totaled 21.5 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks. This was a strong showing that included a determined elevation in the College Football Playoffs, where he added his final 20 pressures, 10 TFLs, 6.5 sacks, and 1 FF in just four games.
For the long-term, Tuimoloau was essentially viewed as the future Kwity Paye replacement. Whether that’d come immediately following his rookie season, since Paye’s fifth-year option coincided with such, or sometime down the line.
Rookie Season — Tuimoloau, like most first-year players, had flashes throughout his rookie campaign. The biggest hindrance for success was his playing time. He played in thirteen of seventeen possible games as a rookie, missing some time with injury, while most of his inactive designations on gamedays were healthy scratches, which were mainly due to the Colts’ aforementioned logjam of players at the position.
He didn’t log a sack as a rookie, though Tuimoloau showed a lot of promise in his minimal run. Playing just 18.49% of the defensive snaps (215) and 22.30% of the special teams snaps (101), he made his presence felt.
As a pass rusher, Tuimoloau totaled 15 pressures on 123 rushes according to Next Gen Stats, turning in the team’s second-best pressure rate (12.2%) just behind Laiatu Latu. On the ground and in general, Tuimoloau had 17 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 6 QB Hits as a rookie.
Future Outlook — The laundry list of failed defensive end pass rushing prospects under general manager Chris Ballard suggests that his recent thrown darts are no different, though his aforementioned adjustment of valuing production over potential may have turned in a solid duo on the edge for years to come.
With Laiatu Latu slowly but surely ascending and J.T. Tuimoloau quietly coming into his own, there’s an avenue for the Indianapolis Colts to have their first homegrown defensive end duo since the days of Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis. It would be pure malpractice to suggest that they’re on their way toward such success, but even just becoming a lesser version of such would do wonders for the franchise moving forward.
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