Most essential Colts, No. 10: JuJu Brents will have a massive role for a rookie

[JAFF]

Most essential Colts, No. 10: JuJu Brents will have a massive role for a rookie

https://www.indystar.com/story/sport...s/70345956007/

In a salary-cap league like the NFL, finding building blocks is essential. As teams churn and burn the roster through the draft and bargain signings in free agency, it helps to find the players who are either a cut above the rest or can perform a task few others can. They relieve the pressure on everyone.

Over the next two weeks, we'll be ranking the 10 most essential players to the Colts' success in 2023. It's a subjective process, weighing factors such as ability, positional value within a scheme, age, leadership and durability.

To make it simpler, we're asking the following two questions about these players:


1. How difficult would he be to replace for more than a month?

2. What does the Colts' 2023 ceiling become if this player hits his?

The elephant in the room for 2023, of course, is the presence of a rookie quarterback. The growth of Anthony Richardson will matter more than the win-loss record, so this year's list will focus more on future value than it has in other years.

We kick off the list today with No. 10, JuJu Brents.

Julius Brents was a first-team All-Big 12 Conference selection at cornerback last season for Kansas State.
10. JuJu Brents, cornerback

Position: Cornerback

Age: 23

Experience: 1st NFL season

Why he's here: It's not easy for a rookie to crack this list at a position other than quarterback, or when he comes outside of the first round. Upside is limited for first-year players, and teams usually try to cultivate environments where they aren't asked to carry that much of the team. But that is not going to be the case with second-round pick JuJu Brents.


Partly due to choices like trading Stephon Gilmore to the Cowboys and partly due to unforeseen circumstances like Isaiah Rodgers Sr.'s suspension and release due to violating the NFL gambling rules, Brents has absorbed the highest expectations at a premium position before he's stepped on a practice field. The Kansas State product and Warren Central graduate is easily the favorite to be the Colts' No. 1 outside cornerback, which is an enormous responsibility in a passing league -- one they filled with a five-time Pro Bowler like Stephon Gilmore just a year earlier.

The Colts are on a different timeline now, and it's about growing young players at core positions and building out a defense around them. Brents is going to become one of those if he can live up to his talent. At 6-foot-3 and 198 pounds, he has the length and physicality to fit like a glove in Gus Bradley's Seattle-style defense that features heavy press-man coverage. With vertical jump, broad jump and three-cone times in the top 3% of all cornerback prospects since 1987, he has the potential to become more than just a scheme fit, too. He has the upside to become a star in his hometown.


He's only a rookie, and he's missing parts of the offseason program with a wrist injury. He can't be expected to hit that upside right away, and the lack of 2023 upside caps him on a list like this.

But if Brents doesn't perform well in this spot, it's hard to see how the Colts will hold other passing games in check. Right now, Indianapolis' other options at cornerback are fifth-round rookie Darius Rush, seventh-round rookie Jaylon Jones and second-year undrafted players Dallis Flowers and Darrell Baker. None of those players offer the size, speed and playmaking ability of Brents, who picked off four passes as a first-team All-Big 12 Conference selection on a Kansas State team that won the league title.



RELATED: Julian Blackmon has a new role -- and it's much bigger than the safety position

He'll be placed in some island situations, too. A veteran nickel like Kenny Moore II will help, but Indianapolis' safeties include a second-year player in Rodney Thomas II and a strong safety in Julian Blackmon who is trying a new position. Brents will see one of the toughest tasks in the NFL: guarding No. 1 receivers like Ja'Marr Chase, Amari Cooper, Calvin Ridley, Mike Evans and DaVante Adams.

Like with the other rookie who will wind up on this list (spoiler alert), what matters more for Brents than the performance will be the growth, maturity, experience and upside he's able to gain. If he hits, he'll skyrocket up this list in coming seasons.T

[Colts And Orioles]

o


(NOVEMBER 6th)


Yesterday, we really missed both JuJu and Zaire Franklin ...... Shaquille Leonard, to a certain extent, helped hold down the fort by racking up 10 tackles without the league-leader in that category (Franklin.)


If we can muddle through with a win over the Patriots heading into the bye-week, I'm liking what the defense will probably look like 3 weeks from now (November 26th) against the Buccaneers if we have both Brents and Franklin back by then.

o

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by Colts And Orioles

o


(NOVEMBER 6th)


Yesterday, we really missed both JuJu and Zaire Franklin ...... Shaquille Leonard, to a certain extent, helped hold down the fort by racking up 10 tackles without the league-leader in that category (Franklin.)


