lts offensive line with no outside additions

[JAFF]

https://www.indystar.com/story/sport...p/70171354007/

INDIANAPOLIS — The son has been waiting, working for a long time to land this job.

The job he watched his dad do for so long.

When Tony Sparano Jr. was in high school and college, his father was Bill Parcells’ offensive line coach in Dallas, building enough of a name for himself that the Miami Dolphins hired Tony Sparano to be the team’s head coach; but it was the work he did with the big guys up front that captured his son’s imagination.

“I’ve always wanted to be a line coach,” Sparano Jr. said. “The bond created by those five up front when they truly play and function together as one unit is really special.”


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Sparano Jr. spent a dozen years working toward his goal, bouncing from team to team and mentor to mentor for six years as an assistant offensive line coach before landing the full-blown role with Shane Steichen in Indianapolis this offseason.

The Colts are betting almost all of their chips this offseason that their new offensive line coach can fix a unit that imploded in the first half of the 2022 season, setting off a chain reaction that set the franchise on fire. By the time the offensive line settled down, the fire was out of control.


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Sparano Jr.’s first job as a full-time offensive line coach is to take roughly the same group of personnel and produce entirely different results. Indianapolis just used the No. 4 pick to take a rookie quarterback, Anthony Richardson.

The Colts know the offensive line is critical to Richardson’s development, the franchise’s No. 1 objective for the foreseeable future.


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“We’re hoping to create the perfect storm with him, with Jonathan Taylor and that offensive line,” Indianapolis owner Jim Irsay said. “I don’t think the offense is finished. One of the things Shane really emphasizes is how great that offensive line is in Philadelphia, and we want to try to match that excellence that they have. … We haven’t gotten there.”

But the draft is now over, and the Colts still haven’t added any new pieces to the offensive line who provide experienced depth, let alone any players who look like they can challenge for a starting spot.



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Indianapolis drafted two offensive tackles — BYU’s Blake Freeland in the fourth round and Northern Michigan’s Jake Witt in the seventh — who project as depth pieces. The Colts also haven’t signed any experienced interior offensive line depth, outside of a January waiver claim on former Cowboys lineman Dakoda Shepley, who has played in 13 games over the past three seasons.

“Getting Freeland at tackle, we thought, was important,” general manager Chris Ballard said. “We think he’s got really good upside.”

Ballard has hinted the team believes there are still some pieces available in free agency who can help, but in reality, most of the players still available would likely be depth pieces, rather than real competition for a starting spot.

That puts a lot of pressure on Sparano Jr. to get better seasons out of a front five that currently looks like it will be roughly the same one that ended last season — Bernhard Raimann at left tackle, Quenton Nelson at left guard, Ryan Kelly at center, Will Fries at right guard and Braden Smith at right tackle. Fourth-year veteran Danny Pinter is also available, but he’s struggled outside of the center position.


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Frustrated and flustered by their awful start last season, the Indianapolis offensive line gave up 60 sacks, the second-worst mark in the league, and struggled to open holes on the ground, finishing 23rd in the NFL in yards per carry.

The Indianapolis offensive line played better down the stretch.

Sparano Jr.’s initial approach has been emphasizing what the Colts’ brass has been saying all offseason, that the talent in place is better than anybody outside the building realizes.

That’s not the only change in approach. Sparano, Jr., plans to make changes in technique, scheme and coaching style, but first and foremost, he wants to instill confidence back into an Indianapolis offensive line that admits it lost its sense of identity last season. .

“You look back at a lot of the good things we did, some things that were just missing here and there, and I think a lot of the negative kind of clouded our memory of how the year went,” Kelly said. “The eye-opening thing, watching the film, was we did a lot of great stuff, too.”


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Rebuilding the offensive line’s confidence requires a clean slate.

Especially with the Colts potentially fielding the same line.

