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‘I Thought We Got a Little Lucky’

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‘I Thought We Got a Little Lucky’


The Indianapolis Colts made a polarizing selection in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft on Thursday, taking the first defensive player of the night in UCLA edge rusher Laiatu Latu 15th overall.

On film, it’s hard to argue against Latu being the best pass rusher in the drat. However, he’ll end his rookie season at 24 years old and missed two seasons of his career after being forced to medically retire due to neck surgery from 2020-’21. Latu would return to football and transfer to UCLA in 2022, putting together arguably the best resume for defensive linemen in the country over the ensuing two seasons.

Colts GM Chris Ballard spoke to the media after making the pick and answered the burning questions.

The Colts tried to get in on an unprecedented offensive run. Fourteen consecutive offensive players were selected before the Colts took Latu at 15. However, Ballard admitted they did attempt to trade up.

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“Yeah, just looking at it the other day you thought there was going to be a big run on offensive players. The quarterbacks – six quarterbacks going off – I don’t know is that the most ever? It was interesting.”

“We had some serious, serious discussions, yes – with big offers, by the way. We made a push, it just didn’t – you got to get two to tango. Nobody was moving. There’s some good players up at the top of the draft. When you’re sitting there, you ask yourself, ‘Okay, is it worth moving back to 15 and missing out on one of the?’ We were fortunate back in 2018 when we just were able to kick three spots back and still get a premium player in Quenton (Nelson).”

The Colts are not concerned with Latu’s previous neck injury and did their due diligence.

“Excited about we got Latu. He’s a really great kid. I know the medical is going to be a question. Like our doctors said, he played two full years with it and had 22.5 sacks.”

“I had a ton (questions about Latu’s health). You can imagine. I asked a ton of questions. Anytime you have any kind of neck injury. You remember (Clayton) Geathers – Clayton went through it. It wasn’t as bad as Clayton’s. (I) asked a ton of questions – career length, what’s the chance of it happening again – we asked a ton of questions on it.”

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Latu helps diversify the Colts’ pass rush packages.

“The good thing is when you have Dayo (Odeyingbo), who can kick inside – you’ve got to think of third, you’ve got to think of rush downs too. Tyquan (Lewis) can go inside, you have shoot, 20 played all three technique for us. Dayo can kick in on third down, so they got versatility and that’s – when you have that, you have a chance to really have some really good green rush units, which we think we do.”

The Colts saw “four or five” elite players in the draft, Latu being one of them. They wanted to prioritize pass rush while in the moment on the clock.

“We think we got the best defensive player in the draft. I thought we got a little lucky. There were really four or five really elite players, and he was one of them so we feel fortunate to get him.”

“He’s a natural rusher. He’s a three-way rusher where he has got a great long arm down the middle and he’s got a great feel of when to counter inside and he can win on the edge. He’s kind of got all of it. He’s a really talented guy. I think our front – I think our defensive front is the best since we’ve been here. It’s excellent. It’s excellent and really excited about it.”

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“It was on my mind (getting and edge rusher before the draft). Now, did I have any idea that it was going to go out at that time, 14 offensive players were going to run off the board? I couldn’t. I’m not – I think I got a pretty good IQ but it’s not that, I don’t think I can see the future that way.”

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Colts think Latu will produce right away, but he has to “prove it.”

“I think he’s going to produce pretty quickly as a rusher, I think he knows how to rush. Now of course, there’s going to be an adjustment period as there is with any rookie rusher and he’s pretty polished. This guy is a pretty polished product in terms of rushing. Of course, you’re going to have to learn especially against the tackles who are so good in our league and the protection schemes are so good. So, that will be an adjustment for him. But, smart kid – he’ll figure it out.”

“You have to prove it. You have to play. Like with any of these guys, that’s the one thing that I think gets lost sight in all of this is everybody has got an opinion on players and they project them. You don’t know – they have to play. They have to go play and prove it. Latu has got to go play, but we feel good about who is and how he works and his talent and how he’ll produce.”

