Laiatu Latu

Indianapolis Colts

Pos EDGE

Updated August 24, 2026

EDGE rankings →

Model Score

76.4 MODEL

2024

72.0

2025

76.4

How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →

Season Stats · 16 games

8.523rd

Sacks

2635th

Pressures

938th

QB Hits

1215th

TFL

4536th

Tackles

130th

Draft & College

Round 1, pick 15 · Indianapolis Colts · 2024

UCLA (Pac-12)

Taken

#15

where he actually went

Consensus board

14th

average of the public big boards that spring

Our college model

#16

among EDGE in our college data

He went about where consensus had him.

In college · 2019-2023 · 36 games

23.0 sacks, 34 TFL, 38 pressures, 97 tackles

Covers the college seasons in our data, which does not always reach back to a player's first year.

Comps

Overall match

size, testing and production, same career stage

Jermaine Johnson85%Joe Tryon-Shoyinka80%Maxx Crosby76%

Plays like

on-field production only

Dallas Turner91%Yannick Ngakoue91%Harold Landry89%

Built like

measurables only

Chris Ellis84%Charles Bennett84%John Engelberger84%

STM Take

Tier 8 (#68) rookie to tier 4 (#31) sophomore breakout is a 37-spot one-year jump that puts Latu on the developmental band for top-15 EDGE prospects on Pro Bowl trajectories. The UCLA 2023 Pac-12 DPOY plus the Lombardi Award plus the 15th overall draft slot plus the unique Washington-medical-retirement-to-UCLA path establishes the elite pedigree. The 2026 question is whether Latu crosses into tier 2 territory in his year-three jump or whether the structural tier 4 finish becomes the stable baseline.

Latu came out of UCLA as the Indianapolis Colts' 1st-round pick (15th overall) in 2024, the first defensive player taken in that draft class. He transferred to UCLA after a medical retirement at Washington over a neck injury, then earned the 2023 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and Lombardi Award. His STTM career runs tier 8 (#68) rookie to tier 4 (#31) breakout in 2025, a 37-spot year-over-year jump.

Strengths

2023 Pac-12 DPOY plus Lombardi Award plus 15th overall draft slot establishes the highest pedigree among 2024 EDGE rookies.
37-spot year-over-year jump from tier 8 (#68) rookie to tier 4 (#31) sophomore puts him on the developmental band for top-15 EDGEs.

Concerns

Prior Washington medical retirement over neck injury puts continued durability question on every 2026 projection.
Indianapolis's broader defensive identity around Anthony Richardson's offensive context puts the structural support around Latu's continued development partly outside his control.

What to watch: Whether Latu crosses into tier 2 (top 15) in 2026, the standard year-three threshold for top-15 EDGE picks on Pro Bowl trajectories.