“We go about it by building the dynamic of the group from scratch,” Sparano Jr. said

Sparano Jr., along with assistant offensive line coach Chris Watt, has to rebuild the Indianapolis offensive line in two separate ways. First, they have to get players like Kelly, Nelson and Smith playing up to their reputation and compensation — Indianapolis still has the NFL’s seventh-highest-paid offensive line; and second, they have to develop their young starters.

Echoing Colts’ brass, Sparano Jr. believes Raimann and Fries are better than they showed last season. Raimann, a third-round pick who’d played just two seasons at tackle when the Colts drafted him last April, gave up nine sacks, tied for seventh-most in the NFL, but Indianapolis believes he got better as the season progressed.

“Bernhard, our left tackle, he did a lot of good things,” Sparano Jr. said. “Was really encouraged by a lot of what I saw on his tape, both in pass protection and what he can do for you in the run game.”


The Colts feel the same way about Fries, a 2021 seventh-round pick who is headed into his third season in Indianapolis.

“When we played them in New York, just watching him go toe-to-toe with the two d-tackles that we had, with Dexter (Lawrence) and (Leonard Williams), and not backing down, I’ve got a ton of respect for how he approached that,” Sparano Jr. said.

What remains surprising is that the Colts haven’t added any experienced depth on the offensive line this offseason.

Two years ago, Indianapolis brought in veteran guard Chris Reed on a low-cost deal, a move that turned out to be prescient when Nelson went down with an early-season ankle injury. Reed stepped into the lineup and played good football for the Colts, the same way Matt Pryor stabilized the right tackle position in 2021, although the team’s decision to hand Pryor the left tackle job in 2022 was disastrous.

Outside of Pinter, the Colts do not appear to have that veteran presence available right now, although as Ballard indicated, they can still add veterans to the mix.


Primarily, though, improvement up front is going to have to come from within, from making the same five guys into a much more cohesive unit than the one that struggled so much last season.

“The integrity of the offensive line room is paramount,” Kelly said. “You can have the best schemes, you can have the best guys evaluating defenses, but if you’re not collectively five-as-one, and that room is not a place you want to go and want to be at, it doesn’t matter what you do.”

And the Colts appear to be counting heavily on Sparano Jr., to provide almost all of that improvement.

Chicken salad out of chicken sh*t?

[Colts And Orioles]

Originally Posted by JAFF

Chicken salad out of chicken shit ???

o


The first thing that comes to mind when I hear that phrase is Billy Martin ...... he twice took the worst team in baseball (the 1973 Texas Rangers, and the 1979 Oakland Athletics), and immediately made them contenders with winning records in his first season managing said teams. Both of those teams were coming off of back-to-back seasons with more than 100 losses.

Additionally, Martin took 2 teams that had losing records the year before he got there (the 1968 Twins and the 1970 Tigers), and went 97-65 and 91-71 with both of those teams, respectively.

o

[ChaosTheory]

Originally Posted by ChaosTheory

They might. Could believe that with continued continuity this unit could do well. Still plenty of time, though.

I'm still here ^^. If I had to bet right now, I'd say our starting OL is going to be what finished last season: Raimann-Nelson-Kelly-Fries-Smith.

Depth is interesting. Ekiyor is very intriuging because although he was a guard at Alabama, he was running at center at the Senior Bowl. He also played center in high school. So his immediate competition is Pinter since he backs up both. I also wouldn't be surprised if he gives Fries a run. He's more stout, but much stronger than both.

The young tackles are both going to take some time I think.

[Oldcolt]

This has the smell of disaster to me. We are happy with how last years line played at the end so no additions? We think a new line coach is all that is needed? I think I am feeling this way because of last year, we were worried but told to relax as the Colts had this. We all lived through that debacle. I hope we aren't in for the same shit this coming year. If they don't fix that line it won't matter who they add, they will suck.

