Tag: Matt Goncalves

With the news coming out on Friday that Indianapolis Colts’ left tackle Bernhard Raimann being ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Jets, that likely means rookie Matt Goncalves will get his second NFL start.

When Raimann missed the Colts’ Week 9 matchup against Minnesota, it was Goncalves who started at left tackle. Then when Raimann exited this past Sunday’s game with a knee injury, it was Goncalves who took over.

Goncalves was a third-round pick by the Colts in this past April’s draft, and like many first year players, he is navigating the ups and downs that comes with making the jump from college to the NFL.

In his last two appearances, Goncalves has been credited with allowing six pressures and three sacks, according to PFF, along with being penalized once.

Goncalves was also beat by Bills’ edge rusher Greg Rousseau on the play where the ball was knocked out of Joe Flacco’s hands and resulted in a fumble recovery for Buffalo.

Going up against the defensive end position, a unit that is heavily rotated, Goncalves will be matched up with a few different members of this Jets’ front. However, one of the players to know and the one he may be matched up with the most is Will McDonald.

With Haasan Reddick back in the mix for New York, he has taken almost all of his snaps the last three weeks on the left side of the defensive line, which will match him up with Braden Smith. McDonald has then been moved to the right side of the defense, lining him up with Goncalves.

McDonald will enter this game with 39 pressures, the most on this Jets team, and that’s also the 11th most among all edge rushers this season. He also ranks seventh in PFF’s pass-rush productivity metric as well.

By ESPN’s metrics, the Jets’ pass rush overall has been inconsistent this season, with that unit ranking 23rd in win rate, which measures how quickly a pass rusher is able to beat his blocker within 2.5 seconds.

Against the run, however, the Jets have been stout, entering the Week sixth in run stop rate, and allowing 4.2 yards per carry.

The return of Anthony Richardson gives the Colts a major boost in mobility at the quarterback position, but as always, the name of the game is giving the quarterback time in the pocket to go through his reads and throw within the rhythm of the play.

Goncalves is going to be challenged and, of course, play a key role in giving Richardson that clean pocket to throw from.

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.”

Veterans and rookies for the Indianapolis Colts will report for training camp on July 24th, with the first practice taking place on July 25th.

Between now and then I will be previewing the Colts’ 91-man roster with a look back at each player’s 2023 season, along with what’s ahead for 2024.

I’ll be going through the Colts’ roster alphabetically, so up next is interior offensive lineman Matt Goncalves. To stay up to date with our other previews, be sure to head over to Colts Wire.

2023 Season Review

The Colts traded up in the third-round of this year’s draft to select Goncalves, the tackle out of Pittsburgh.

The 2023 season for Goncalves was shortened due to a toe injury that required surgery. Over his college career, Goncalves played nearly 1,800 snaps with 697 at left tackle and 973 at right tackle.

In 2022, he allowed no sacks and 17 pressures over 399 pass-blocking snaps. He would rank 56th out of all tackles in PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency metric and 55th in run-blocking grade. Goncalves was penalized just four times in his career.

“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.”

2024 Season Preview

Goncalves was a full participant during OTAs and minicamp, and based on reports from those in attendance he saw his playing time coming at right tackle.

With the Colts returning all five starters along the offensive line from a unit that bounced back in 2023, ranking top 10 in pressure rate and yards per rush, Goncalves may have the opportunity to develop and provide depth off the bench this season.

Although Goncalves spent almost all of his time in college playing tackle, one of the reasons why the Colts drafted him was because of the versatility they believe he possesses, believing he can play guard as well.

“I can play all over. I’ve played left tackle, I’ve played right tackle, I’ve played guard,” said Goncalves. “The expectation is kind of wherever the team needs me to go, and if I need to play right tackle or guard, I can definitely jump in and do one or the other. … Wherever the team needs me to play, I could fit a crucial role for them.”

Looking ahead to next offseason, right guard Will Fries is set to be a free agent, so potentially we could see Goncalves competing for playing time there. Braden Smith is also only under contract through 2025 and comes with a cap hit near $20 million next season, so Goncalves could be a long-term answer at right tackle as well.

In addition to Goncalves’ versatility, across the board the Colts believe that he is a perfect fit for their offensive line room.

