Yannick Ngakoue arrives at Colts practice off grueling training regimen in Florida

INDIANAPOLIS -- Yannick Ngakoue crouched his chiseled body into a wide-nine stance and fired off the ball for the first time as an Indianapolis Colt.

When he retreated back to his spot, he noticed Stephon Gilmore jogging onto the field. The two Pro Bowlers enjoyed a quick handshake. Then they moved into position to start building a new defense together.

"It just made me excited," Ngakoue said of the arrival of Gilmore, the 2019 Defensive Player of the Year. "Rush and coverage go together. The better the coverage, the more chances you get to be able to get the ball out."

Ngakoue and Gilmore are here as two new additions to a defense looking to move from the top 10 of the league to the top 5. They're also installing a new defense together under new coordinator Gus Bradley.

Doyel: Colts just did something big by signing Stephon Gilmore, but is it something good?

This is a familiar place for Ngakoue. It's his third time building a defense for Bradley, first in Jacksonville, then in Las Vegas and now here, thanks to an offseason trade that swapped him for cornerback Rock Ya-Sin. He's had a scattered career with five teams in seven seasons, but the LEO role he built with Bradley to scream off the edge has developed a stable playing style. Ngakoue has posted between eight and 12 sacks in all six seasons and has missed two career games.

"It's self-explanatory. It's just easy," Ngakoue said. "These guys ask me questions all the time, and I just try to be a library for them."

Bradley's Seattle-style, Cover-3 heavy defense has become so second-nature to Ngakoue that he spent the voluntary practices on his own mission in Florida. Five days a week, he joined other NFL players as they sprinted up and down hills, dragged sleds and ran with resistance bands and chains through the southern heat.

"Just a lost of crazy powerlifting type of stuff," Ngakoue said.

He's done variations of this for a few years now. It's how he's became a walking eight sacks on every team he plays for. It's also how a player his size can race around the biggest players in the league and still be a force.

Ngakoue entered the league at 6-foot-2 and 252 pounds, both in the bottom 22% of all edge rushers since 1987. He's only trimmed down since those pre-draft workouts, listed now at 246 pounds, or 15 pounds less than Kwity Paye and 30 less than Dayo Odeyingbo.

"A lot of guys that are real terrors in this league were great lifters: James Harrison, John Randle, Aaron Donald," Ngakoue said. "Me not being a thicker dude, I have to make sure my strength is up."

Colts Darius Leonard  All-Pro LB having back surgery, will miss time during training camp

He has a bigger goal on the horizon, too, and he's been hinting at it since he arrived: He wants to sign a multi-year contract with the Colts, to turn that consistent play into a consistent life.

He's entering a contract year that will pay him $13 million. Then he'll turn 28 years old. He'll be in the prime of his career, a prime time to settle down with the right coach and scheme and create something sustaining.

The Colts have looming extension talks with Quenton Nelson and Kenny Moore II, then Michael Pittman Jr. and Jonathan Taylor not long after that. But the LEO is also the most critical role in the defense they're installing now. If he stays the course, Ngakoue could become a player they can't envision living without.

Colts mailbag:   Which player will take biggest leap in Gus Bradley's defense?

To get there, he needs to form a tandem with Paye and Odeyingbo. They're splitting reps at the "big end" position that takes on the tight end in addition to the tackle. They were overexposed as rookies last season, combining for just 4.5 sacks despite 46 pressures. They often had nobody to chase quarterbacks into on the other side.

Ngakoue is here to be that player. He's been texting with them regularly since he arrived, and these practices are the start of putting those goals into motion.

"I'm more of a power rusher, but I can also do the speed stuff. If he needs a breather, I can bump over to the LEO," Paye said.

"I think it's going to be great having some great rushers on the field."

Contact Colts insider Nate Atkins at natkins@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @NateAtkins_.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts: Yannick Ngakoue spent offseason in grueling Florida workouts