Evaluating the Colts' Tackle Depth Chart for 2023: From Braden Smith to Bernhard Raimann.

in the beginning of the off-season this whole tackle room was very thin now there is a lot of potential in the room it's still very an experience but at least you have something in the room you have some kind of depth and that's very important you have some competition and I think it's really good having a lot of young guys in there because you're not only creating just an opportunity for young guys but a lot of competition for these young for these young players to push and maybe get a starting spot in the left side on on left tackle but I think Bernard Ryman has that lockdown for now it's his job to lose um right tackle it's Brandon Smith's job but we have the guys necessary to back them up if they get injured which is very important they will be competing for those jobs and that's not wasting much more time but if you like Colts football NFL football and I found this football ding dong if you enjoy that kind of stuff make sure you like subscribe put the post notification Bell as you don't miss any future videos so it's always too much more time we're gonna start on the left tackle side we're gonna start at the bottom of the depth try to work our way up we'll do the right tackles after the left tackles so let's start with Carter O'Donnell he's never played a snap of the NFL I'm using ESPN's depth chart for the records um for my source Carter O'Donnell never play a snap uh I think he's a year in think he played I think he was actually in the NFL for two years now he's been our practice squad guy he's been uh kind of competition so that's exactly what I expect out of him this off season training camp him to be competing and just adding some competition in depth in training camp so uh then we have or you know he was actually listened as a guard and some other sites like the NFL site and the PFF just wanted to add that in there because maybe maybe the Colts moving the guard but right now they have him at tackle on the depth chart on ESPN so then you move up and you have Blake Freeland so Blake Freeland he's a young guy out of BYU he's big he's bulky he's a behemoth he's a he's up here man he's huge you know he had I think he's like six foot eight six foot seven six foot yeah I think he is six foot eight um but he has a lot of experience playing laptop with BYU he started every year and he improved every year now the thing is as I mentioned he's big right he's tall he's towering he's like a skyscraper thing is sometimes that plays to your disadvantage when you're in the NFL on the offensive line really in football in general it can play to your disadvantage if you're a tackle really an offense lineman because nowadays it seemed like a lot of the you know defensive line Talent maybe you know you have some linebackers or mainly ad rushers like Michael Parsons TJ Watt some of them are smaller but the two I just mentioned are actually bigger but some of those defensive line guys and linebackers can be a little smaller which makes it very difficult for tall tackles and tough and so I'm going to like Blake Freeland to get leverage and when you're that much bigger you need to have a very strong core strength he doesn't have that you know from the film and a little bit of in you know the Snippets and stuff I watch here and there um it seems like he didn't really have the balance or you know the core strength to really hold his own versus some of the really strong guys that are shorter than him and you know in general he's probably gonna struggle against Power rush so early on now he's very agile he can move he has some good athleticism um but I don't think he's ready to start laptop yeah he has a high ceiling high ceiling and yeah I'm looking at notebook here I'm not perfecting I can't remember all this stuff I I you know I'm writing it down do a little bit of research writing it down so don't miss anything um but yeah he does need to refine some technique uh he's gonna he's gonna have to refine some of that technique you know when he's sliding so he doesn't lose balance that kind of stuff um I did look on the NFL site a little bit for some strengths weaknesses and that's kind of what I put together um so being a left tackle means you're going to go up against more athletic and more fat and you know fast or stronger just more all-around defensive line Talent you know and some of those linebackers I mentioned early on so he needs to really get that balance and that core strength up fast he's going to be tested early if he plays um and then he did test really well in the combine so he will need to get that core strength up so he doesn't get bullied now if he's paid facing you know more so of a speed rush or a spinny guy he's gonna have to focus on that on that um on the sliding like with his feet but I think he's gonna for well feel better Fair better against them early on so Blake Freeland he has a high upside he also a good chance he doesn't work out as well but I think I think he could be a very good depth guy for now and this is gonna move us to our current starting lap tackle he has a year in the books from Western Western Kentucky University his name is Bernard Ryman so coming in he is kind of like the opposite of um Blake Freeland in a way you know he's uh you know he's definitely got shorter arms he's a little smaller and you know that's the thing you know it makes it a little easier to get the leverage but having the shorter arms hurts because some of those defensive linemen have those long arms and he just can't get your you know your hands in there to get them up on their pads and you know push them up and push them away and keep them away um and he you know last year he didn't start right away then you know Chris Bauer Frank Reich they they wanted to give Matt Pryor the shot because he looked really good at right tackle to your prior to last year you look very good Braden Smith was her he he stepped in he was very good um it just couldn't carry that same at you know the same success over to 2022 he really struggled everywhere in the office line he was horrible at right tackle and Brandon Smith got got nicked up a little bit uh and then Right Guard he was absolutely horrible he was just bad in general he was not a very good player for the Colts last year there is good reason why they didn't retain him he was he was very below average he was he was very bad but when Bernard Ryman stepped in he was all right no don't lie to myself don't lie to ourselves he was pretty bad when he first stepped in but as the season went on he got so much better he was doing so much better by the end of the season him playing at the end of the season versus when he first started playing insane it was it's a it's a huge jump he was very good very good of course in the last year and just as the season went on so I'm expecting big things from him in year two and it's it is his job to lose now if he gets hurt and Blake Freeland comes in and he just takes off he's gonna lose the job he's probably gonna be the backup and maybe you could try and throw him out Right Guard I don't I don't think that's ideal but um you do need to look for a Right Guard wolf rise to get better as a season one on last year uh not really the Improvement like uh Bernard Robin show got left tackle but he got better or not really saying much because Danny Penner started the year there it was pretty bad uh this doesn't have the balance can't get his