[ukcolt]

I am ok with the tackle situation. Think Raimann was always going to be the starter and we have drafted a guy in the 4th to be his backup. But I think we should be upgrading Fries. But there are still a couple of decent free agents still out there who could really do a job for the Colts. Dalton Risner or Isaiah Wynn have a lot of starting experience, although my favourite just for this season would be Justin Pugh.

[Dam8610]

Originally Posted by Oldcolt

This has the smell of disaster to me. We are happy with how last years line played at the end so no additions? We think a new line coach is all that is needed? I think I am feeling this way because of last year, we were worried but told to relax as the Colts had this. We all lived through that debacle. I hope we aren't in for the same shit this coming year. If they don't fix that line it won't matter who they add, they will suck.

There were three additions through the draft, two of which could see PT, one of which could win the starting RG spot. I get them feeling okay about OC, Kelly may bounce back and if he doesn't, Pinter plays well there, that seems to be the only spot he plays well. I think more could've been done with OG, but Ekeyor was seen as a round 3-4 guy by most pre-draft, so he's the type who should be able to come in and compete for a starting spot.

[IndyNorm]

“You look back at a lot of the good things we did, some things that were just missing here and there, and I think a lot of the negative kind of clouded our memory of how the year went,” Kelly said. “The eye-opening thing, watching the film, was we did a lot of great stuff, too.”

For starters WTF was Kelly smoking when he was watching that film?

Bringing in a new OL coach will probably help, but we'll see how much. Ballard really should at least bring in some competition. If nothing else to show that complete shit play isn't acceptable.

[rm1369]

Originally Posted by Dam8610

There were three additions through the draft, two of which could see PT, one of which could win the starting RG spot. I get them feeling okay about OC, Kelly may bounce back and if he doesn't, Pinter plays well there, that seems to be the only spot he plays well. I think more could've been done with OG, but Ekeyor was seen as a round 3-4 guy by most pre-draft, so he's the type who should be able to come in and compete for a starting spot.

A rookie 4th rounder MAY be counted on to provide some depth. I still want to see a completion. He shouldn’t be handed anything.

A rookie 7th rounder and a rookie UDFA should not be counted on for jack shit. It doesn’t matter than some mocks had the UDFA as 3-4 rounder. The team obviously didn’t see him that way.

It’s still plenty early in the offseason so I’m not going to bitch about it too much, but if nothing else is done this will be another example of one of my major issues with Ballard - gifting young guys spots. Betting it all on his drafting ability. You have a rookie QB, there is nothing more important to his on the field learning than the damn OL. Don’t repeat last years mistake.

[omahacolt]

Originally Posted by Colts And Orioles

o


The first thing that comes to mind when I hear that phrase is Billy Martin ...... he twice took the worst team in baseball (the 1973 Texas Rangers, and the 1979 Oakland Athletics), and immediately made them contenders with winning records in his first season managing said teams. Both of those teams were coming off of back-to-back season with more than 100 losses.

Additionally, Martin took 2 teams that had losing records the year before he got there (the 1968 Twins and the 1970 Tigers), and went 97-65 and 91-71 with both of those teams, respectively.

o

does anything ever come to mind that isn't 50 years old

[Dam8610]

Originally Posted by rm1369

A rookie 4th rounder MAY be counted on to provide some depth. I still want to see a completion. He shouldn’t be handed anything.

A rookie 7th rounder and a rookie UDFA should not be counted on for jack shit. It doesn’t matter than some mocks had the UDFA as 3-4 rounder. The team obviously didn’t see him that way.

It’s still plenty early in the offseason so I’m not going to bitch about it too much, but if nothing else is done this will be another example of one of my major issues with Ballard - gifting young guys spots. Betting it all on his drafting ability. You have a rookie QB, there is nothing more important to his on the field learning than the damn OL. Don’t repeat last years mistake.

I didn't say pencil them in the starting lineup, I said I could see them getting playing time, not necessarily for emergency reasons, and doing well in that playing time.