Training camp is about position battles. For the Colts, there have been plenty of intriguing competitions, from the quarterback battle between Anthony Richardson Sr. and Daniel Jones down to Spencer Shrader and Maddux Trujillo duking it out for the lone kicker position.
While Indy seems to be making some progress towards figuring out who will slide into certain spots, there’s still one area they’ve yet to find a real answer.
IndyStar’s Joel Erickson wrote that the weak side linebacker spot next to Zaire Franklin is still “wide open.”
“An ankle injury has knocked the heir apparent on the weak side, Jaylon Carlies, out of the mix,” Erickson wrote. “Veteran Joe Bachie has been the most productive linebacker in training camp, Lawrence Central product Cameron McGrone has been up and down and developmental linebacker Austin Ajiake has flashed at times. A clear front-runner for the position hasn’t emerged yet.”
The lack of a clear favorite to win the position leaves Lou Anarumo’s unit— a unit that keeps two linebackers on the field at a time— in a bit of a predicament, especially with Carlies having been sidelined for an extended period. Still, the defensive coordinator likes the group of linebackers he has to work with.
“We’ve got a great group,” Anarumo said on Tuesday. “I’m excited about all of them.”
