Indianapolis Colts landed one of draft’s biggest upgrades in Ryan Kelly
In the 2015 draft, the Indianapolis Colts caused many to roll their eyes when they drafted Phillip Dorsett, but there was no such strange “best available” selection this year. Instead, the Colts drafted a safe, gifted prospect in the first round who qualifies as one of this year’s most decisive rookie upgrades.
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Ryan Kelly, Le’Raven Clark, Joe Haeg, and Austin Blythe. This year, the Indianapolis Colts nabbed four of the draft’s highly regarded offensive line prospects, showing that they are finally taking the protection in front of Andrew Luck seriously.
Luck could only play in seven games last season, which is enough reason to upgrade the men in front of him. Beyond that, their interior blocking was even more woeful than their defense, and center Khaled Holmes was particularly dreadful.
Holmes is now gone, and replacing him as the Colts starting center is Kelly, who steadily rose on draft boards throughout the process, culminating in his standing as the unquestioned top center in the class. The fact that he was the first interior offensive lineman off the board should come as no surprise, and betting on him to be the best blocker in the class is not a foolish endeavor.
Pass protection is the oft-pointed to flaw in the Colts offense, but the futility at the heart of their offensive line extended to their run blocking. Frank Gore might be the NFL’s most underrated back going into the 2016 season, and while the aging star is not an electrifying element of this Colts offense, the unsung workhorse’s was basically set up to fail. Matt Hasselbeck‘s quietly awful play at quarterback and complete inability to challenge defenses played a role in Gore averaging 3.7 yards per carry, because he frequently faced stacked boxes.
Per PFF, Frank Gore has faced 8+ defenders in the box on 48% of his runs in past five weeks. No wonder the run game has struggled.
— Josh Wilson (@JoshWilsonSB) December 24, 2015
That said, just as much blame should be sent in the direction of the likes of Hugh Thornton, Joe Reitz, and Jonotthan Harrison. Providing better pass blocking for Luck is critical, but it may be even more vital for the Colts to get the ground game going. Gore is a strong, smart back who bounces off contact, but feeding him the ball 260 times behind sheer incompetence won’t help anyone.
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Kelly became regarded as a first-round prospect for his punishing run blocking at Alabama, as he helped Derrick Henry bulldoze his way to a Heisman. Henry’s strength, vision, uncanny burst at that size, underrated cutting, and knack for always falling forward were the main reasons for his monstrous success, but Kelly’s ability to get to the second level was key.
When looking at what the Colts had at the center position in comparison to what they should have in Kelly, Ryan Grigson should be applauded for making one of the draft’s best position upgrades. As we’ve seen with the likes of Travis Frederick and Joel Bitonio, top-rated interior offensive linemen generally do not have a steep learning curve, so it would be fair for the Colts to expect more than just starting-caliber play from their top pick.
If Kelly can be the forceful run blocking and capable pass protector that regularly showed up on Alabama film, then the Colts will have three offensive line spots locked down in Anthony Castonzo, the stellar Jack Mewhort, and Kelly. Projecting starting-caliber play from project Clark and small-school tackle Haeg will be more difficult, and if anyone is kicking inside to guard, it would be Mewhort.
The Colts, for the most part, had a solid draft, but no pick was nearly as impressive as their first-round selection. Of course, that’s often the most important one when GMs are evaluated, so Grigson, who has been a magnet for criticism after several draft blunders (check out his 2013 class), seems to have delivered the goods for a fan base that has to be expecting more from a team led by a generational talent at quarterback.
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In fact, given how much the Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars improved in both free agency and the draft, it is imperative for the Colts to get real value out of this year class. Kelly has a better chance than anyone at making Grigson look good this year, and while most fan bases would prefer to have a player at a position other than center as their marquee offseason addition, this pick might be exactly what this franchise needs.