Tag: Ryan Kelly

Indianapolis Colts’ center Ryan Kelly is entering the final year of his deal, but from the sounds of it, extension talks won’t be happening any time soon.

With veterans and rookies reporting for training camp on Wednesday, Kelly said that the Colts’ made it “clear,” according to James Boyd of The Athletic, that early extension talks wouldn’t be taking place. Kelly, however, would still like to stay with the team.

“We made it known that we wanted to stay and have an extension,” said Kelly to reporters.

Kelly added that his representation went to the team wanting to do an extension, but the Colts didn’t see it as a priority for them.

Kelly: “We made it known that we wanted to stay and have an extension.” Colts made it clear, Kelly said, that it wasn’t a priority for team

— Joel A. Erickson (@JoelAErickson) July 24, 2024

After missing the Pro Bowl in 2022, Kelly, along with the rest of the offensive line, bounced back in 2023. He went from allowing 25 pressures and five sacks in 2022 to only seven pressures and one sack in 2023.

Among the center position, Kelly ranked first in PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency metric and posted the highest run-blocking grade of his career as well. On PFF’s positional rankings, Kelly was listed as the fourth-best center heading into 2024.

As the center, Kelly will play a key role in the development of quarterback Anthony Richardson. There is, of course, the leadership element that Kelly brings to the table, both on and off the field. But there is also his ability pre-snap to identify and communicate needed protection changes to the rest of the offense, helping to put Richardson in a position to succeed.

“Ryan’s my brother,” said Quenton Nelson. “He gives everything he can for this organization, and especially his guys on the offensive line. He’s been a leader since I got here. A guy I looked up to when I got here, and he’s so important to our O-line room, especailly, and then this team as well.

“He played great last year, and just really happy for him to do that last year after what he’s gone through. It shows what a tough person he is and how much he loves this team.”

In the final year of his deal, Kelly comes with a cap hit of $14.625 million–the fourth largest on the team. Back in April, the Colts drafted Wisconsin’s Tanor Bortolini in the fourth-round, who very well could be the team’s future starting center.

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 center Ryan Kelly. To stay up to date with our other previews, be sure to head over to Colts Wire.

2023 Season Review

After missing out on the Pro Bowl in 2022, Kelly was able to bounce back in 2023. He went from allowing 25 pressures and five sacks in 2022, to just seven pressures and one sack this past season.

Among all centers, Kelly would rank first in PFF’s run-blocking grade metric and he posted the highest run-blocking grade of his career last season as well. On PFF’s positional rankings heading into the 2024 season, Kelly was listed as the fourth best center.

In addition to Kelly rebounding in 2023, the entire Colts’ offensive line unit did as well, finishing last season ranked in the top 10 in both yards per carry in the run game and with the ninth-lowest quarterback pressure rate allowed.

“I think after the ’22 season, Tony (Sparano) came in, saw that room for what it was, and it was still a lot of great players but not a lot of confidence,” said Kelly during minicamp, “and I think there’s a lot of multitude of reasons for that. So when he came in, the first day that we came in last year around this time, it was not even about football Xs and Os, it was about real personal stuff.

“Guys get into that because if you can’t build a relationship in there, then how can you build it out there? And I think that was a good part for us to trust Tony to trust us. And also, he just empowered us to go play. I think that starts with Shane, starts with Tony, starts with Jim Bob. Is to just go out there and play, and just trust our technique, trust that we’re great players and play together.”

2024 Season Preview

Kelly will, of course, be the Colts starting center this season and from that position can be a valuable resource for Anthony Richardson, who is still an inexperienced player with just 98 career dropbacks.

For one, there is the leadership Kelly provides to this Colts team both on and off the field, but he is a force multiplier as well, making those around him better. There is also his ability to pre-snap to identify and communicate needed protection changes to the blockers, helping to put Richardson in a position to succeed.

“Ryan’s my brother,” said Quenton Nelson. “He gives everything he can for this organization, and especially his guys on the offensive line. He’s been a leader since I got here. A guy I looked up to when I got here, and he’s so important to our O-line room, especailly, and then this team as well.

“He played great last year, and just really happy for him to do that last year after what he’s gone through. It shows what a tough person he is and how much he loves this team.”

The uncertainty for Kelly lies beyond this season when he is set to be a free agent. Recently, ESPN selected one remaining move that each NFL team should make, and for the Colts, they selected extending Kelly. The Colts used their fourth-round pick this past draft on Tanor Bortolini, who could be a long-term option at the center position.

Although there was plenty of attention on adding playmaking around Richardson this offseason, success for any young quarterback begins with the play of the offensive line.

“One, when you’ve got a young quarterback, you’ve got to protect him,” said GM Chris Ballard earlier this offseason. “That’s one which I think we did a pretty good job last year, and we’ll continue to do well. Tony (Sparano Jr.) has done well with that group. We’ve got a talented group of O-linemen.”

Aaron Schatz of ESPN recently picked one final move that each NFL team should make prior to training camp. For the Colts, that move wasn’t adding to the cornerback or safety positions, but instead, Schatz believes they should extend center Ryan Kelly.

