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This might be putting it a little too plainly. But essentially, the Indianapolis Colts elected to go with experiments at 2 spots along their offensive line in 2022.
Through 3 games, neither 1 is working.
In light of that fact, Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine proposed the Colts bench right guard Danny Pinter.
“Right guard Danny Pinter has yet to have that breakout performance,” Ballentine wrote. “Defenders just bounce off Pinter far too often in the run game, and he’s already given up one sack while earning a middling 50.5 PFF grade.”
A fifth-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Pinter was mostly a reserve offensive line for the Colts last season. Mark Glowinski started 14 games at right guard while Pinter started the other 3 contests.
Indianapolis allowed Glowinski to leave in free agency, giving Pinter the starting right guard spot without much training camp competition.
But if the Colts wanted to, they could shift offensive linemen around to move Pinter back to the bench.
Colts Struggling Along the Offensive Line
Despite 2 new starters along the Indianapolis offensive line, the unit had high expectations heading into the 2022 season. But the line, which is the most expensive offensive line in the NFL this season, has been a disappointment.
The grades at Pro Football Focus have the Colts ranked fifth in run blocking and 16th in pass blocking to begin the season. Most Colts fans would probably argue those grades are generous.
Other stats would agree with the fans. Indianapolis has allowed 12 sacks in 3 games. At that current pace, quarterback Matt Ryan will set a new career high with 68 sacks. His previous career-high was 48 sacks taken with the Atlanta Falcons in 2019. Those 48 sacks were the most in the league that year.
The Colts have also averaged just 4.0 yards per carry in the first 3 games. That ranks 23rd in the NFL.
Taylor is averaging 4.7 yards per carry. Fellow running back Nyheim Hines and the rest of the Colts runners are posting 1.6 yards per rush.
Looking at those numbers, it might not be a stretch to say Taylor has elevated the Colts offensive line grades at PFF. Because when Taylor isn’t running the ball, there simply haven’t been any holes to run through this season.
Furthermore, over the last 2 weeks, Indianapolis has averaged only 68 rushing yards per game.
How the Colts Could Bench Pinter
The other new starter along the Indianapolis offensive line is left tackle Matt Pryor. Like Pinter, Pryor has been leaky in pass protection.
Of the 6 offensive linemen to receive snaps for the Colts this season, Pryor and Pinter are both among the bottom 3 on the team in pass protection according to the PFF player grades.
But Pinter is, by far, the worst of the 2 new starters for the Indianapolis offensive line. Through 3 weeks, the PFF player grades ranked Pinter 53rd in pass protection among 61 NFL guards with at least half their team’s offensive snaps. Among the same group, Pinter is also 43rd in run blocking.
The PFF grades have Pryor closer to the middle of the pack at tackle. Pryor is 34th in pass protection and 24th in run blocking among 61 eligible tackles.
Ballentine proposed 2 different ways of fixing the Colts offensive line. Both involved inserting rookie Bernhard Raimann into the starting lineup and benching Pinter.
“Whether the Colts want to try to move Raimann to right guard, kick Pryor inside or find an alternative on the bench, they can’t wait for Pinter to show signs of life much longer,” Ballentine wrote.
Raimann missed Week 3 because of ankle injury, but he returned to practice on September 28. His possible return against the Tennessee Titans for the Week 4 matchup gives the Colts the potential to make an offensive line change if they want to.
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