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Colts: Does Quenton Nelson have a future at left tackle?

By Jerry Trotta

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - SEPTEMBER 22: Quenton Nelson #56 of the Indianapolis Colts takes the field before the start of the game against the Atlanta Falcons at Lucas Oil Stadium on September 22, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Bobby Ellis/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - SEPTEMBER 22: Quenton Nelson #56 of the Indianapolis Colts takes the field before the start of the game against the Atlanta Falcons at Lucas Oil Stadium on September 22, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Bobby Ellis/Getty Images) /
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What does Colts star guard Quenton Nelson playing left tackle mean for the future?

To say that the Indianapolis Colts have been bitten emphatically by the injury bug this season would be an understatement. While that narrative is starting to take a turn for the better, their weekly injury reports (prior to last week) routinely featured a laundry list of essential players.

Because we can’t have nice things in 2020, however, stalwart left tackle Anthony Castonzo was briefly forced from Sunday’s win over the Raiders with a knee injury that’s been bothering him for several weeks.

With backup La’Raven Clark done for the year after suffering an Achilles tear in Week 13, the coaching staff surprisingly turned to left guard Quenton Nelson instead of emergency replacement Chaz Green.

The transition from guard to tackle is incredibly difficult, as the two positions entail entirely different techniques and responsibilities, but Nelson made it a seamless one, which begs the question of whether he could make a permanent position change once Castonzo retires?

An eight-snap sample size (four run, four pass) probably isn’t enough to draw a conclusion about Nelson’s potential at left tackle, but there’s no denying that he made the Raiders’ talented group of edge rushers look ordinary. Those snaps included him handling a stunt with ease, disposing of a Vic Beasley bull rush and then doing the same on an attempted swim move around the edge.

The two-time All-Pro has grown accustomed to dominating rushers in the interior, which is an entirely different animal in terms of the craftsmanship and real estate a left tackle must cover to be effective, so the fact that he handled that burden without a whimper indicates he could have a future at the position.

At 6-foot-5 and 330 pounds, Nelson doesn’t have the ideal body frame you would want in a franchise left tackle, but he’s incredibly nimble and dynamic for a man is size. Are those not the attributes that convinced GM Chris Ballard to draft him at No. 6 overall back in 2018?

The Colts have experimented with Nelson at LT during practice, and him being Castonzo’s first replacement on Sunday proves that he could be the long term answer at the position once the 32-year-old vet calls it a career — or, at least, that Chaz Green isn’t a temporary solution of any kind.

We’re obviously not saying that Nelson can/will flourish at the position, but his promising debut might just give Indianapolis something to think about when the time comes to assess Castonzo’s future with the franchise.

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