One bold prediction for Colts No. 15 overall pick Laiatu Latu in 2024 NFL season

The Indianapolis Colts could have their next great pass rusher in UCLA product Laiatu Latu.  Selection with the No. 15 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, this Colts rookie is primed to dominate in the AFC South for years to go.

In the same year Dwight Freeney was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Colts have a young edge rusher in Latu who has the talent to make a core group of defensive players even better in 2024.  After drafting players like Kwity Paye and Dayo Odeyingbo, the Colts may have finally hit the jackpot with a player who racked up 23.5 sacks over his last two seasons with UCLA.

With the Colts losing edge rusher Samson Ebukam in training camp with a torn Achilles, the selection of Latu looms even larger.

What the Indianapolis Colts could have in Laiatu Latu

Fast, athletic, and dynamic, Latu will quickly remind Colts fans of Freeney with his explosiveness off the edge.  If he establishes moves like the Colts Hall-of-Famer, sky is the limit for Latu in the NFL.

 With young, rising quarterbacks like C.J. Stroud and Trevor Lawrence in the division, having a dominate, young pass rusher would be monumental for the Colts and obviously make that defense multi-dimensional with players like Paye, DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart along the defensive line.

What the Colts won’t see, however, is Latu rushing the quarterback along with Ebukam who led the team with 9.5 sacks in 2023.  Although a major blow, the loss does catapult Latu into a bigger role with the team which will lead to an opportunity to flourish in the league even quicker.

On Tuesday, Latu talked about the loss of Ebukam and how the pass rusher is helping him transition into the NFL.

“He’s literally been helping me, been a big brother to me,” Latu said, via TheAthletic.com.  “Working on different moves and stuff like that, learning from him, watching film with him.  So I’m just trying to carry what he already was proving the team, and I’m trying to boost that up so it doesn’t feel like we’re missing anybody.”

Bold prediction for the 2024 NFL season

Latu is already showing his ability to wreck offensive lines early in training camp.  That pass rushing talent will showcase itself immediately in his rookie season.  Again, with Ebukam out, Latu till emerge in the Colts defense and end the season leading the Colts in sacks with 8.5.  His first sack will come against Stroud in a Week 1 matchup of the top AFC South contenders.