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You always put a lot of emphasis on character. What does the Lott Trophy Award mean?

“Matt Terpening and Chris McGaha did a tremendous job on the character, plus we have a great relationship with Chip (Kelly) so we had a lot of inside information on who he was. A lot of times the ones we know – and we visited with him at the Combine – guys we know, he fits what we stand for in every way. There are some guys you bring in that (you) dig, dig, dig on. He was one we had a really good feel for after the Combine. I thought we didn’t need more information and the character was really strong.”

“We visited with him a few times – our scouts did. Sometimes kids, like the ones that are really clean, you just do your work and then you move forward. We got a good feel for who they are. The ones we have questions on we always dig a lot more.”

Colts will make decision on Kwity Paye’s fifth-year option next week.

“We’ll work through that next week. But, Kwity is a really good football player. He had what, 8.5 sacks last year, plays the crap out of the run, he’s a great teammate. I think you know our philosophy; we want to keep as many of our own guys as we can. We like Kwity a lot.”

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Indianapolis, IN

Indianapolis Colts schedule 2025: Predictions, picks ahead of NFL schedule release

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Indianapolis Colts schedule 2025: Predictions, picks ahead of NFL schedule release


The Indianapolis Colts will learn their 2025 schedule with Wednesday night’s release from the NFL. The complete 18-week, 272-game regular season schedule along with all preseason dates will be set.

The Colts, who finished 8-9 last season, added defensive backs Charvarius Ward and Camryn Bynum, and quarterback Daniel Jones in free agency. They picked tight end Tyler Warren in the first round of the NFL Draft. Indianapolis lost offensive linemen Will Fries and Ryan Kelly, and edge rusher Dayo Odeyingbo in free agency.

Here’s what you should know about the NFL schedule release.

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AFC South opponents, home and away: Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans

Home games: Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders, Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons.

Road games: Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Pittsburgh Steelers.

Colts strength of schedule

The Colts’ 2025 opponents had a .464 winning percentage the previous season, 24th in the 32-team league. Four of those games come against struggling AFC South foes Jacksonville and Tennessee.

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Even with unsteady play under center last season, the Colts tied for the league lead with five wins in games decided by three or fewer points. Better quarterback play could yield more wins and perhaps a playoff berth.

Colts prime-time games

Without a premier quarterback, the Colts haven’t been a popular pick for night games. The vast majority of their games last season were 1 p.m. Sunday starts, though a November game against the Minnesota Vikings was flexed to a Monday night.

Only the Jaguars (6) have played fewer prime-time games at home over the last 10 years than the Colts (9). The Colts have played the 20th most total prime-time games in the last 10 years.

NFL prime-time results from 2015-24

Rk Team G W L T
1 GNB 55 32 23 0
2 DAL 53 32 21 0
3 KAN 49 34 15 0
4 PHI 48 29 19 0
5 PIT 44 27 17 0
6 NWE 43 25 18 0
7 SEA 42 23 18 1
8 DEN 39 16 23 0
9 NYG 39 9 30 0
10 SFO 39 20 19 0
11 LAR 38 21 17 0
12 MIN 37 17 20 0
13 BAL 36 26 10 0
14 CHI 35 13 22 0
15 LAC 35 13 22 0
16 NOR 34 15 19 0
17 BUF 32 20 12 0
18 LVR 31 14 17 0
19 CIN 28 12 16 0
20 IND 28 10 18 0
21 TAM 28 10 18 0
22 NYJ 27 8 19 0
23 WAS 27 11 16 0
24 MIA 26 9 17 0
25 ARI 25 11 13 1
26 DET 25 15 10 0
27 HOU 25 12 13 0
28 TEN 24 12 12 0
29 ATL 23 13 10 0
30 CLE 21 11 10 0
31 CAR 18 7 11 0
32 JAX 12 5 7 0

