Offensive Line
 

Read somewhere earlier that Luck has only been sacked once in his last 125 pass attempts … Big improvement :cool:

https://twitter.com/BaldyNFL/status/1054723016419172355

Franken Reich @JayVeeThree
Wait did Jerry Hughes get his Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty because he got teabagged by Quenton Nelson?

:cool:

You know what I really like about him. 90% of the time he is the first person there helping his RB up, greeting whoever caught the TD, helping Luck up. That’s a good teammate and that is infectious. All those skill players should be buying this oline gifts for Xmas.

Doing a rewatch and am really impressed with everyone. Especially glowinski

Yeah, I thought that I saw him make some really impressive blocks in the run game.

Saw another stat that Colts are top 10 in lowest percent of drop backs resulting in pressure. Slightly better than NE.

Got through the 2nd half and yeah, he was good. Locked on guys, moved them enough and got to the 2nd level effectively.

I will say: I'm thrilled with the talent on the left side and it showed in the game. But the fact that Glowinski can be as effective as he's been on this time really makes me hope this team doesn't invest any further high future draft capital on interior OL or RT.

LT, sure, if you like a guy. They need a long-term plan there.

It's too bad the Colts won't be bad enough. Ed Oliver would be a dream 3-tech for this defense. I'm still leaning towards EDGE or OT in the 1st based on scouting reports.

I agree to a point.

But the fact that neither Smith nor Glowinski were projected starters out of Training Camp and that Clark and Haeg saw a lot of playing time earlier shows that you have to have QUALITY DEPTH to be a good O-Line.

We have one current O-Line starter ending their contract each year from 2019 - 2023.

2019 = Glowinski
2020 = Castonzo
2021 = Kelly
2022 = Smith
2023 = Nelson (with 5th year option)

As long as they continue to play well AND we choose to re-sign them, I totally agree with you on not needing to use TOP draft picks on the O-line and just keep up the quality depth.

BUT, there is no guarantee that they will continue to play well nor that the team will re-sign them. The key is that we have had the depth to survive to this point and find five guys who can play well together

2019 = Good
2020 = Clark, Haeg

Do we re-sign those depth guys? Or draft new depth?

To have a quality O-Line, you have to keep adding talent to it every season. One draft pick in the top four rounds every season (25% of your draft picks in those rounds) should go to O-Line (23% of your starters), IMO. If the O-Line is suprerior, then having only average offensive speciality folks can still make an offense run. If you have an average to below average O-Line, the best set of receivers will be worthless as the QB never has time to throw and the RBs never have holes to run in.

Walk Worthy

And Castonzo will be 31 years old next season. He's been remarkably healthy in his career, but you need to have a good backup plan for a 30+ OL.

Clark could be that backup plan. He played credibly well at LT early this season.

If he did not have a rookie OG next to him (granted, a good one but a rookie still) and a solid right side of the line, then swinging TE/RB chip coverage his way on elite rushers works.

Granted, in a perfect scenario, I want a young, stud LT to drop to us at the exact time Castonzo starts to decline but it rarely works that way.

Good O-Linemen often play well into their 33rd/34th/35th seasons. Time will tell where Castonzo falls in that timeline.

Walk Worthy,

I'm still on board with an OT in this year's 1st if he's the clear BPA. I don't want to reach on a pass rusher or WR if the tackle is clearly better.

I don't think we have ever had an offensive lineman that is as destructive as Nelson. He gets more pancake blocks in a game than most guys get in a year. He is a tone setter. A steal at #6

I would say good pick at 6, steal is too strong.

At a minimum a great pick. For what he has meant to this line I still think he was a steal.

The O-Line...
 

Snippet from a Colts.com article:
During the last 4 games:

- Averaging 152 yards rushing per game

- Averaging 245 yards passing per game

- 14 passing TDs (0f 26 total for the season)

- 4 rushing TDs (of 5 total for the season)

- Suffered 0 sacks

A strong O-Line is a wonderful thing......especially when it was not the O-Line that you envisioned at the beginning of the season and instead you just sort of......LUCK.....into it!

Walk Worthy

yeah I get that taking a guard at 6 and 2 OL in first two rounds was not sexy but its reaping benefits. If we have a strong line for years to come it was worth it.

I get the "positional value" discussion of those who say that you will never get the value out of the #6 spot with an OG....

...however, the results speak for themselves over the past 4 weeks. While Nelson is not the whole answer for our O-Line improvements, neither is any defender/WR/RB/QB that you would have picked there either. They are all part of a TEAM.

And as for me, I am dang glad we have Nelson on our TEAM. Those pancake blocks are a thing of beauty.

