Colts: This Quenton Nelson stat proves he should never move to left tackle

Whether it be important players or coaching staff personnel, the Indianapolis Colts have been hit with a slew of shocking departures in the early stages of the offseason.

That narrative really kicked into high gear when the likes of left tackle Anthony Castonzo and quarterback Philip Rivers announced their respective retirements within a week of each other, leaving the team with gaping holes at two of the most important positions on the field.

When it comes to the offensive line, there’s been growing speculation that Quenton Nelson could make the move to left tackle after an encouraging (but short-lived) cameo filling in for the injured Castonzo during the regular season.

While many fans were on board with Nelson becoming the Colts’ supposed left tackle of the future, the otherworldly dominance he’s enjoyed at the guard position proves they need to look outside of the organization for the long-term answer. According to Pro Football Focus, he’s allowed just three sacks on a whopping 1,946 pass-blocking snaps (!) since he entered the league in 2018.

The Colts would be out of their minds to move Quenton Nelson to left tackle.

That settles it: Nelson stays at guard and we don’t want to hear any rebuttals. It’s obviously incredibly valuable having somebody that can make a seamless switch to left tackle in the event that the starter was injured mid-game, but there’s simply no reason to fix what isn’t broken.

Nelson has established himself as one of the best offensive linemen in the league. In what many considered an inconsistent year (for his standards), the former No. 6 overall pick still managed to log an 86.1 blocking grade from PFF, allowing just one sack over 1,082 offensive snaps. He did match his career-high with nine penalties, which ranked second among guards, but we hardly view that as alarming given how much of a fortress he’s been.

As if that wasn’t enough to convince you that guard should continue to be Nelson’s primary position, he became just the second player in the last 30 years — Barry Sanders was the other — to earn first team All-Pro honors in each of his first three seasons in the league.

Nothing more needs to be said, folks. Nelson should stay where he is and fans should trust general manager Chris Ballard to solve the left tackle conundrum this offseason, whether it be through the draft or free agency. After all, he knows a thing or two about identifying OL talent.

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