We know what the Colts’ starting offensive line configuration is going to look like, but what about the second and third units during these training camp practices?
The reason this matters is that this may give us some insight into where things stand from a depth chart perspective, and which players are best positioned to make a roster push.
With the Colts returning all five starters from last season, the first team offense consists of Bernhard Raimann at left tackle, followed by Quenton Nelson, Ryan Kelly, Will Fries, and Braden Smith–now that he’s back participating in the team portion of practice.
As far as the second unit goes, Jake Arthur of Horseshoe Huddle noted that during Wednesday’s practice, the Colts had Matt Goncalves at left tackle, with Danny Pinter next to him at left guard, and then Wesley French, Dalton Tucker, and Blake Freeland.
Before Smith was back in 11-on-11s, it was Freeland at right tackle with the starters and Goncalves was at right tackle with the twos. Currently, Smith and Freeland are competing for the Colts’ swing tackle role off the bench.
“Who’s the swing tackle,” said Ballard before camp began. “There’ll be good competition there between our young rookie Matt (Goncalves) and (Blake) Freeland coming back. We thought Freeland had a really good offseason–think he’ll take another step.”
The third team offensive line, as Arthur again notes, was made up of Jake Witt at left tackle, followed by Josh Sills, Tanor Bortolini, French, an Arlington Hamright at right tackle.
Of course, the caveat to all of this is that things can change very quickly during training camp and how these players perform in the joint practices and preseason games will carry a lot of weight when it comes to the evaluation process.
With the additions of Bortolini and Goncalves in the draft, there may only be one or at best two roster spots up for grabs. Between the two rookies, Freeland, and the Colts five starters, that already accounts for eight roster spots. Teams will typically roster nine but can go heavy and keep 10.
Given the information that we have from these practice lineups, two names I’d be watching for that ninth spot are Pinter and French. Both players have the versatility to play the guard and center positions–which is important to Ballard–and have some NFL experience, with French playing 270 snaps last season, while Pinter has played 621 in his career.
“You’re dressing 48 guys, eight linemen. If you draft an offensive lineman, to just play one position, unless you’re the starter makes it very difficult,” said Ballard earlier this offseason. “You need to have a guy that can play both tackle spots, a guy that can play both guard spots and swing. And really, two more guys that can snap the football.
“I think it’s the same thing in any position – you’ve got to have some versatility to be able to play multiple spots. We kind of try to do that as much as we can every year.”