INDIANAPOLIS – Colts quarterback Matt Ryan has lost his starting job, not to mention the momentary usage of his throwing arm, in part because the offensive line hasn’t protected him. Ryan hasn’t played well either, so don’t read this as an apology for the guy. It’s not. Read this instead for what it is, which is to say, the rest of the story.
The Colts’ line hasn’t kept him safe. Hasn’t had his back, in other words.
And the beating heart of the Colts’ line, starting center Ryan Kelly, is doing it again – before he’s thrown his first career pass – to new starter Sam Ehlinger.
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Here’s how Kelly sneered at a question about the Colts’ decision to bench Ryan, a 15-year veteran who ranks among the NFL’s Top 10 in several career passing categories, for Ehlinger, who hasn’t thrown as pass in the NFL.
“Everybody has their own opinions on it,” Kelly said. “I’m not going to get into mine.”
Oh.
Maybe what he meant was, “We’re thrilled Sam’s the new quarterback, but I can’t say that because it would reflect poorly on Matt Ryan.” See what you want.
Here's what I see: Kelly doesn’t like it. He’s a loyal guy, Ryan Kelly, and there’s a lot to be said for that. He’s also a very smart guy, someone reporters love to quote, because he knows how to make his point. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Alabama in marketing. He knows exactly what he’s saying. Or not saying.
Everybody has their own opinions on it. I’m not going to get into mine.
Welcome to the huddle, Sam.
What happened to Quenton Nelson?
They are untouchable around here, Ryan Kelly and Quenton Nelson. They are beloved by the fan base, Big Q especially, beloved so much that for the season opener he was the last offensive starter announced, sprinting out of the tunnel to the loudest roar of the day:
Quuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
Ryan Kelly has been selected to each of the last three Pro Bowls, and was ranked by players in an NFL Network poll as the 69th-best player in the whole league. Nelson has done even better, making the Pro Bowl in each of his first four seasons, and first team All-Pro three times. Last season that same NFL Network poll has judged him to be the league’s 28th best player.
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It’s unheard of, a guard getting this kind of love, but check the crowd Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium when the Washington Commanders come to town. You’ll see more No. 56 jerseys than any other number. You’ll see a lot of Kelly’s No. 78, too.
This is Indianapolis, the Midwest, blue collar and hardworking. We love our offensive linemen.
But this line, considered among the NFL’s best over the last two or three seasons, has been bad. The Colts are 31st of 32 teams in sacks allowed (24), and 29th in rushing yards per carry (3.5). The line hasn’t given the quarterback enough time or the running backs enough room, a failure on every level.
The tackles have struggled, no one more than Matt Pryor, but Dennis Kelly on the left side and Braden Smith on the right have been serviceable, at best. The right guard spot has been a weakness as well, from Danny Pinter to Smith to Pryor.
But to whom much is given, much is expected. And Quenton Nelson and Ryan Kelly have not delivered. Nelson will say it, at least.
“It needs to be better,” he said Wednesday when I asked about his play this season.
Whether you understand them or not, and I do not, the numbers from Pro Football Focus don’t lie. The folks at PFF are football lifers, pale and unhealthy from being inside all day, studying tape. Perhaps. But for sure they are experts, and according to them Nelson’s annual grade has dropped every year from 91.2 (out of 100) in 2019 to 86.2 in 2020, 69.1 last season and 66.1 after seven games this season. That makes Nelson, the highest-paid guard in NFL history, the 23-best offensive guard in 2022.
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“(I need to) be more consistent with my technique and fundamentals,” he says.
I’m asking how a fifth-year player can regress in those areas. Are you healthy?
“We don’t talk about injuries,” he says.
I change tactics, and ask if he knows his grades at PFF.com. He says no, but Colts coaches formulate their own grades for the offensive line.
I’m asking if his grades have regressed.
“We don’t talk about grades,” he says.
I make a lame joke from the movie Fight Club – “The first rule of Fight Club,” as everyone knows, “is you don’t talk about Fight Club” – and flee before Nelson tries to eat me.
He’s laughing, as I walk away. Maybe at the joke. Maybe at me. You just never know with Big Q.
And what happened to Ryan Kelly?
As for Ryan Kelly, the numbers tell a similar story.
From high grades of 74.5 in 2018 and 73.0 in 2019 – for perspective, either would place Kelly among the top five centers in the league this season, as judged by PFF – Kelly’s grades have dropped to 69.0 in 2020, 56.9 last season and 61.9 this year. That latter grade makes him the 19th-best center in the league. Like Nelson, Kelly has been the league’s highest-paid player at his position.
I ask Kelly about his play compared to previous years, wondering if it has been at the same level. He raises his eyebrows at that and, as he’d done earlier – Everybody has their own opinions on it. I’m not going to get into mine – declines to answer the question.
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“You just take it week to week,” he says. “Had some good moments and bad moments. Try to minimize the bad and work on the good.”
For years, the domination of Kelly and Nelson has been fun to watch. Every game, it seemed like, one or both of them would manhandle some poor slob on the opposing defensive front to the point that, when the replay was shown in the press box, the media would just laugh. Because it was almost funny, what they were doing to opponents. Nelson in particular, with the way he would destroy people, had become a meme-generating folk hero of sorts.
Seen any memes this season? Me neither. But every week in my hand-written play-by-play of Colts games, I’ve noted that #78 – Ryan Kelly, obviously – keeps getting beaten, and #56 hasn’t been much better. Denico Autry of the Titans has worn Nelson out. Titans teammate Teair Tart threw him around last game, and a few games back it was Denver linebacker Josey Jewell beating Nelson on his way to an 18-yard sack of Ryan.
Nelson is basically 100 pounds heavier than the 6-2, 236-pound Jewell. And Jewell ran him over.
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It has been weird to watch, part of the reason Colts coach Frank Reich, on the day he announced Ryan’s demotion, said the team has let Ryan down after promising him “great protection.”
“And we haven’t, as an offense, delivered on that,” Reich said Monday.
On the bright side, Reich was saying Wednesday, he has seen signs of improvement in recent weeks in the revamped line.
“We’re not where we need to be,” Reich said, “but we’re heading in the right direction.”
After these last seven games, there’s only one direction for the Colts’ line to go Sunday. By then maybe a miracle will occur, and Ryan Kelly will have his QB’s back for the first time all season.
Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter at@GreggDoyelStaror atwww.facebook.com/greggdoyelstar.
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