At the time, a head-scratching decision by the Indianapolis Colts took place before their Week 1 game against Miami even began. When the team announced the inactives, on the list was defensive end JT Tuimoloau, who was not on the injury report during the week.
By all accounts, Tuimoloau put together a strong training camp and preseason performance. He’s also a second-round draft pick. So, needless to say, the decision to make him a healthy scratch on Sunday was perplexing.
On Monday, head coach Shane Steichen explained the reasoning behind the decision.
“We went deep with the d-tackles in that game,” Steichen said, via Jake Arthur. “That’s really what went into it for that game. Will it be like that every week? I don’t know. It just depends on the team we’re playing. Obviously, we got the four ends right now that we have, and so we just wanted to go heavy at d-tackle so he was down for this game.”
While the Dolphins’ wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle garner much of the attention, this is a team that wants to run the ball, and as Adam Stites of Dolphins Wire noted before the game, a lot of their offensive success derives from the run game.
So, given the matchup, the Colts wanted some additional help along the interior. But as Steichen said, that could change from week to week depending on what the game plan calls for.
During his time at Ohio State, Tuimoloau brought a well-rounded skill set to the Buckeyes’ defensive front. Against both the run and the pass, he was a very productive defender, not to mention that he has the versatility to move inside as well during passing situations.
However, in the games where the Colts want just four defensive ends, at least early on, they’ll roll with the experience that Tyquan Lewis and Samson Ebukam bring to the rotational depth.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Why Colts’ second round draft pick didn’t play in Week 1 vs. Dolphins
Reporting by Paul Bretl, Colts Wire / Colts Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