If we can muddle through with a win over the Patriots heading into the bye-week, I'm liking what the defense will probably look like 3 weeks from now (November 26th) against the Buccaneers if we have both Brents and Franklin back by then.

o

o


And that is precisely what happened ...... we muddled through for a win over the Patriots, just barely.

Now, let's see what Steichen and company bring after a much-needed rest and recuperation period ...... Franklin played today, and Brents will hopefully be back in their next game on November 26th.

o

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by Colts And Orioles

o


(NOVEMBER 6th)


Yesterday, we really missed both JuJu and Zaire Franklin ...... Shaquille Leonard, to a certain extent, helped hold down the fort by racking up 10 tackles without the league-leader in that category (Franklin.)


If we can muddle through with a win over the Patriots heading into the bye-week, I'm liking what the defense will probably look like 3 weeks from now (November 26th) against the Buccaneers if we have both Brents and Franklin back by then.

o

o


‘Hungry’ Colts Look Forward to Competing Once They Return From Week 11 Bye

(By Raven Moore)

https://www.colts.com/news/bye-week-...n-mo-alie-cox-

o

[Colts And Orioles]

o


The good news ...... Brents finally returned to practice this week for the first time since sustaining his quadricep injury.

The bad news ...... Brents was just ruled out for tomorrow's game against the Bengals about 25 minutes ago (1:30 PM.)



E.J. Speed and JuJu Brents Are Declared OUT for Colts vs. Bengals

(Chris Shepherd)

https://www.stampedeblue.com/2023/12...s-medical-odds

o

[ChaosTheory]

Damn, Speed is out now? Is our depth being audited?

Be nice to see the whole team on the field one day.

[Colts And Orioles]

o


After 6 Weeks Off, JuJu Brents Will Make His Return for Playoff-Like Atmosphere

(By Nate Atkins)

https://www.indystar.com/story/sport...s/71922702007/

o

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by Colts And Orioles

o


After 6 Weeks Off, JuJu Brents Will Make His Return for Playoff-Like Atmosphere

(By Nate Atkins)

https://www.indystar.com/story/sport...s/71922702007/

o

o


(vs. STEELERS, 12/17)


Brents made 1 solo tackle and 4 overall in his first game back ...... and his quadriceps muscle held up well.

o

[Colts And Orioles]

o


Meet the Improbable Colts Defensive Backs Who Survived the Raiders

(By Nate Atkins)

https://www.indystar.com/story/sport...s/72022358007/




DaVante Adams caught the ball on a slant route in the fourth quarter, turned to barrel into the end zone and met a sandwich of Colts defenders few could see coming in a game like this.

Ronnie Harrison jolted into his left side, stepping up from a strong safety position the NFL had mostly decided he was done playing. Chris Lammons flew over the back from a nickel spot that was supposed to be Kenny Moore II’s, or maybe Nick Cross’, or possibly Tony Brown’s, but not his.

Cross approached from a free safety spot he sometimes plays and sometimes doesn’t, making his first start of 2023 in the second-to-last game of the season.

Add in rookies JuJu Brents and Jaylon Jones at the outside cornerback spots, and this was the secondary the Colts put on the field in a game against the Raiders that they needed badly to stay alive for the playoffs. That the team is in this spot, that these players are the ones with the burden and that they managed to win 23-20 over the Raiders on Sunday says everything about this 9-7 Colts team and the improbabilities it thrives through to be in the mix for something real.

“It’s anybody’s league,” Lammons said. “Somebody’s gotta step up at any given time.”

These are the young men who had to survive Sunday against a superstar in Adams, in a playoff-like game in a passing league. A three-time first-team All-Pro, Adams got his, ripping off 13 catches for 126 yards and two touchdowns. But he and the Raiders didn’t kill them, playing constantly from behind on a day when the Colts made him earn the yards and fall short of the rewards.

These are the stories of perseverance, of patience, of paying dues and punishments in a league that doesn’t often wait around.

Aside from Brents, Cross was the one starter who was drafted to be here and doing this, in one way or another. When the Colts traded a future third-round pick to take him in the third round out of Maryland in 2022, they knew they were a year early on a 20-year-old athletic freak. But they chose to ride it out with the youngest player on any NFL roster by starting him at strong safety in the first two games of 2022.

