Indianapolis Colts' linebacker Grant Stuard was a man on a mission this past Sunday. Starting in place of the injured E.J Speed (and then moving to a more prominent position in nickel packages once Jaylon Carlies left the game), Stuard racked up 18 tackles and made numerous big plays in the Colts' week seven victory.
Stuard was an absolute animal in run defense in this outing, flying around the field and making plays on just about every Miami Dolphins offensive snap. His 18-tackle day was the third-most total tackles in a game by a Colts player since 1984 and the most since Shaquille Leonard hit 19 back in 2019.
This performance by Stuard may not be up there with the greats like Ray Lewis or Luke Kuechly, but it does bring back fond memories of old school energizer bunny types like Mike Peterson once was in Indianapolis. Stuard's brand of linebacker may be a dying breed in the NFL, but his performance on Sunday reminded me (and many others) of how NFL games used to look.
Shane Steichen spoke highly of the veteran linebacker following his career-best performance, stating that Stuard can be "an example for the entire NFL."
"The way he goes about his business, the way he practices is like nothing I've ever seen. Everything's 100 miles an hour, and he finishes on every drill. And to go out and have the performance that he did on defense – 18 tackles and then I want to say he had 23 reps on special teams. It might have been more. The guy just works and there's no secret to success when you work as hard as a guy like he does. It's going to come to fruition at some point."
"And so you get your opportunity to go in and go make plays, and that's what he did. I mean, he's flying around the field all day. He was the player of the game for us on defense. It's very special to see – his story and everything that's happened to him and his life, and the way he played in that game and getting his opportunity, it was special."
Stuard may not be an every-down player for the Colts going forward, but there is just something beautiful about football when a special teams ace gets his chance to shine on defense. In a once in a lifetime opportunity for Stuard, he made the most out of it and helped propel the Colts to victory against the run-dominant Dolphins.
