Heading into Year 2, Indianapolis Colts' head coach Shane Stiechen thinks a "big jump" is coming from sophomore defensive end Laiatu Latu.
"He does it the right way," Steichen said via the team site at the NFL annual meeting. "The way he works, his work ethic is tremendous. I think you'll see a big jump from Year 1 to Year 2. I think he had four (sacks) his rookie year, if we can get into double digits in Year 2 that'd be tremendous."
Latu was the Colts' first-round pick in last year's draft, and he was the first defender taken off the board. Latu would put together a solid rookie season, although the numbers may not leap off the stat sheet.
Latu finished the year with 38 pressures, which was the second-most on the Colts team. He also had four sacks. For some context, compared to the rest of his position group, Latu's 38 pressures ranked 50th.
However, what helps better illustrate the success that Latu had and is also a stronger indicator of what's to come is how often he won his one-on-one matchups.
PFF's pass rush win rate metric, as it sounds, measures how often a pass rush beats the blocker across from him. In that category, Latu ranked 27th.
What also likely played a factor in Latu not having more pressures and sacks was how opponents attacked the Colts' defense last season. Quarterbacks relied on the quick passing game against the Colts' secondary, taking advantage of the soft coverages, which made it much more difficult for the pass rush to get home.
A big jump from Latu is going to be crucial to the overall success of the Colts' pass rush. Without Dayo Odeyingbo, the Colts lost their top pressure-getter from a season ago, and even with the return of Samson Ebukam, there are unknowns when coming off an Achilles injury.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: NFL league meeting: Shane Steichen says 'big jump' for Laiatu Latu
