The Indianapolis Colts offensive line struggled mightily with finding consistency and production throughout the 2022 season, and the tackle positions were ones that came under fire early.
The disastrous play of Matt Pryor at left tackle and the slow start for Braden Smith at right tackle made life tough for the entire offense. Though Smith eventually found his groove, Pryor continued to be a turnstile at the blindside position.
Now, looking back at the regular season, we’ve learned that the Colts deployed their offensive tackles on an island at the fourth-highest rate in the NFL, according to Arjun Menon of Pro Football Focus.
The Eagles have left their offensive tackles on islands (no double team or help from guards or tight ends) at the highest rate of any offense in the NFL this year. Curious to see if they continue to do so at this rate against the fearsome 49ers defensive line pic.twitter.com/AnpG4wN74r
— Arjun Menon (@arjunmenon100) January 27, 2023
Menon tracked data for all 32 teams to see which teams gave help to their tackles by deploying double teams with guards or tight ends. It isn’t clear if running back chips are included in the data.
The Colts came in at around 65%, meaning they left their tackles isolated to block on an island for almost two-thirds of the offensive plays. Only the Philadelphia Eagles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks had higher “island” rates.
Throughout Frank Reich’s tenure, we knew he preferred to leave his tackles on an island. When an offensive line is led by Anthony Castonzo and Braden Smith, it’s easy to do that. However, the Colts haven’t yet found Castonzo’s replacement. They hope that can be Bernhard Raimann.
That rate didn’t seem to change with Jeff Saturday’s arrival, and the results remained the same. The Colts allowed 60 sacks, which were the second-most in the NFL behind only the Denver Broncos (63).
And according to Pro Football Focus, the top-three leaders in sacks allowed for the Colts all came from the tackle position. Both Smith and Raimann allowed seven sacks while Pryor allowed six sacks.
A third of the Colts’ team sacks came from the offensive tackle position.
The offensive tackle position for the Colts may already be set. We should expect Smith to return as the right tackle while Raimann will be entering his second season. The Colts need to add competition for him, but there’s potential with that duo if they can clean up some of the areas they struggled with in 2022.
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