Walk Worthy,

I think we would have been happy with several players. It was a very good draft. I have to say Nelson is having a bigger impact than any rookie guard I have seen. That helps ease the use of a top ten pick. I just hope we aren’t searching for a pass rusher for the next five years.

It's early and only one source, but Matt Miller has 16 DLs/EDGEs on his top 32 big board. There should be really good players available in round 1 and in the top of round 2.

The way this line is playing, especially compared to what we Freaks have been having to endure for what seems like forever, we have gotten exceptional value out of those draft picks.

Someone mentioned earlier this season how we could have had Hernandez later and went with D at #6. Anyone see how bad Hernandez looked against Titans ? Sure glad we went with Nelson, light years ahead of what I watched. :cool:

Hernandez has looked solid for a rookie starter but his other O-linemen are a hot mess and the Tits was a brutal game for him.

That said, I am glad we grabbed Nelson.

Walk Worthy,

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

First I have watched the Pats this year and paid attention to him. Yes that game was brutal for Hernandez. :cool:

Hernandez doesn't even begin to bring what Nelson does. Nelson elevates the entire line by the tenor he helps set, the extreme physicality that he plays with and his amazing ability as a pulling lineman. He has the ability to dominate his man by himself and help destroy lineman with double teams. Its a mental uplift for us and a mental toll on the opposition. It's gotta wear on you. The guys a rock that fits in perfectly. He ain't perfect, he gets beat, but he is damn good.

The AFC south opponent defenses bullied the Colts the last couple of years. Now the Colts are the BULLIES. About damn time

Hopefully, after a few solid UFA additions and another brilliant draft, the D can start to do a bit of the same.

Imagine what will happen when he starts figuring things out.

This is so true. I think that he was so dominant in college that didn't have to routinely use good technique. That's why he's gotten beaten by quickness and even gotten rag dolled a few times.

He's now beginning to dominate at the NFL level because his technique is improving and much more consistent.

What DB or LB wants to be in his path when he's getting to the 2nd level?

o




(NOVEMBER 18th)



Andrew Luck, 2012 - 2016: lllll..... 2.2 Sacks Per Game

Andrew Luck, 2018: llllllllllllllllllllllllll...,, 1.0 Sacks Per Game




Luck has not been sacked since the 1st drive of the 1st quarter of the Patriots game, on October 4th.

He has had 213 consecutive drop-backs without having been sacked.




vs. PATRIOTS )llll.. (59 Drop-Backs, 1 Sacks)


vs. JETS lllllllllllllllll. (43 Drop-Backs, 0 Sacks)


vs. BILLS llllllllllllllll (23 Drop-Backs, 0 Sacks)


vs. RAIDERS lll..llll (31 Drop-Backs, 0 Sacks)


vs. JAGUARS llllllll. (29 Drop-Backs, 0 Sacks)


vs. TITANS lllllllll... (29 Drop-Backs, 0 Sacks)



o

As I said in the game thread, a dominant offensive line changes so much about a team, on offense and on defense. Is there anyone who still wants to argue that Nelson was overvalued at #6?

That streak staggers the mind.

I argued for Nelson before the draft. Te future of this team is Andrew Luck, this year and hopefully many years to come.

o

In the Colts' previous meeting with the Texans on September 30th, Luck was sacked 4 times ........ but he also attempted 62 passes, for an average of 1 sack every 15 and-a-half dropbacks.


http://www.nfl.com/player/andrewluck/2533031/gamelogs


In the Colts' most recent game against the Jaguars last Sunday, Luck was sacked 3 times in 52 pass attempts en route to what was by far his WORST game of the season.



I believe that the offensive line will need to be at (or near) the top of its game when the Colts take take field in southeastern Texas on Sunday in order for the team to have a realistic chance of winning ........ and Luck is going to need to be considerably better than he was last week against the Jaguars.

o

And, for another O-Line factoid:

Strap up, Freaks! The next couple of years is going to be a wild ride! :)

The future is so bright, I gotta triple up!!! :cool::cool::cool:

Walk Worthy,

Wow.... this Line can make Marlon Mack look Like Eric Dickerson :-)

And another one:

12 out of 195 rushing attempts. Against some of the talented front-7s we have faced? That is somewhat amazing.

This O-line.... :)


Walk Worthy,

Kravitz wrote an article on The Athletic (paywall) regarding Braden Smith.

https://theathletic.com/760304/2019/...ffensive-line/

With all our talk about how good a job Ballard has done, I think we don't get enough insight into his staff and how important they have been. Sounds like Brown was a big advocate for Smith, Hines, and Cain based on this and previous reports.

Hopefully other teams don't catch on to that. Those were good finds.