Why Indianapolis Colts second-year interior defensive lineman Dayo Odeyingbo will break out in 2022

Dayo Odeyingbo has had a tough start to his NFL career. It was definitely surprising to see the Indianapolis Colts draft Michigan defensive end Kwity Paye 21st overall in 2021. Particularly when they used their only day two selection on another D-lineman coming off a torn Achilles in January of 2021.

Vanderbilt’s Dayo Odeyingbo was that lineman. He was the 54th overall pick in the draft. General manager Chris Ballard and company recognized his talent and made him a priority target. Odeyingbo also got onto the field a lot earlier than anyone expected.

He ended up appearing in the final ten games and played at least a third of defensive snaps in just two of those and averaged 27% of snaps in total. Looking at the numbers, he was limited to just six total tackles, none of those for loss, half a sack, four pressures and one fumble forced.

So why will he explode onto the scene all of a sudden? First, he actually got onto the field last season, when most believed he would redshirt. Second, now having a full offseason to regain that explosiveness and power is highly promising.

Here are four reasons why Dayo Odeyingbo will have a breakout year in 2022.

#1- Dayo Odeyingbo will be better for the adversity he overcame in 2021

Dayo Odeyingbo in training

Dubbed the “Human Hurricane” by Indy’s scouting department, Odeyingbo was an intriguing prospect. Largely thanks to his freakishly long 35 ¼-inch arms, impressive combination of twitchiness and natural force. The nickname was given to him for playing with his hair on fire all day long. His opportunities were pretty limited in 2021 and when he was on the field, he couldn’t access that side of himself.

Odeyingbo himself said during the season:

“It’s a compilation of everything. The Achilles, there’s some tightness. Some inflexibility in the Achilles, the entire body. Weakness in that leg. Balance in your whole body.”

Particularly with how much he was used as an even-front defensive end, his first step was clearly wasn’t up to par for him. Which is why he was rarely able to force tackles to commit to the outside rush, while being lined up wide.

Too often he would square up and need to regain the edge of blockers, where he seemed frustrated with just hand-fighting guys. It looked much more promising working against guards. Where that space was condensed, he was able to get into his move right away. This instead of having that run-way, which isn’t beneficiary if you lack that burst off the ball to build up momentum.

As we got late into the season, we saw his explosion off the ball return. When coaches put him on the outside edge of guards, he showed the ability to win up the B-gap. Particularly with the high swim, where he was able to corner his rush. Once he gets his blockers to shift their weight onto their heels as he gets upfield, he has the power and long arms to ride guys backwards into the quarterback’s lap.

The same can be said about his run defense. He can really create penetration by shooting into the backfield. But if that first step lands quicker and he can be the one to establish contact with the chest of blockers, he creates issues. Odeyingbo simply needs to get back into that attacking mindset and be the one setting the tone again.

#2- The Colts defensive gameplan will compliment Odeyingbo

Tennessee Titans v Indianapolis Colts

The Colts traded for Raiders edge defender Yannick Ngakoue in a direct swap for cornerback Rock Ya-Sin. Odeyingbo probably won’t crack the starting lineup week one, simply because they have those two more proven guys off the edge in Paye and Ngakoue. DeForest Buckner is the straw that stirs the drink for them, and Grover Stewart has proven himself to be a dirty-work type of guy as a shade nose.

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The change of defensive coordinator from Matt Eberflus to Gus Bradley will be interesting to watch. Especially as they’ve been such a two-high safety-oriented defense and that’s where the league seems to be headed. Bradley stuck to his base cover-three in Las Vegas last season. This was partly due to stubbornness, but also due to the fact that he had two guys off the edge who could get to the passer quickly.

We do know that he’ll want to run those classic Over and Under fronts with a one- and three-technique on the interior. He likes putting his speed guy on the edge in wider alignments. For a unit that was top-ten against the run, we saw their linebackers step down against play-action at the lowest rate league-wide. Their emphasis on defending the pass philosophically should lend itself to getting upfield players onto the field.

Nickel personnel is a given for them, with Kenny Moore logging 97.4% of snaps as their slot corner in 2021. So with DeForest Buckner’s alignment versatility, we could see him and Odeyingbo spend a lot of snaps on the field together. Buckner also has experience moving all over the front at Vandy.

#3- Dayo Odeyingbo will play more snaps in the upcoming campaign

East Tennessee State v Vanderbilt

Bradley deployed his personnel on the interior D-line with Quinton Jefferson and Solomon Thomas – both primarily three-techniques – logging 59 and 48% of snaps respectively. This shows that he wants to get into those NASCAR packages, put everybody in wide alignments and just shoot up the field. Ngakoue played nearly an identical amount of snaps as Colts starting D-end Al-Quadin Muhammad last season (834), who is now in Chicago.

Even if they don’t reduce Grover Stewart’s snap share of 59%, there are 589 voided snaps between their top-three interior D-linemen from last year available (counting Isaac Rochell, who split time inside and out). With Odeyingbo officially being listed as “DE” and having spent a large amount of his snaps there, the 20.5% of snaps from Kemoko Turay are up for grabs as well.

The Colts did draft IDL’s in the fifth round with Missouri State’s Eric Johnson and the sixth with Cincinnati’s Curtis Brooks. The former could be a quality rotational piece. He largely beat up guys in the FCS thanks to his combination of quicks and natural power. This instead of any refinement in his IDing of run schemes or well-executed rush maneuvers. So while he may not officially start, I think we should at least see Odeyingbo double his snap count per game to the 50-60 percent range.

#4- The Colts will develop his weaknesses

Indianapolis Colts Training Camp

Odeyingbo is a player who thrives in chaos. He gives them versatility in alignment and how they slant or blitz the rest of the pressure pieces. They can use him as the guy to just crash into bodies and set up one of those linebackers on wrap-around blitzes. But he also has the flexibility to work over the top when they slant Paye inside and flush the quarterback with Ngakoue off the opposite end.

They already did some of that and used him as a wide looper off T-T twists. Plus, they also dipped their toes into some three-man fronts with wide DEs, Buckner at the nose (even in some two-point stances) and two LBs who would largely drop out. Odeyingbo’s biggest issue at this point is how much he plays out of control.

We saw less of that last season because he didn’t have that crazy explosiveness. This would run him out of plays or delay him by ending up on the ground. But as his natural abilities return, he needs to continue doing everything with a purpose and process.

Preparing for year two, Odeyingbo has been training with Colts legend Robert Mathis this offseason. Mathis has racked up 123 sacks and an NFL-record 54 forced fumbles throughout his 13-year career. He has also experienced a torn Achilles too.

Odeyingbo has been talking about how he’s finally starting to feel like himself again, which is very good news. Even if he may not become a household name in 2022, when broadcast teams replay things in their big games, he’ll show up pretty regularly as the guy who blew stuff up.

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