hands in there Danny Pinner is not a good Right Guard he's a bit better of a depth Center than a guard he's horrible I don't want to see my record ever again uh if I see my record I might have a hard attack but improved um hopefully he has that big jump in here too will he be elite probably not he probably won't be that elite elite left tackle you know top five but he's gonna be good you know you know it seems like that he's gonna make a pretty big jump and he's gonna really figure it out in year two and just make that big jump so if he does we're kind of gonna backtrack a little bit to Blake Freeland if he does or you know or you know let's just put this hypothetical out there he's not playing well he's playing pretty bad and let's just say that blade feelings put in their left tackle Blake everyone's left tackle but say Bernard Ryman takes off and he is a definite left tackle Blake Freeland may move over to Right Guard I'd be willing to give him a shot I know his core isn't as strong and stuff so that's kind of an issue when you're moving to guard you need to be strong because you're gonna be going up against some pretty big guys in the middle some pretty strong and bulky guys in the middle you're going to have to get that core strong you're gonna have to really push get a strong now right tackle is a little different I think he could be a very good right tackle but brain Smith has that down so but say wolf fries ain't playing good say Brands but they're still playing a very high level rank card playing field isn't working out right no brain Smith is playing really good at right tackle but like if you start struggling at Right Guard as well switch them switch brand Smith and Blake Freeland and I think Blake Freeland can be a I think he can actually be a top 10 right tack on the league he's definitely got a lot of work to do to be the top 10 left tackle because they're a little different they're they're you know they're different um and now it is different going from one side to the other as well so that's something he would have to adjust to and he would have to get his score stronger because because those guys on the right side that the right tackle faces usually they're a little you know usually they're a little like bigger and stronger they're not as fast but uh hey um I honestly think he may be the left tackle in the future but I think Brandon Smith will be a phenomenal Right Guard that's where he actually started his career he was switched to right tackles due to I believe it was Matt Slawson at the time actually got hurt every tackle they moved very Smith out Russell's history I think he actually like broke his back it was like pretty bad but nonetheless you know we have some depth on the left side and some of it can be translated to the right speaking of the right size Braden Smith wearing we're gonna move to the right side so um Matthew Vanderslice is the last guy I couldn't find much on him he's a rookie on North Texas seemed like he had a few offensive guard of the week Awards um out of high school I think he was ranked uh no that's Jordan Murray but uh Matt Matthew Vanderslice maybe that was Jordan Murray that was North Texas no yeah Matthew Vanderslice was um from the same College as Trevor Penning I think but I don't remember the name of it it was like a purple gray purple tannish you know like purple yellowish but um I don't expect to make a roster he's probably just gonna come in and provide some depth in training camp and stuff so but hey I'm in for surprises but then you have Jordan Murray who is actually from North Texas using udfa this is a second year didn't play at all last year I don't think he really got the chance last year um I don't you know like the chance you know as if he wasn't even on the raft or type so um is udfa not too much about him he will bring competition to training camp Camp body uh he was a 124th ranked guard a couple years ago when he was coming out of high school he was a two-star recruit for according to the 247 Sports uh so not much just more tackle depth then we move on to the guy that you do know pretty well we just drafted Jake ways from a very small school himself uh he's you know he tested very well very athletic uh I think he can serve as solid depth he won't be ready right away so in college he started college and he was I think he was tied up for one or two years I think it was two years then Midway through the second year so one and a half years Midway through the second or third I I don't remember what year it was but point is he hasn't played his entire career but when he did switch he was pretty good he's like a natural at that small school so him come that NFL we're gonna see if he could figure it out versus What You Know Much Greater competition so I think Jake quit I think he could be a very good depth right tackle maybe maybe someday he will be a good right tackle but he's not going to be it for the coolest considering we have Brandon Smith right there maybe if he gets hurt Blake feels on the left side you know and you have some other injuries and stuff that's when he's gonna get the chance and I'd like to see him because he is athletic in college very high stealing tested very well uh there's a lot to like about Jake Whit and I'm happy that we have some high ceiling some players act will either be really good starters or solid depth pieces that is very important to have going into training camp having that competition that kind of stuff so then of course you have the number one one of the better right tackles in the league very good uh he's running for ranked very highly by PFF Braden Smith originally he was right guard as I mentioned earlier he was a Right Guard and then some injuries happen I think it was you know it was the last Andrew luckier Brandon Smith didn't already tackle the rational sister he is phenomenal uh now he was very good those first four years and you know those first years then you started to have some injury issues it's seemed like he's getting injured a bit now I mean he's older he's got the contract now he's gonna pay more money you better find a way to say healthy it's just the NFL business thing you know you gotta find a way to stay healthy he's very good one healthy you know otherwise he's a great right tackle when he's not injured um maybe he gets kicked into guards on time of 23. never never count anything out you know something crazy can happen maybe maybe there's a lot of injuries all right car maybe we'll Fry's gets injured and maybe Daniel Pinner gets injured and you have no choice but to put brain Smith there and then yeah Blake Freeland playing the right side or maybe you just keep Jake wit there and have him play the side if there's so many different possibilities with this Hoffman sign next year it's not even funny so that's what kind of brings a lot of competition a lot of excitement a lot of interesting um just a lot of interesting battles and Training Camps so that's it for the attack room you guys let me know what you think about the tackle I think we have a lot more depth as tack room this you know both tackle rooms are looking a lot better from last year uh you know from the beginning of the off season absolutely too so if you guys enjoy this video make sure to like subscribe hit the post notification Bell and so you don't miss any of your videos If you enjoyed it notification Bell on but um thanks for tuning in to the JW Sports Talk Show where everything is welcome catch you later