Lighter Darius Leonard Still Just As Motivated Heading Into Second NFL Season

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INDIANAPOLIS — No one would blame Darius Leonard if he took a minute to stop and bask in his many accomplishments from his first NFL season.


Simply put: he turned in one of the best performances by a defensive rookie in recent NFL memory. The 2018 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, Leonard led the league with 163 total tackles and added 12.0 tackles for loss, 7.0 sacks, eight passes defensed, two interceptions, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries en route to First-Team All-Pro honors.


These are accolades any player would love to have on their résumé.


But it’s not enough. Not for Leonard, at least.


“I didn’t win a Super Bowl ring. I didn’t win MVP. I wasn’t a Pro Bowler. So I still thrive from that,” Leonard told reporters on Monday during the team’s first day of its offseason workout program. “Because every year you want to be classified as the best, and every game I want to make every tackle, every sack — everything. So if my name isn’t at the top, I’m not happy. And last year my name wasn’t at the top so I’m gonna keep working until I get there.”


To help accomplish those goals, Leonard said he’s spent much of the first three months of his offseason “getting my body right.” The South Carolina State product last spring came to the Colts weighing as much as he ever had at 234 pounds thanks to the pre-draft process, but believed that extra weight played a major role in some nagging injuries throughout his first few months with the team.


Leonard said he eventually got back down to about 217 pounds — his college playing weight — by the end of the regular season, and reported to the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center on Monday weighing 221 pounds.


That’s going to be his comfort zone moving forward.


“I’m not a typical linebacker,” Leonard explained. “If you look at a linebacker, 6-4, 230 pounds, gonna come downhill; no, I’m more of a speed guy and very athletic. So if I’m going to play in space, I need to be able to move. And I played all my life at 215, 220 and was never over 225. And last year I was injured a lot — that was when I was pretty heavy — so I want to stay down. Hopefully I can cut some of that down.”