Can Trent Cole Still Be an Impact Pass-Rusher for the Indianapolis Colts?

The Indianapolis Colts went to great lengths to improve the team on both sides of the ball this offseason.

Losing 45-7 in the final game of 2014 will prompt that kind of offseason activity. Much of the activity has been on defense, where the Colts have improved every year under Chuck Pagano but have continued to fall short in prime-time matchups.

From signing defenders to $45 million in contracts this offseason to drafting five defensive players, the Colts have made their share of attempts to strengthen the unit.

But the one that may have the most impact in 2015, or at least have the greatest potential impact, is the signing of outside linebacker Trent Cole. While Cole's prime is behind him, he has what is by far the most accomplished resume of any pass-rusher currently on the roster outside of Robert Mathis, whose return date is still questionable.

With Mathis currently out of the picture at the Colts' organized team activities (OTAs), Cole is filling a much-needed playmaking role as the rush linebacker, according to Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star.

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Elsewhere, outside linebacker Trent Cole is the rush linebacker right now. There seems to be little debate about that. Defensive coordinator Greg Manusky is sure to experiment with some interesting personnel groupings and fronts, but Cole looks like a guy who is going to play a majority of the snaps based on his current workload.

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Cole is the only name on the roster who we know could effectively take that lead pass-rusher role, at least for now. Jonathan Newsome did flash some talent last season, but he's raw and could use another year or two of rotational play and training before moving into that kind of role.

But Cole isn't a sure thing, either.

The 11th-year linebacker is turning 33 in October, and he hasn't had a double-digit-sack season since 2011. At one point, Cole was arguably the best edge-rusher in the league, but he's not quite that player anymore.

That's not necessarily a deal-breaker. Even if he's not at his peak, Cole still could potentially be an impact pass-rusher. Other top edge players have had big seasons in their early 30s.

Just in the last two seasons, the league has seen seven players have double-digit-sack seasons at 32 or older: Terrell Suggs, Cameron Wake and DeMarcus Ware in 2014 and John Abraham, Robert Mathis, Calvin Pace and Shaun Phillips in 2013. Suggs, Mathis, Abraham and Pace all also did it as primarily 3-4 outside linebackers.

Player	Team	Age	Sacks	Hits
Terrell Suggs	BAL	32	12	11
John Abraham	ARI	35	11.5	8
Calvin Pace	NYJ	33	10	3
Robert Mathis	IND	32	19.5	5

Of course, just because it's happened before doesn't necessarily mean it will happen again.

But for Cole, the numbers bear out well over the last two years. After a three-sack season in 2012 as a 4-3 defensive end, Cole has had 14.5 sacks in the last two years combined as an outside linebacker in the Eagles' new 3-4 defense.

While averaging just over seven sacks isn't anything to write home about, consider this: The last Colt to pick up seven sacks in a single season not named Robert Mathis or Dwight Freeney was Brad Scioli in 2002.

Cole has also continued to fare well in Pro Football Focus' grading system, finishing with a positive-13.4 in 2013 and positive-11.3 in 2014, ranking seventh among all 3-4 OLBs in 2013 and 12th in 2014. Cole's pressure numbers are just as impressive, as he finished ninth in the league in pressures per snap, according to Pro Football Focus.

The nice thing about Cole, from a schematic standpoint, is that he's flexible. Having played in the 3-4 over the last two seasons, he's become accustomed to dropping back into coverage and covering tight ends, running backs and even receivers in space.

While the Colts will employ him in this matter at times, he'll largely be given pass-rushing duties as the rush linebacker, a role that served Robert Mathis well when he was healthy.

Another thing that Philadelphia did with Trent Cole was slide him inside on passing downs as a 3-technique defensive end and leave another outside linebacker outside.

NFL Game Rewind

A play like this often left Cole double-teamed, which he didn't handle well inside given his lack of bulk (at least, in comparison to offensive linemen). But while it would take Cole out of the play, it would create one-on-one matchups for others. In this particular case, the outside linebacker, nose tackle and 5-tech end received one-on one matchups as Cole was double-teamed.

NFL Game Rewind

As a result, the 5-tech gets great push into San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick's face and forces him to leave the pocket (something that would have been avoided if the outside linebacker had kept contain, I might add).

Cole still has enough quickness to beat interior linemen in one-on-one matchups, and offensive lines would have to compensate by cutting off his angles for speed rushes with another lineman.

This is something the Colts can certainly exploit by moving Cole around. While Cole has taken the vast majority of his pass rushes from the right side in his career, the Colts will no doubt move him on both sides and inside on the line. This was a move that worked wonders for Robert Mathis.

It also has the benefit for Indianapolis of getting more pass-rushers on the field, such as having Newsome or Mathis outside as an outside linebacker and Cole as a 3-tech on the same side, giving an offensive line a lot of quickness to deal with on one side of the line.

And this isn't even beginning to talk about potential loops and stunts on the line.

Now, Cole did start to break down near the end of last season, and it showed in his play. Through 12 weeks of the season, Cole had a positive-14.6 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, but he had a negative-8.2 in Weeks 13-17. This is certainly a concern for Indianapolis, especially as it eyes a deep postseason run, but the depth at the position should be a big help here.

Cole can still make an impact as an edge-rusher, but the Colts should be careful with the amount of snaps that he ends up taking so that wear-and-tear is as minimized as possible. With Newsome, Bjoern Werner and (hopefully) Robert Mathis also available for snaps, the Colts should have plenty of able bodies to rotate in and out.

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This is the biggest reason why Cole won't single-handedly fix the Colts' pass-rushing problems. At 32, turning 33, Cole's body has already begun to break down. He still is talented and can get after the passer in spurts, but the more he's getting beat up in the trenches (especially as a run defender), the less effective he'll be in the back stretch of the season.

Fortunately, one of the things the Colts have done well in the last year or two has been scheming outside linebackers free runs to the quarterback.

The Colts had a poor and raw group of pass-rushers in Erik Walden, Bjoern Werner and Jonathan Newsome last year, and the three combined for 16.5 sacks. The entire team had 41 sacks, the 12th most in the league, and a sack percentage of 7.0, the ninth-best figure in the league, per Pro-Football-Reference.com.

Now imagine what that coaching staff could do with another piece that knows how to win one-on-one matchups. That could be a big difference in whether the Colts can keep their pressure rate high against better, more aware quarterbacks, which was something that was inconsistent last year.

That's especially true during the playoffs, which is why the Colts will need to keep Cole's snap count reasonable as the season progresses. Cole can be an asset for Indianapolis, but not if his body betrays him.