NFL home prime-time results from 2015-24

Rk Team G W L T
1 GNB 28 20 8 0
2 PHI 27 17 10 0
3 SFO 27 14 13 0
4 DAL 26 17 9 0
5 KAN 26 19 7 0
6 SEA 25 16 9 0
7 PIT 23 16 7 0
8 LVR 21 13 8 0
9 LAR 20 14 6 0
10 ARI 19 7 11 1
11 NWE 19 12 7 0
12 LAC 19 8 11 0
13 DEN 18 9 9 0
14 MIN 17 11 6 0
15 NOR 17 8 9 0
16 NYG 16 5 11 0
17 CHI 15 7 8 0
18 NYJ 15 4 11 0
19 BAL 15 13 2 0
20 HOU 14 8 6 0
21 TAM 14 3 11 0
22 BUF 12 8 4 0
23 CIN 12 8 4 0
24 DET 12 7 5 0
25 WAS 12 6 6 0
26 CAR 11 5 6 0
27 CLE 11 8 3 0
28 ATL 9 6 3 0
29 IND 9 2 7 0
30 MIA 9 3 6 0
31 TEN 9 6 3 0
32 JAX 6 3 3 0

The early over-under, as set by Betmgm.com, has Indianapolis winning 7.5 games, two games behind the Houston Texans, even with the Jacksonville Jaguars and two ahead of the Tennessee Titans.

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The Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles are 11.5 wins. The Cleveland Browns trail the league at 4.5 wins.

What do Colts want to see on 2025 schedule?

There’s no way to take a game at Jacksonville — where they haven’t won since 2014 — off the schedule. And they have to play Week 1, which hasn’t treated them well, either. They haven’t won a season opener since 2013, though they tied the Houston Texans in 2022.

They’re going to host a game in Germany and make three trips to the West Coast (both Los Angeles teams and Seattle). At least they will pile up frequent flyer miles.

Looking to buy Colts tickets for 2025? We’ve got you covered. Season tickets, group tickets and single-game tickets are available at Colts.com.

Buy Indianapolis Colts tickets for 2025

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When is Colts schedule release?

8 p.m. ET Wednesday, May 14, 2025



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Former Orange Bowl opponents now Colts teammates

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Former Orange Bowl opponents now Colts teammates


INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indianapolis Colts are in the middle of rookie minicamp at the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center.

Former Penn State tight end Tyler Warren was drafted by the Colts in the first round of last month’s NFL Draft, while former Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard was drafted by the Colts in the sixth round of the draft.

The two played each other this past January in the Orange Bowl down in Miami Gardens, Fla. Leonard’s Fighting Irish beat Warren’s Nittany Lions 27-24 in that College Football Playoff matchup.

News 8 Sports’ Andrew Chernoff asked Warren on Friday if Leonard and him have discussed that game at all.

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“Hadn’t been long talks, but it came up here and there,” Warren said.

Notre Dame may have beaten Penn State this past January, but Warren had a huge impact for the Nittany Lions in the game. He finished with 6 receptions for 75 yards in the contest, while also rushing for 21 yards on two carries.

“I didn’t talk to J.T. (Tuimoloau) about the natty, but I went straight up to Tyler Warren,” Leonard said. “That’s for sure. I went straight up to him. But then again, he probably had like 150 yards on us too at the same time.”

The duo may have been on opposite sidelines in that game this past January, but now they are looking forward to being teammates in Indy.

“He (Leonard) was a great player,” Warren said. “So playing him in college and now being teammates is really cool. And just to kind of share teams with guys that had great success all through college. Now being on the same team is really cool.”

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Leonard shares the same sentiment as he now is throwing passes to a player in Warren who made life miserable for defenses all across the college football world last season.

“Tyler, he’s a football player,” Leonard said. “He went out there yesterday and just very easily adapt(ed). He’s just a quarterback-friendly guy – catches, soft hands and things like that. But, ‘Tyler Warren’ Tyler Warren is like – you strap up them pads, that’s another version of the dude. Some guys are just football players and he’s definitely one of them. You can kind of tell. When he gets his hand in the dirt and straps it up, I’m excited to see it. Because I obviously saw it in person when we played him in the playoffs and it was fun to watch… kind of.”

