The Indianapolis Colts had their pick of the litter in terms of defensive players when they came on the clock at pick 15 during the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft after the first 14 picks were all offensive players.
With every defender on the board, they chose to draft UCLA edge rusher Laiatu Latu.
But it seems that NFL Draft analyst Chad Reuter doesn't believe he is ready to make an immediate impact with him leaving Latu off his 2024 All-Rookie team.
Reuter included 14 rookie defenders and two rookie edge rushers on his defensive 2024 All-Rookie team, none of which are Latu. He instead chose Los Angeles Rams first-round pick Jared Verse and Minnesota Vikings first-round pick Dallas Turner.
I think both Verse and Turner were impressive prospects in their own right. But where I struggled to understand Reuter choosing both over Latu is the criteria he has placed on his choices being "instant-impact" players. Latu has been one of the best pass rushers in college football for the last two seasons and pretty clearly projects as the most pro-ready of the three first-round pass rushers. Verse projects as the best of the three against the run, and Turner is the rawest of the group, but his next-level athleticism leads many to believe he has the highest ceiling of any pass rusher from this draft class.
So, if the question was about picking which players will be the most successful in the long run, I could see an argument for leaving Latu out, even if I'd still disagree. However, with the criteria being the immediate impact each will have, I think the obvious answer would have been for Latu and Verse to be the edge rusher duo on his 2024 All-Rookie defensive team. At the end of the day, though, words are cheap, and these players will decide who is the best with their ability on the field. So, only time will tell if Latu can prove me right and Reuter wrong.
