Now six training camp practices in, the Indianapolis Colts have begun moving around rookie offensive lineman Matt Goncalves, according to Kevin Bowen of 107.5 The Fan.
When Braden Smith was still working his way back, Goncalves was lined up at right tackle with the second-team offense. Since Smith has returned to the team portion of practice, Goncalves has played left tackle with the twos, and as of Friday’s practice, wrote Bowen, he was playing some right guard as well.
Goncalves was the third-round pick for the Colts in this past April’s draft out of Pittsburgh and spent his college career playing both right and left tackle. However, while Goncalves didn’t come to the NFL with in-game interior experience, the Colts believed that he has the ability to play guard.
“He’s got a lot of position flexibility,” Ballard said after Day 2 of the draft. “He started at left tackle, started at right tackle, we think he can play guard, we’re not so sure he can’t play center.”
Due to a toe injury that required surgery, Goncalves would only play in three games last season. In 2022, he allowed no sacks and 17 pressures, ranking 56th in PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency metric and 55th in run-blocking grade out of 200 eligible tackles.
With the Colts returning all five starters along the offensive line from last season, there may not be starting snaps up for grabs right now, but Goncalves is currently competing with second-year lineman Blake Freeland for the team’s swing tackle role.
Due to Smith only playing in 10 games last season, Freeland saw significant playing time as a rookie and went through some growing pains in the process. Ballard, however, believes he can take a step this season after a “really good” offseason.
With Smith entering the final year of his contract in 2025 and coming with a cap hit of $19.75 million, Goncalves could be the Colts’ long-term answer at right tackle. But with his positional flexibility and Will Fries being a free agent in 2025, he could compete next year for the starting right guard role as well.
“First of all, he’s very intelligent,” said Colts’ area scout Chad Henry. “He has high instincts, and he’s played left and right tackle. He’s a very dedicated student of the game. I mean, this is a guy that he’s very passionate about every area of the process. He’s a football guy. He’s also well coached and he’s a guy that takes the coaching and utilizes it.
“Again, I think consistency was one of the strongest points of his film. He’s a guy that you can count on to not get stupid penalties, not get frequent penalties because he knows how to play. He’s got really good savvy. His feel stood out to us as well.”