Without a doubt the most disappointing position group for the Colts so far this season has been the Offensive Line. Since Day 1 of his tenure as GM, Chris Ballard has preached that he believes winning organizations are built through the offensive and defensive lines. His actions have backed his words. The Colts are #1 in the NFL in offensive line spending this season, allocating $42.2 million dollars to protect QB Matt Ryan.
With that type of money going towards the offensive line, fans should expect to see a clean pocket for Matt Ryan and wide running lanes for Jonathan Taylor, correct? As most fans have been able to see so far, that’s been the furthest thing from the truth.
The #Colts offensive line has struggled to pick up stunts this season. Not sure what Matt Pryor is thinking here. Denico Autry is able to push him with ease to get the sack to end the final drive for the Indianapolis offense. pic.twitter.com/1hSAQsXKAe
— Cody Manning (@CodyTalksNFL) October 4, 2022
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Even Quenton Nelson, the new highest paid OG in NFL History with an average salary of $20 million a year hasn’t performed up to expectations. Getting beat badly for a sack by Titans DE and former Colt Denico Autry.
The #Colts benched Pinter today.
But, this is All-World Guard Quenton Nelson 🤦♂️
I am getting tired of watching Matt Ryan run for his life every single week.
Ryan doesn’t deserve this.
The Colts Offensive Line better figure it out.
— Peyton2Luck™️ (@Peyton2L) October 2, 2022
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Pro Football Focus is a service used by all 32 NFL teams. It gives a grade for every player on the field for every play of the game, providing numbers to confirm what fans are watching every Sunday. Every week during the football season, PFF Data Scientist Ben Brown joins 107.5 The Fan afternoon host JMV to look at the numbers for the Colts from the previous week and where they rank in the NFL. Obviously JMV had to ask about the Colts offensive line and their production through the first quarter of the season and well, it wasn’t pretty.
Take a listen to JMV’s full conversation with Ben Brown where Ben dives into the play of each Colts offensive lineman and where they rank amongst their peers in the NFL. Warning! It won’t make Colts fans feel good but explains why Matt Ryan hasn’t been what everyone expected so far this season.
