NFL Analyst Maurice Jones-Drew Projects 15 Sacks for Colts’ Yannick Ngakoue in 2022

The Indianapolis Colts bolstered their pass rush in a major way when they traded for former Las Vegas Raiders defensive end, Yannick Ngakoue.

At just 27-years-old, Ngakoue has 55.5 career sacks since entering the league in 2016 and has recorded a minimum of eight sacks in each of his six seasons as a starter.

Ngakoue is also coming off one of his best seasons, garnering 10 sacks, 63 QB pressures and 23 QB hits in 2021.

For context, the Colts as a team had a total of 33 sacks in 2021. Only the Houston Texans (32), the Jacksonville Jaguars (32), Kansas City Chiefs (31) and Detroit Lions (30) had lower totals.

Given the amount of success Ngakoue had at the LEO position under defensive coordinator Gus Bradley in 2021, he’ll be able to slide into that very same role with Bradley now in Indianapolis, bettering his chances to have double-digit sacks for a second straight season.

In fact, NFL analyst Maurice Jones-Drew predicts that Ngakoue will have 15 sacks for Indy in 2022, which would be the most for a Colts defensive end since Robert Mathis had 19.5 sacks in 2013.

The Colts already have a pair of young and talented defensive ends in former first-round pick Kwity Paye and second-round pick Dayo Odeyingbo — both of whom showcased a lot of promise last season, and they’ve now added a proven commodity in Ngakoue.

Ngakoue’s burst and consistent ability to get to the QB will certainly command attention from offenses, providing Paye, Odeyingbo, defensive tackle Tyquan Lewis and All-Pro defensive tackle DeForest Buckner with more 1-on-1 looks, which in turn could lead to a more disruptive pass rush unit in 2022.