Kelly is currently entering the final year of his four-year extension that he signed back in 2020. Next offseason, in his age 32 season, Kelly will be a free agent.

“Although Kelly is 32, he still ranked ninth among starting centers in pass block win rate (94.1%) a season ago,” wrote Schatz. “There’s no clear heir apparent on the roster, so now would be a good time to get Kelly locked up for another couple of seasons.”

The Colts did utilize a fourth-round pick in this year’s draft on Tanor Bortolini, who spent most of his snaps at Wisconsin playing center but is capable of playing all three interior offensive line positions. But, to Schatz’s point, it’s far too early to say with any sort of certainty that he can be the long-term answer at that position.

Kelly continues to play at a high level. On PFF’s recent rankings of the center position, Kelly was No. 4 on their list heading into the 2024 season.

After missing out on the Pro Bowl in 2022, Kelly bounced back last season, allowing just seven pressures and one sack. He had a career-high run-blocking grade from PFF and ranked first among centers in pass-blocking efficiency. Kelly has proven to be fairly durable during his career, playing at least 14 games in each of the last six seasons.

In addition to Kelly’s ability to win as a blocker, he’s a leader, not only among the Colts’ offensive line, but for the team, and provides a valuable presence for Anthony Richardson with his ability pre-snap to identify and communicate blocking protections to the rest of the offense.

“Ryan’s my brother,” said Quenton Nelson. “He gives everything he can for this organization, and especially his guys on the offensive line. He’s been a leader since I got here. A guy I looked up to when I got here, and he’s so important to our O-line room, especailly, and then this team as well.

“He played great last year, and just really happy for him to do that last year after what he’s gone through. It shows what a tough person he is and how much he loves this team.”

Given the Colts’ current salary cap situation and what they are projected to have available next offseason, cap space shouldn’t be much of a hurdle in getting any sort of deal done.

“I want to stay here,” Kelly said earlier this offseason via Horseshoe Huddle. “It’s my ninth year here, it’s the last year of my contract, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want another one. So, we’ll see what happens.”

Putting playmakers around Richardson is obviously important, but consistent success for a young quarterback begins with blocking and protecting, as GM Chris Ballard said earlier this offseason, and without a doubt, this offensive line is far better with Kelly than without.

As Pro Football Focus continues on with their position-by-position rankings, they’ve arrived at center and, not surprisingly, have the Colts’ Ryan Kelly high up on the list.

Out of the 32 centers that made PFF’s list ahead of the 2024 season, Kelly came in at No. 4, just behind Creed Humphrey, who was No. 1, Frank Ragnow, and Tyler Linderbaum.

Here is what PFF had to say about Kelly and his place on the list:

“Kelly earned the fourth Pro Bowl nod of his career in 2023 and posted a career-high 77.2 grade in the process. On top of that, he allowed just seven pressures in the regular season, the fewest among starting centers. His 78.3 pass-blocking grade was his best mark since his rookie season.”

As PFF noted, Kelly bounced back to his Pro Bowl form in 2023, missing out during the 2022 season after he made it three consecutive years from 2019 through 2021.

Kelly went from allowing 25 pressures and five sacks in 2022 to just seven pressures and one sack this past season. His run-blocking grade from PFF was the highest of his career, and he ranked first among centers in pass-blocking efficiency while being called for only three penalties.

Beyond Kelly being able to win as a blocker, having a veteran presence of his caliber at center can be a very valuable resource for quarterback Anthony Richardson with Kelly’s ability pre-snap to identify and communicate blocking protections to the rest of the offensive line–not to mention the leadership role he fills on this Colts’ team.

In addition to Kelly rebounding in 2023, the entire Colts offensive line unit did the same, ranking top 10 in pressure rate and yards per rush attempt.

“I think after the ’22 season, Tony (Sparano) came in, saw that room for what it was, and it was still a lot of great players but not a lot of confidence,” said Kelly during minicamp, “and I think there’s a lot of multitude of reasons for that. So when he came in, the first day that we came in last year around this time, it was not even about football Xs and Os, it was about real personal stuff.

“Guys get into that because if you can’t build a relationship in there, then how can you build it out there? And I think that was a good part for us to trust Tony to trust us. And also, he just empowered us to go play. I think that starts with Shane, starts with Tony, starts with Jim Bob. Is to just go out there and play, and just trust our technique, trust that we’re great players and play together.”

Although all eyes will be on Richardson and the Colts’ skill positions, consistent success for any offense begins in the trenches. A strong run game to lean on keeps the offense out of obvious passing situations and opens up the playbook for Shane Steichen while throwing from a clean pocket is a must for any young quarterback.

The Colts are returning all five starters from last year’s group and, once again, should have one of the best units in football. ESPN ranks the Colts’ offensive line as the fourth-best unit heading into the 2024 season, with Kelly leading the way.

“Ryan’s my brother,” said Quenton Nelson. “He gives everything he can for this organization, and especially his guys on the offensive line. He’s been a leader since I got here. A guy I looked up to when I got here, and he’s so important to our O-line room, especailly, and then this team as well.

“He played great last year, and just really happy for him to do that last year after what he’s gone through. It shows what a tough person he is and how much he loves this team.”