The Way Too Early Top 5 Free Agents for Colts to Target

1. Kevin Zeitler, Offensive Guard, Cincinnati Bengals

With both offensive guard Kevin Zeitler and longtime veteran offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth as free agents, the Cincinnati Bengals could have a tough decision to make in regards to keeping only one of its two talented trench mainstays.

As a former 2012 1st round pick of the Bengals (also in Andrew Luck‘s draft class), Zeitler has started all 32 games for the Bengals over the past two seasons and has only missed 8 games over his 5 year career–having started in 71 career games.

It’s worth noting that Zeitler was a standout with the University of Wisconsin, where he was a 1x First-Team All-Big Ten selection and 2x Big Ten Champion–having clear familiarity with the Midwest already.

The 6’4″, 320 pound offensive guard is apparently seeking prized Oakland Raiders offensive guard ‘Kelechi Osemele money’ at around $11.7M per year in this year’s free agency.

However, he could be worth the long-term investment for the Colts, as per Pro Football Focus (subscription), the 26 year old ranked as their 7th best offensive guard overall with a +87.1 grade overall–including a pass blocking grade of +89.4 which was the 5th best at his position in the entire league. He subsequently made the PFF 2nd All-Pro team at right guard for his exceptional play.

Going forward, the Colts have to do a much better job of protecting their franchise quarterback Andrew Luck–as Indianapolis finished 2nd in allowing the most QB hits with 128 total QB hits, as well as 5th in total sacks with 44 total sacks. Likewise, Luck was the 3rd most pressured passer in the entire NFL–keeping up with the shoddy status quo since his arrival in 2012.

There’s no question that rookie 5th round pick Joe Haeg has shown some initial promise in his debut season at right guard, as well as fellow rookie right tackle Le’Raven Clark–although in much more limited action in the latter’s case late in the season.

Next: Colts Free Agency: Who to Keep and Let Go

However, Zietler appears to be one of those prized free agents, who the Colts could plug in on the right side of their starting offensive line and not worry about for the next 5 years. He would be an exclamation point of sorts that shows that general manager Ryan Grigson is indeed serious about fixing the Colts pass protection woes once and for all–no questions asked.

Plug Zeitler in and done–let one of Haeg, Clark, Denzelle Good, or Joe Reitz win the remaining starting spot along the offensive line.

That being said, the Colts may not want to displace the promising Haeg from what appears to be his most natural position at right guard–although he can play right tackle as well. Clark still appears to be more of a project and is further away in his development, so he could be better served by continuing to improve his blocking on the side before assuming a full-time starting role in the short-term.