Tag: Braden Smith

Pro Football Focus put together its list of the top 32 offensive tackles in football ahead of the 2024 season. Coming at No. 15 was the Colts’ Braden Smith.

At the top of the list was Trent Williams, followed by Tristan Wirfs and Penei Sewell. Just in front of Smith at Nos. 13 and 14 were Taylor Moton and Taylor Decker.

Here is what PFF had to say about Smith:

“Although he struggled to stay on the field and played just 575 snaps, Smith played his best football in 2023. He earned career highs both in overall grade (84.3) and run-blocking grade (90.1), with the latter ranking behind only Penei Sewell among right tackles.”

Smith was limited to just 10 games last season, dealing with a hip injury and a nagging knee injury. However, when on the field, he was still very effective at right tackle for the Colts.

Smith didn’t allow a single sack, even though he was never quite 100 percent. Out of all tackles, he ranked sixth in pass-blocking efficiency. In the run game, the Colts’ offense would average 4.6 yards per rush with Smith on the field but only 3.9 yards per attempt without him.

Smith wasn’t participating in OTAs last week as he is still recovering from offseason knee surgery. When Smith spoke with reporters at the beginning of May, he didn’t get into specifics on what the surgery was for or give a timeline on when he’d be back on the field, but he is in a “better spot.”

“Coming out of the offseason, had successful surgery,” said Smith when meeting with reporters. “Had some stuff, you know, did some rehab this offseason, feel like I’m in a pretty good spot. Strength is coming back. Just making sure I can get through the season healthy and make sure we’re being smart with things.”

With Smith fully healthy, the Colts should have one of the better offensive line units in football last season. Even with Smith dealing with injuries, the Colts would rank top 10 in both pressure rate and yards per carry.

Of course, adding playmakers around Anthony Richardson is important, and the Colts made sure to do so by drafting wide receiver Adonai Mitchell in the second round. However, as GM Chris Ballard mentioned, consistent success for Richardson and the offense as a whole starts up front.

“Block and protect,” said GM Chris Ballard. “Just look through the league, just look through the playoff teams and they all can block and protect. I think that’s critical. So that’s one.

“I remember Andrew (Luck) used to tell me all the time, ‘Chris, let’s get me protected. Give me guys who can catch it and get to the right spot, and I’ll make the rest work.’ Most of the good ones that’s how they roll. Do you want the superstar out there? Absolutely. But protection, to me, is always first and foremost.”

Indianapolis Colts right tackle Braden Smith currently finds himself in a good spot following successful offseason surgery on his left knee.

“Coming out of the offseason, had successful surgery,” said Smith when meeting with reporters on Tuesday. “Had some stuff, you know, did some rehab this offseason, feel like I’m in a pretty good spot. Strength is coming back. Just making sure I can get through the season healthy and make sure we’re being smart with things.”

Smith appeared in only 10 games last season. In the early portion of the year, it was a hip injury that sidelined him, but on top of that, Smith was also dealing with a left knee injury that never allowed him to get back to 100 percent, even when he was on the football field.

As the Colts’ right tackle, Smith didn’t allow any sacks despite never quite being fully healthy. Among all tackles, he ranked sixth in PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency metric, and the Colts averaged 4.6 yards per rush with him on the field versus just 3.9 yards per carry without him.

“Yeah, I mean it’s just kinda like one of those things like, you know, you need to get something done so you go out there and do what you can for your team,” said Smith on playing through the injury.

“You’ve just got to build that mental fortitude over time. Just do what you can, battle through adversity, life’s not going to be smooth all the time. There’s tests in there so you just do what you can and just go out there and play ball.”

Smith did not specify what type of surgery he had on his left knee and didn’t provide a timeline for when he would be back on the practice field either.

As Smith said, he’s taking it day-by-day, but is “making leaps every week.” The current focus is on building up his strength, while the long-term goal is to make sure he can make it through the entire season healthy.

“It was kind of a lingering issue,” added Smith, “basically all the way into the spring. It just kind of progressively got worse. It’s just one of those things. I’m just trying to get back too fast; I wasn’t taking care of myself, probably as good as I should have.

“Obviously, patience plays a lot into that. But was playing from behind the entire year last year and it just never got better. But I’m already in a better spot than I was last year, so I feel confident about that.”

It goes without saying, but having Smith on the field this season, and fully healthy, will provide a big boost for a Colts’ offensive line that should be one of the better units in the NFL. Last season, the Colts ranked ninth in pressure rate allowed and 10th in yards per rush.

Of course, having playmakers around Anthony Richardson is important, and the Colts prioritized that by drafting Adonai Mitchell in the second round. However, as GM Chris Ballard discussed prior to the draft, step one when having a young quarterback is you have to protect them.

“It was definitely one of my more frustrating years,” said Smith. “There wasn’t like a time of the year where I played a large chunk of the games, it was kind of like I play a few here then end up getting injured.

“It was definitely frustrating because you want to be out there playing, and obviously, you can only do so much sitting on the sidelines watching, and you want to help your team. But sometimes it doesn’t always work out that way.”

Indianapolis Colts’ right tackle Braden Smith spoke with the media on Tuesday as part of the offseason program availability.

Here are the highlights from Smith’s availability. To watch the full video, click here.

– Smith says he had successful surgery this offseason on his left knee. He’s in a “pretty good spot,” and his strength is coming back. Smith adds that he’s making sure he can get through the season healthy and being smart with things.

– “I feel like I’m making leaps every week,” said Smith about his recovery. The focus right now is on continuing to build his strength.

– Smith on playing through the injury: “You need to get something so you go out there and do what you can for your team. You just build that mental fortitude over time.”

– The knee injury was a lingering issue all the way into the Spring. Smith says he tried to get back too fast and wasn’t taking care of himself as well as he should have. “I’m already in a better spot than I was last year.”

– Smith is taking it week-to-week right now. He wouldn’t commit to when he would return to the practice field.

– Last season was one of the “more frustrating years” for Smith because he wanted to be out there helping his team.

– “Continuity is important,” said Smith and speaks to the faith the organization has in the players. The Colts will be returning all five starting offensive linemen from the 2023 season.

– Knowing the “details” and “tendencies” of the offensive linemen around you is something that can be overlooked on the outside but is an important element of cohesive offensive line play.

– “It’s crazy how fast it’s really gone,” said Smith about entering his eighth year in the NFL. Smith said that as a rookie, he didn’t know how long he was going to last. He thanked his coaches, teammates, and the people around him for getting to this point.

– Smith said that when he was drafted, he thought he would be a guard in the NFL, but “when you get an opportunity, you’ve just got to make the most of it.”