Right Tackle
 

For two games, Smith has looked like a real NFL tackle. For a team in the a rebuild mold like us it would be sweet indeed. If Smith can hold down the rt position, I think we have a shot at actually having a good offensive line. And right now Smith has a good shot at being a real NFL tackle. Watching him gives me something to root for during games anyway.

I agree he has looked very solid, not perfect, but i am not expecting that, he has been as good as anyone we have had for a 2 game stretch over the last 3 or 4 seasons.

considering he's a rookie and that he was a guard, he's doing very well.

It looks like the first 2 rounds of the 2018 draft have produced 3 quality starters and 1 quality rotational player thus far. Considering the other guy has been injured, that's pretty impressive.

Holder had a podcast last week and discussed Lewis, saying some members of the organization were really high on him as a 3T in this defense.

For what it is worth, PFF grades:

80+ = NFL Elite
70 - 80 = NFL Superior
60 - 70 = NFL Average
Below 60 = NFL Substandard

Colts 2018 OTs:

76.1 = Braden Smith, 162 snaps, 115 passing, 47 rushing
69.3 = Le'Raven Clark, 296 snaps, 218 passing, 78 rushing
64.5 = JaMarcus Webb, 81 snaps, 59 passing, 22 rushing
59.7 = Joe Haeg, 174 snaps, 117 passing, 57 rushing
54.8 = Anthony Castonzo, 69 snaps, 48 passing, 21 rushing
49.8 = Denzelle Good, 119 snaps, 98 passing snaps, 21 rushing snaps

Obviously, I think Castonzo will improve as he gets his "playing" feet back under him but Smith and Clark have not only passed the "eye" test for looking solid, their pure NFL stats have been good as well and PFF has rated them pretty well.

Smith has the 14th highest OT grade in PFF for this season and the 2nd highest rated rookie OT behind Mike McGlinchey with SF at a 76.9 PFF rating.

For those interested:

68.3 = Quinton Nelson, 445 snaps, 325 passing, 120 rushing
60.3 = Mark Glowinski, 81 snaps, 53 passing, 28 rushing
73.7 = Ryan Kelly, 445 snaps, 325 passing, 120 rushing

Going Forward in 2018:

Castonzo / Nelson / Kelly / Glowinski / Smith

Depth = Clark, Good, Haeg (when he returns from IR)

Assumiong no more injuries (yeah, right!) , our O-line is shaping up.

Draft an OG in the 2nd round with one of our two picks next year and we are good to go on the O-line for the medium term.

One last note:

68.3 = OG Quinton Nelson, IND (445 snaps)
59.4 = OG Andrew Norwell, JAX (398 snaps)

Free agency does not always fix everything.

Walk Worthy,

I'd rather he played guard but with all the injuries we can't be picky. He's held up well and should continue to improve.

Yep, free agency is perilous. Most of the ex-Colts from last year's free agency class (Melvin, Moncrief, etc.) have struggled. Just read Holder's tweet that Melvin was given only 7 snaps during the last Raiders game, and is viewed as a poor fit with the team. Remember - the guy wanted 5 years/$50 million from the Colts. And I don't think Hankins or Simon are setting the world on fire with their new teams either.

But also, 2nd round OG Will Hernandez is rated higher than 6th overall pick Quenton Nelson.

Serious question - how does Leonard compare to Roquan Smith and the other LBs taken before him?

PFF is terrible. I do not know how they come up with grades. Since I like Oline play I have tried to grade Q in every game. He is always in the 90% based upon the scale we used when I use to coach. I did not game for Hernandez and he was around 80. Hernandez is good player but he is not as fast as Q. He also can have a lot of problems in Pass Protections. Whoever is grading Q at PFF has an agenda.

He said the coaches thought he could have a Leonard type impact at 3-tech.

Something about Hernandez. He was rated higher than Nelson their sophomore and junior years. Their senior year Nelson pulled ahead dramatically. But I liked Hernandez and was kinda hoping they would grab him in the second. They might have if there had not been a run on oline in the draft.

There was some concerns about his brains or lack of language skills. How he would adjust and pick up annfl playbook, but he seems ok.

Anyway, pff’s system is off to me. They don’t seem to match the rue test s lot of the time. Analytics are nice but how you use them is more important. Besides this is a marathon not a sprint. 6 games in I care more how they are doing within the team than how they compare to everyone else.

I wondered about that. Because Nelson has missed a few plays where they got a lot of publicity bc they were so dramatic. But for the most part he has been very solid and consistent. That Giants line is an utter mess, maybe worse than our line last year.

dude has played 6 games. he has gotten blown up a couple of times but its 6 games in and isnt Oline a bit of a learning curve in the NFL?

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That and a donut gets you a donut

Nelson is great physically but if what I understand is correct it is his mental approach that really sets him apart. And I don't mean his mean streak (which I love to finally have on a Colts team) but his ability to read and react correctly once the play has started. His ability to help out and to make the correct block (one reason he is such a devastating pulling guard is that he seems to know who to block) helps the cohesiveness of the line. You cannot have a dominant line unless it plays unless you play as one line and Nelson's ability to see, communicate and make the correct block is one part of what I ultimately think that maybe, just might be possibly a dominant line. Not that I want to hedge my bets but its been so damn long as you all know

I kinda like the idea of a defense that has both Roquan and Darius tbh.

For what it’s worth, pff thought Samson Satele was awesome and sucks balls.

I graded the pff grades and gave them a 21.3

Big time curve, strength and technique wise. More so than the rest of team except QB IMO. Can’t expect a 22 year old to dominate grown men who have been doing this for years.

I don’t know the grades, but I think most of the LBs have been doing well. Smith looks good, he does have a decent supporting cast. Edmunds has also looked pretty good. Not sure about the kid from Boise st but saw him making tackles in a game the other day.

o


10 Regular Season Games, Plus 2 Postseason Games Later


The Colts selected Braden Smith as a guard out of Auburn in the second round of the 2018 draft. The staff had to convince general manager Chris Ballard that Smith could also play right tackle. Several injuries at the position forced the coaching staff to start Smith at right tackle in Week 5. He started there against New England and then became the permanent starter at that position. Smith helped the Colts give up an NFL-low 18 sacks this season.


"Braden is like the best-kept secret in the NFL, as far as I am concerned." --- Coach Frank Reich, during the Regular Season


"Quenton [Nelson] has gotten a lot of attention, [but] Braden has played lights-out." --- Mike Wells



Players Who Leveled Up for All 32 NFL Teams in 2018 Season

(NFL Nation)

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/2...ms-2018-season


o

He played T in college

Based on an algorithm you will not share.

You must be thinking of someone else. Smith primarily played Right Guard for Auburn. He may have played some spot duty at LT as a Freshman in a back-up role when there were upperclassman blocking his path / playing time. But he was recruited to Auburn as a Guard and mainly played Guard for the Tigers.

Here were the beginning of the season depth charts for Sr / Jr / Soph / Fr years:

https://www.al.com/auburnfootball/in..._chart_fo.html

https://www.al.com/auburnfootball/in...depth_cha.html

https://www.al.com/auburnfootball/in...depth_cha.html

https://www.al.com/auburnfootball/in...cial_2014.html

Just put blind trust in the numbers.

And that will also be $9.99 a month