But by the second half of that second start, the Colts were ready to pull the plug. Cross was just barely 21 years old, a soft-spoken rookie far from the only home he’s ever known in the Washington D.C. area. Tasked with being the communicator of the defense, the words got lodged somewhere in the throat and stayed there as he retreated to the bench and into the shadows of a lost season.

It took 15 months to resume a major role, but when Julian Blackmon went down with a shoulder injury against the Falcons last week, Cross stepped back in at strong safety and finished the game. With Blackmon headed to injured reserve with free agency looming, it appeared Cross had his old position back.

Except by Wednesday, the Colts wanted to keep him at free safety instead.

“This week was crazy,” Cross said. “When Kenny went down, (assistant defensive backs coach) Mike Mitchell was like, ‘Look, you have a lot on your plate. You’ve gotta be able to go out and communicate.’ It’s not only my first game starting, but I have to control the back end and make sure everybody’s in the right spots.”

Cross moved back to the free safety spot he’d been sharing reps at with Rodney Thomas II. The Colts benched Thomas, handing the reins to one of the most athletic players in the roster to play in single-high looks and offer the focus that at times escaped him as a rookie.

Cross finished with nine tackles and served as the last line of defense, as the Raiders did not have a play of more than 24 yards.

“He’s built like a little bulldog,” Harrison said of Cross. “He’s strong as hell. He can play the free or the strong (safety position) and he’s fast. He knows the game. He has good feet. He has good ball IQ. … He’s a good football player all-around.”

Blackmon’s injury created a leadership and playmaking void at strong safety, and they happened to have one on the roster who had 45 starts and five interceptions at that position.

Harrison last played a rep at safety in August, back when the Colts signed him after a long offseason in which no teams were calling him. Harrison received one tryout offer from the Ravens, but otherwise, the league had moved on from a five-year safety, and only the Colts were really interested, but now with the idea to transition to linebacker.

Harrison did so, begrudgingly at first, still believing he had what it takes to play the enforcing position on the back end of a defense. He got a shot to play after the Colts cut Shaquille Leonard and made him their starter in base defenses, but snaps in that set were limited. He flashed with two interceptions, including a pick-six against the Bengals. And now they were in need of a strong safety who could be loud and spread confidence to the players around him.

Harrison finished with five tackles against the Raiders. He wasn’t at the heart of many plays in coverage. But he fit his old position like duct tape, patching together a secondary that needed to avoid busts in coverage and in run fits, to make the Raiders earn every blade of grass.

“Let’s do it,” Harrison said he told his coaches when he heard their idea.

“Learning the linebacker position and then moving back to safety, it’s allowed me to know the defense a little bit more and then communicate it,” he said.

He and Cross have reflected each other in unique ways this season. In some ways, they are alike, down to the third-round draft status at strong safety. In others, they are the inverse, with Harrison louder and chock full of experience and Cross itching to get his first starts in the league.

Lammons' path was quite a bit different. Here was a player who had played four seasons in the league, who had won a Super Bowl as a special teamer with the Chiefs and who had risked losing it all when he was arrested on a felony battery charge for an incident in Las Vegas in which he and Alvin Kamara stomped on another man.

This summer was about rectifying those mistakes, as Lammons agreed to a settlement with the victim and then readied for a three-game suspension he hoped he’d have the chance to still serve. The Colts gave him that chance when they signed him, and they kept him on either the active roster or practice squad ever since. He’d only played in three Colts games prior to Sunday, and he'd never started a game in his career on defense, but he had to get ready when Moore showed up to Friday’s practice with back pain from a lingering injury that didn’t get better over the weekend.

“A lot of people said it was a risk," Lammons said of the Colts signing him, "but I truly believe these coaches, the GM and the owner had my back through it all. They believed in me. I believed in them.”

It’s taken belief and patience and survival for the Colts to make it through 16 games with a 9-7 record despite the injuries to Anthony Richardson, Jonathan Taylor, Braden Smith, Brents and now Blackmon and Moore.

A ragtag group of defensive backs lined up and survived. It was imperfect, as Aidan O’Connell threw for one yard short of 300. But every time the Colts needed a stop to protect a lead, they found a way.

“Everybody’s path is different, and everything happens for a reason,” Cross said. “Everybody’s gotta run their own race.”

o

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by JAFF

Most Essential Colts, No. 10: JuJu Brents Will Have a Massive Role for a Rookie

o


Brents did have a massive role ...... he played well when he was healthy, and the Colts missed him dearly when he was injured.

o