Indianapolis Colts tight end Tyler Warren (84) runs after a catch during a rookie mini-camp practice at the NFL football team’s training facility in Indianapolis, Friday, May 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

The two players are ready for the challenge of playing in the NFL. Leonard credits playing at Notre Dame for helping prepare him for this next opportunity.

“You learn how to be a professional from the day you walk into the locker room,” Leonard said. “And you don’t learn it through the X’s and O’s and the playbook. You learn it from the environments around you. So if I went into Notre Dame’s facility at 10 p.m. at night, there’s guys in there constantly working because they’re all trying to make it to the NFL and win a national championship. That is our goal as a program. And everybody’s in there for the same purpose, rhyme and reason. So, I think Notre Dame teaches you the intangibles that just set you up perfectly for the next level.”

Colts rookie minicamp continues Sunday.

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Hauger Returns to Winning Ways in Indianapolis GP Race 2 – Speedway Digest – Home for NASCAR News

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Hauger Returns to Winning Ways in Indianapolis GP Race 2 – Speedway Digest – Home for NASCAR News


Dennis Hauger earned his third victory in four INDY NXT by Firestone races this season, passing Andretti Global teammate Lochie Hughes early and powering to victory in the second race of the Indianapolis Grand Prix doubleheader Saturday on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Hauger drove his No. 28 Rental Group car to a 4.7739-second victory over the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship machine of pole sitter Hughes, who earned his first career victory in the INDYCAR development series Friday evening in Race 1. Myles Rowe finished a career-best third for the second consecutive race in the No. 99 Abel/Force Indy entry.

SEE: Race Results

“It’s been a great start to the season,” Hauger said. “Yesterday wasn’t great, but we were able to come back and get a win today. Super-happy about that, and in a place like this, it’s awesome.”

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Salvador de Alba climbed one spot from his Friday finish to place fourth in the No. 27 Grupo Indi car as the third Andretti Global entry to finish in the top four today on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile circuit. Caio Collet rounded out the top five in the No. 76 HMD Motorsports car.

Norwegian driver Hauger became the first driver to win three of the first four INDY NXT by Firestone races of the season since current NTT INDYCAR SERIES star Pato O’Ward achieved the feat in 2018.

Hauger’s path to victory was created when he survived the first turn of the 35-lap race without contact, unlike Race 1. He was bumped off track in Turn 1 on the first lap Friday, falling to last in the 21-car field before recovering to finish eighth.

Hughes once again led into Turn 1 today, this time with fellow rookie teammate Hauger in pursuit. Hughes built a gap of 1.7 seconds by Lap 3 when the only caution period of the race was triggered when Jack William Miller in the No. 40 Abel/Miller/Vinatieri Motorsports car and Nolan Allaer in the No. 11 HMD Motorsports machine made side-by-side contact in Turn 1, forcing both cars to a stop in the grass.

On the restart at the end of Lap 5, Hughes and Hauger raced side by side toward Turn 1, with Hauger on the left and Hughes on the right at the start of Lap 6. Hauger edged ahead approaching Turn 2, with his left wheels on the dirt adjacent to the asphalt, and completed the pass for the lead in that corner.

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Hauger never trailed thereafter, but Hughes stayed close for a while. Hauger’s lead stayed around one second until about 10 laps to go, when he started to pull away. He padded his gap to 2.6718 seconds by Lap 29 and continued to drive away until the checkered flag.

“Yesterday was tough,” Hauger said. “I think we really didn’t have the balance, either, going through the field. But today we really nailed it. It was a warm day, and you had to judge it nicely with the rear tires.

“We managed well, and we had really good pace today. That’s a good way to bounce back.”

Hauger took a 15-point lead over Hughes in the series standings after four of 14 races this season. The next race is the INDY NXT by Firestone Detroit Grand Prix on Sunday, June 1 on the streets of downtown Detroit (10:30 a.m. ET, FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).

IndyNXT PR

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