Indianapolis Colts: Why Training Camp Is Crucial to Jonathan Newsome's Future

The Indianapolis Colts struggled to rush the passer last season.

That doesn't mean that sacks didn't happen.

The Colts finished with 41 sacks last season, tying for ninth among NFL teams. The team also finished ninth in Football Outsiders' Adjusted Sack Rate.

It sounds good on paper, but the story of the team's pass rush is more complicated than the team's sack totals. Both the team's light schedule and a blitz-heavy game plan helped artificially boost its sack numbers.

According to Football Outsiders, the Colts had the 26th-hardest defensive schedule in the league last season, not surprising given the state of the AFC South. According to Pro Football Focus, the Colts had the most blitzes in the league and the third-highest blitz rate last season.

But those blitzes (and the high sack totals) don't mean the pass rush was good.

When the Colts did blitz, their pressure rate ranked 25th in the league, according to Pro Football Focus. When the team relied on the base pass rush, it had the second-worst rate in the league. No matter if the team was blitzing or not, its actual pressure rates were simply bad.

It makes sense, then, that against better teams, better quarterbacks, the Colts have struggled to get sacks. When the Colts do manage to get to opposing quarterbacks, they win games. When they don't, they lose.

The Colts lost six games last season, including the playoffs. The Colts managed just three sacks in those six games. In the 13 wins? Forty-four sacks.

Sacks	Avg. Points Allowed	Win %	Avg. PA vs. Playoff Teams	Win % vs. Playoff Teams
0	38.5	.222	48.5	.000
1	24.9	.538	35.5	.000
2	27.1	.636	29.4	.600
3+	16.4	.870	16.2	.900

Clearly, pressure on the opposing quarterback is important for any team, but this is especially true for Indianapolis, and especially in key games against playoff teams.

If the Colts are going to build a defense that is an asset in big games rather than the liability that it has been (see Patriots, New England), they must find some source of pass rush. Even with Robert Mathis and Trent Cole added to the squad in 2015, the future of the defense remains unknown.

Jonathan Newsome represents the best chance for Indianapolis to have a long-term pass rush outside of an early draft pick in next year's draft.

Erik Walden isn't a pass-rusher, and he is turning 30 in August. Bjoern Werner has been incredibly disappointing as a pass-rusher, with a negative-16.5 grade from Pro Football Focus in the pass-rushing department over the last two seasons.

Outside of that, the Colts are looking at practice squad players and undrafted free agents.

For right now, the answer is Newsome or nobody.

Newsome was impressive for a fifth-round rookie last season, racking up 6.5 sacks to lead every rookie edge-rusher in the league and the Colts as a team. He finished 12th out of 47 qualifying 3-4 outside linebackers in Pro Football Focus' pass-rushing productivity rates, adding five hits and 13 hurries to his 6.5 sacks.

At the same time, Newsome was rather raw and relied heavily on pure speed rushes and Greg Manusky-schemed stunts to get his pressure. The tools for Newsome (especially as they compare to an early-career Robert Mathis) are evident; the question is merely how quickly he can develop.

The best way for Newsome to develop, and for the Colts' pass rush to prepare for the future (and the present—who knows if Mathis and Cole can contribute at a high level?), is for the second-year pass-rusher out of Ball State to get snaps. The more snaps, the better.

Jack Dempsey/Associated Press

It begins in training camp.

While the Colts' pass rush has problems, the outside linebacker depth chart is still crowded.

Mathis and Cole will have chances to contribute on a large scale. While Walden and Werner are not strong pass-rushers, they will have a chance to carve out roles in the rotation.

Newsome needs to take advantage of his opportunity here. He needs to show the pass-rushing potential that got him 6.5 sacks last season, cementing himself as the young dog to pair with Mathis and Cole's old tricks.

The best way he can do this is to improve himself, adding a repertoire of pass-rushing moves and savvy understanding of NFL offensive linemen. Newsome has speed, yes, but does he know which angles to attack the interior with on stunts? Can he add an effective spin move? A bull rush? Can he improve on his hand usage?

If Newsome comes out of training camp as the fourth or fifth linebacker on the depth chart, his development will be set back a great deal.

He can't have that. The Colts can't have that. Newsome is the best chance at the future, and the future starts on August 1.