“If I’m giving this guy a nickname,” said Henry, “it would be ‘The Blueprint’ because he is the pure, exact blueprint of what we want in an offensive lineman in our room. I don’t know that there was an offensive lineman on the board that fits our room better than this guy. Big, smart, tough, strong, mean, high giving a (expletive) factor, versatile, dependable, really cares.”

The Indianapolis Colts announced on Monday that they officially signed third-round pick Matt Goncalves. Over the Cap now has the details on what Goncalves’ rookie deal will look like.

Goncalves earned a standard four-year rookie contract that totals $5.839 million with a signing bonus of $1.066 million.

Goncalves will receive the full signing bonus up front, but from a salary cap perspective, that $1.066 million can be pro-rated over the life of the contract. Or, in short, the cap hit in 2024 from that bonus is just $266,643.

That pro-rated signing bonus amount plus a base salary of $795,000 makes up Goncalves’ cap hit for this season, which totals $1.061 million.

Moving forward, beyond 2024, a $266,643 cap hit from the pro-rated signing bonus will be on the Colts’ books all four years of the contract, along with Goncalves’ base salary increasing each year as well.

In 2025, Goncalves’ base salary will be $1.060 million. In 2026 it increases to $1.325 million, and then $1.591 million in 2027.

Here is a look at what Goncalves’ cap hit will be each season:

2024: $1.061 million
2025: $1.327 million
2026: $1.592 million
2027: $1.857 million

Goncalves spent most of his career at Pittsburgh playing either right or left tackle, but the Colts believe he has the ability to play guard as well.

This season, Goncalves likely provides depth to a very good offensive line unit that is returning all five of its starters from a season ago. However, in 2025, with Will Fries set to be a free agent and Braden Smith in the final year of his deal and comes with a nearly $20 million cap hit, Goncalves could compete for a much larger role at that time.

“If I’m giving this guy a nickname,” said area scout Chad Henry, “it would be ‘The Blueprint’ because he is the pure, exact blueprint of what we want in an offensive lineman in our room. I don’t know that there was an offensive lineman on the board that fits our room better than this guy. Big, smart, tough, strong, mean, high giving a (expletive) factor, versatile, dependable, really cares.”

The Indianapolis Colts have not made it official, but Aaron Wilson has reported that the team has signed third-round pick Matt Goncalves.

Update: The Colts announced that they signed Matt Goncalves and Tanor Bortolini.

Wilson adds that Goncalves deal will pay him $5.839 million over the standard four-year rookie contract and comes with a $1.066 million signing bonus.

A toe injury limited Goncalves to only three games in 2023, but he was on the field this past weekend for Colts’ rookie minicamp. His playing time at Pittsburgh came either as a left tackle or a right tackle, but the Colts also like his ability to play guard at the NFL level as well.

In 2022, Goncalves allowed 17 pressures and ranked 56th in pass-blocking efficiency out of 200-plus tackles and 55th in PFF’s run-blocking grade.

From Goncalves’ play on the field, his versatility, mentality, and fit in the locker room, the Colts love everything about what he can add to this team.

“If I’m giving this guy a nickname,” said area scout Chad Henry, “it would be ‘The Blueprint’ because he is the pure, exact blueprint of what we want in an offensive lineman in our room. I don’t know that there was an offensive lineman on the board that fits our room better than this guy. Big, smart, tough, strong, mean, high giving a (expletive) factor, versatile, dependable, really cares.”

In the short-term, Goncalves likely adds depth at both the guard and tackle positions. Next offseason, however, right guard Will Fries is set to be a free agent and right tackle Braden Smith will be in the final year of his deal, and comes with a nearly $20 million cap hit.

The Colts announced on the eve of rookie minicamp that they signed five of their nine draft picks—all of whom played on the defensive side of the ball. Adonai Mitchell and Anthony Gould still remain unsigned—or at least it hasn’t been announced or no reports have been made.

The Colts traded up three spots in the third round to select Pitt offensive tackle Matt Goncalves.

Goncalves has experience playing both tackle spots, and in some draft reports it is mentioned that he could move to guard if needed. His 2023 season was cut short due to a toe injury, but in 2022, he allowed no sacks and 17 pressures. He would rank 55th in PFF’s run-blocking grade.

