Frank Reich has high hopes for the OL.
The Indianapolis Colts didn’t make major moves to add to the offensive line this offseason like they have in recent offseasons. Outside of signing Anthony Castonzo to a contract extension, the only other move came in the draft.
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We know how much the Colts value offensive line play. Ever since Chris Ballard took over as general manager in 2017, the priority has been to build up the depth on the offensive line. With an elite set of five starters, the Colts focused their attention on adding some depth to the interior this offseason.
There are some who are still concerned about the depth of the unit behind the five starters, but head coach Frank Reich doesn’t feel that way.
“I really am hopeful that we can go again with our same five starters playing every snap. I don’t know how realistic that is. I don’t want to say (it’s) a concern, it’s always a priority,” Reich said Tuesday in a conference call. “It’s always a priority if the right opportunity would have fell in the draft, there was discussion of finding the right guy, but it just didn’t fall that way. It just didn’t fall that way for us.”
The Colts were fortunate enough to see all five of their starting offensive linemen play 16 games—each playing over 1,000 snaps on the campaign. That doesn’t happen all that often, especially at the level they played.
But the Colts did need to add some depth this offseason. They decided it was best to go with Danny Pinter out of Ball State in the fifth round, but Reich also mentioned another player they hope to develop.
“We talked a lot about that and we were very excited to get Danny Pinter. I think that he adds good depth. Then we just keep developing,” Reich said. “We think Jake (Eldrenkamp) is a good player. We think Jake Eldrenkamp can continue to develop. He adds good depth for us inside and a couple new guys that we brought in from last year we think will continue to develop there and keep our eyes open.”
The Colts have their starting five returning for another season, but the team knows they must be ready if one or more of them get injured. It’s the NFL. It happens all the time.
But while some of the depth might have some question marks, Reich and his staff aren’t all that concerned about the players they have in the room.
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