Colts 2015 Player Preview: Inside Linebacker Henoc Muamba

Yesterday, we took a look at a Colts' inside linebacker who first started out with a terrific career in the Canadian Football League (Jerrell Freeman), and today we do the exact same thing by looking at Henoc Muamba.

Muamba, a 6-0, 235 pound linebacker, was taken with the first overall pick in the 2011 CFL draft by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.  He played three years with Winnipeg, recording 171 tackles, 53 special teams tackles, four sacks, an interception, and a fumble recovery (returned for a touchdown).  In 2013, he was named a CFL All-Star, won the Lew Hayman Trophy, an award given to the best player in the CFL's East Division, and also won the Ed Kotowich 'Good Guy' Award in 2013, which honors a Winnipeg player for their work both on and off the field.  As you can tell, he had a very successful CFL career, and the Indianapolis Colts noticed.  They signed Muamba last offseason, and in 2014 he played in 13 regular season games for the Colts (plus one postseason game), recording six tackles.  Most of his playing time was spent on special teams, though he did see some very limited action with the defensive unit at times too.

Overall, Muamba is a player to keep an eye on for the Colts in training camp.  He dominated in the CFL and spent the 2014 season working on his game while on the Colts' roster.  There is plenty of reason to be excited about him - the key is that he continues to develop his game.  The Colts have Jerrell Freeman and D'Qwell Jackson as starters at inside linebacker and Nate Irving as one of the backups, but after that there is a spot or two that is totally up in the air.  It would appear that Henoc Muamba has as good of a shot as anyone, and he showed last year that he is capable of playing with the special teams unit as well as being a backup inside linebacker.  That could go a long way toward helping him earn a spot this year, and if he can show that he has improved from a year ago and is still a player worth working with, we could see Muamba on the Colts' 53-man roster once again this year.