INDIANAPOLIS – He's not going to admit they talked about, but his wry smile is a strong indication.

When the Colts drafted Henry Anderson and David Parry back in May they were thought to provide necessary depth in the trenches.

Key backups---seemed to be the likely rookie roles for the former Stanford roommates.

Ask Anderson though and you get a slightly different answer.

Come Sunday afternoon in Buffalo, Anderson and Parry are expected to be starting on the Colts defensive line.

"I'm not going to say yes or not but that was kind of our ultimate goal," Anderson said of the duo wanting to start as rookies.

"Parry and I both aren't really the kind of guys that are going to be satisfied backing people up. Our ultimate goal was to be starters. I don't think we would be happy doing anything other than that."

They are likely to be quite pleased on Sunday afternoon then when the Colts defensive line sees a major shift with their personnel.

It's a younger, more athletic, group heading into 2015.

Gone is the traditional 3-4 nose tackle, attempting to clog up space carrying around 350 pounds.

Instead, Parry, listed at 310 pounds, is the Colts starting nose tackle.

As a former walk-on at Stanford, Parry defied odds in starting 23 games for a top-10 football team.

He now is trying to do it again at the NFL level.

"People would ask me before the draft, who is the one teammate that you would want to bring along with you and I would always say David Parry just because I know the type of guy that he is, the type of player that he is," Anderson says of the man he will line up next to, once again, on Sunday.

"He's the type of guy that if you beat him once, you don't beat him again. He's one of the hardest workers I know and he plays with a big chip on his shoulder."

In Anderson and Parry, the Colts have a pair of guys who are used to lining up at multiple spots in a 3-4 scheme.

Facing so many spread offenses at Stanford, the now Colts rookies had to be capable of playing all over the Cardinal's defensive front.

What the Colts are relying on in Anderson and Parry are two guys who have clearly picked up this version of a 3-4 scheme. They also showed plenty of wiggle for 3-4 interior rushers at the collegiate level. Anderson and Parry combined for 13 sacks during their final year at Stanford (12-game season).

They also bring some confidence dating back to their draft day conference calls.

"The defense has played well, but not up to where the offense has been at. I know that I can come in and provide help to the defense and try to bring a Super Bowl to Indy," Anderson said in May.

Parry added: "I continue to try to play the game with a hostile attitude. There is a certain level of violence that needs to be used playing this game and that's what I try to do."

On Sunday, in Buffalo, the Colts will see what they have in a pair of rookies starting in the thick of the action.

For the Colts to be more consistent in their run defense unit in 2015, Nos. 96 (Anderson) and 54 (Parry) will be at the forefront of that effort.

"They did it against the highest, elite competition in college. They both are very physical, tough, players," Colts Owner Jim Irsay says of Anderson and Parry.

"I think there's no doubt that our run defense is much improved with them. They are really going to help us. We need them to step up."