Zaire Franklin thinks he's the best linebacker in the NFL. His coaches have learned not to limit his dreams.

INDIANAPOLIS − Derrick Henry took the handoff on 4th-and-1, entered the hole and felt a thud.

Then the most physical running back in the NFL fell backward.

On the other end was Zaire Franklin, who was playing off DeForest Buckner's hip to create a tag-team effort to stop the Titan short of the sticks.

Franklin just did what he's always doing these days. He leads the NFL with 69 tackles through just five weeks. He is outpacing last year's breakout, when he set a Colts franchise tackle record with 167. At this rate, he'll top 100 by Halloween.

He's on pace to finish with 235 tackles, which would set the NFL's single-season record by more than 35.

"I think I'm the best linebacker in the league," he said.

It's a high bar to chase in a league with names like Fred Warner, LaVonte David, Roquan Smith and Matt Milano, who have longer track records and accolades such as Pro Bowl and All-Pro recognitions. Franklin is just five games into his second season as a full-time starter, even though he's a sixth-year player.

But the fact that he can make the claim speaks to one precipitous rise.

Franklin was a seventh-round pick out of Syracuse in the 2018 draft. He was the second linebacker the Colts drafted in that round alone, behind Matt Adams. A total of 24 different stand-up linebackers went ahead of him that year.

"I always understood that as a seventh-round guy, it could have been over any year," Franklin said. "Any year I could have been on the circuit, from team to team in workouts, staying in hotels. In the back of my mind, I was prepared for that."

Franklin connected early with then-Colts special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone and found a niche. By his second season, he was playing 80% of the special teams snaps, but he was a linebacker in the base defense sparingly, never topping 18% of snaps played in any of his first four seasons.

"When you've got other factors working against you, it's tough," Franklin said. "You just have to keep grinding through it.

"The right people always make the right decisions."

Franklin could never break through in Matt Eberflus' defense, which featured an instant star from that 2018 draft in Shaquille Leonard. Franklin was buried beneath Leonard, Anthony Walker and Bobby Okereke in those early seasons.

Franklin became a free agent in the spring of 2022 and planned to look around for the right opportunity. Gus Bradley arrived to coordinate the Colts' defense, and soon his linebackers coach, Richard Smith, was asking about the No. 44 he saw on film.

"They said he was a free agent. I said, 'Free agent? This guy really is a good football player. We can't lose him,'" Smith said.

"He's got all the intangibles you want as a linebacker."

RELATED: Colts LB Shaquille Leonard working back after groin injury, dropping snap count

So the Colts brought Franklin back for three years and $10 million. He was going to continue playing special teams and be the team's third linebacker behind Leonard and Okereke. But then Leonard needed back surgery.

A door was opening, and Franklin burst through, much like he would against Henry in the hole Sunday. Tackle by tackle, he earned a stay and plenty more.

He is now one of the best bargains in the NFL. He is currently the 35th-highest-paid outside linebacker. Last year, Franklin made just $21,437 per tackle. But that deal has allowed him to turn Indianapolis into a long-term home for him, his wife, Khandice; and their 1-year-old son, Kairo.

For an hour Tuesday night, he met with fans and signed autographs at Hoagies and Hops in north Indianapolis for "Shelice's Angels," a charity he started to provide mentorship in financial literacy named after his late mother and grandmother.

"They taught me to dream without limits," he said.

It helped to find a coaching staff willing to dream with him.

"I told Gus when he came in, 'All I ever ask for is a fresh set of eyes and a clean opportunity,'" Franklin said. "That's all he's ever given me."

Having started his career as a linebackers coach for Derrick Brooks in Tampa Bay, Bradley has always constructed his units from the middle out. At its peak, his 4-3, Cover-3-heavy defense can unleash those players in the middle to become stars like Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright.

And for his past three stops with the Chargers, Raiders and Colts, he's coordinated that position with Smith. The two have 45 combined years as either a linebackers coach or defensive coordinator.

An old-school leader like Franklin has become their vessel. He's played 98% of the snaps this season, evolving to the Colts' lone linebacker in dime packages. That presence gives the coaches a voice on the field through whom they can teach the star players down to the young backups, considering he has now been both.

"I couldn't look at him and not give 100%," said safety Rodney Thomas II, who was also drafted in the seventh round.

Franklin was ready for a moment nobody knew could ever arrive.

"(Franklin) was a special teams player, he gives his heart and soul to the team and to the special teams," Bradley said. "He’s on defense and he gives to the younger players and he gives to the defense and to this team. So to me, it’s not surprising that he’s having some success come back two-fold because that’s what he does."

Now, they're trying to build one of the most ferocious run defenses in the game. Indianapolis has Buckner and Grover Stewart as a guard-eating inside tandem, plus strong edge setters in Kwity Paye and Samson Ebukam, as well as athletic linebackers in Leonard and E.J. Speed. And Franklin is the man in the middle, averaging 13.8 tackles per game with an average depth of 2.1 yards, according to Sports Info Solutions.

In a year and a half, he's gone from that seventh-round pick buried on the depth chart to receiving post-game handshakes from Aaron Donald, who told him he's a real player.

"If I’m retired 20 years from now hopefully or whenever that time is, I would always say, ‘Hey Z, I’m going to share your story. Is it OK?'" Bradley said.

"Because what a great lesson to teach younger players, right? Just give – give to the team, give to the defense, give to your teammates and it should come back two-fold. He’s a classic example of that.”

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

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts: Zaire Franklin says he is 'the best linebacker in the league'