The addition of Goncalves is perhaps one that Chris Ballard couldn’t pass up. We’ve seen in the past that this is a position group he is willing to invest in and the depth of this draft class likely led to a few tackles being at the top of the Colts’ draft board at various points.

In the short-term, the Colts need depth at tackle with only four on the roster entering the draft. In the long-run, Braden Smith is in the final year of his deal in 2025 and comes with a $19-plus million cap hit. Naturally, as a young player, Blake Freeland still has some question marks.

Here is a look at some of Goncalves top highlights:

Here are my instant takeaways following the Colts jumping up a few spots in the third-round of the NFL Draft to select Pitt offensive tackle Matt Goncalves.

– In terms of Relative Athletic Score (RAS), Goncalves is a bit of an outlier compared to what we’ve seen from Ballard over the last two drafts. Goncalves’ RAS was 7.69. Only three selections in the last two years had a RAS below 9.0, and the lowest was 8.48.

– Goncalves missed the final nine games of the 2023 season with a big toe injury. In 2022, he allowed no sacks and 17 pressures. He ranked 55th out of 200 eligible tackles in PFF’s run-blocking grade and 56th in pass-blocking efficiency.

– Goncalves has experience playing both tackle spots. In Lance Zierlein’s pre-draft scouting report, he mentions that Goncalves could move inside if needed, but I would imagine the Colts will give him every opportunity to stick at tackle.

– The Colts are returning their starting five from a unit that was good in both pass protection and the run game last season. However, if we look ahead to 2025, Braden Smith will be in the final year of his current deal and comes with a hefty cap hit of almost $20 million and Blake Freeland took his lumps as a rookie.

– If the Colts do think Goncalves could be an option at guard, Will Fries is set to be a free agent in 2025.

– During his pre-draft press conference, Chris Ballard spoke very highly about the depth of the offensive tackle draft class, mentioning that very good players could be found in the middle and even late portions of the draft.

– At a minimum, depth had to be added to this position group. Before the draft, only four offensive tackles were on the roster–that just isn’t enough to get through training camp and the preseason.

– As it should be, it is one of the most important positions in football; offensive tackle continues to be a position that Ballard invests in. In recent drafts, he selected Freeland, Bernhard Raimann, and Jake Witt.

– Using the Rich Hill trade value chart, the Colts overpaid slightly to move up. The Colts got pick 79 (57) from Arizona, and sent the Cardinals picks 82 (54) and 191 (6). When the Colts moved down in the second-round with Carolina, they netted six points.

In the third-round of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Colts selected Pitt offensive tackle Matt Goncalves, after trading up with the Cardinals, moving from pick 82 to 79, inexchange for pick 191 in the sixth-round.

Here is a quick breakdown of the pick with what you need to know.

Height: 6-6

Weight: 327

RAS: 7.69

Stats to know: A big toe injury forced Goncalves to miss the final nine games of the 2023 season. In 2022, he allowed no sacks and 17 pressures. He ranked 56th out of 200 tackles in pass-blocking efficiency and 55th in PFF’s run-blocking grade. Goncalves has the ability to play both tackle spots.

Positional need: At a minimum, the Colts needed to bolster their depth at this position. They entered the draft with only four offensive tackles in the roster, which isn’t nearly enough to get through training camp and the preseason. In the long term, as we look ahead to 2025, Braden Smith will be in the final year of his deal, which will come with a nearly $20 million cap hit. As a rookie, Blake Freeland experienced ups and downs in 2023. Offensive tackle is a premier position and one that teams should always prioritize. I’m also guessing that with how deep the draft class is at this position, the value was too good for Chris Ballard to pass up.

What Lance Zierlein had to say: “Beefy lineman with experience at both tackle spots who should be able to transition inside if needed. He’s not a natural knee-bender and lacks leverage as a projected guard but has the mass and power to execute blocks inside. He’s a decent athlete for his size but is limited as a move blocker. He’s sound in pass protection, with the only real issue being his inability to change direction quickly against counters and twists. Goncalves might get a shot to prove himself at tackle early in his career but limited foot quickness will shrink his margin for error. The physical traits and two-position potential could make him a middle-round pick with eventual starter potential.”