It’s finally the best time of the year, football is back! Kind of. The Colts training camp is starting, and it will shape how players will do this season.
Many players on the Indianapolis Colts have a guaranteed spot on the 53-man roster, but some are also fighting for an NFL roster spot for either the first or last time. Staying healthy helps their chances at a roster spot this season.
Camp will often cause issues for good teams on paper, providing injuries to key players. Last year, the Baltimore Ravens suffered season-ending injury after season-ending injury throughout camp.
In Frank Reich’s era in Indianapolis, the Colts roster has never been in a better spot to win now. From top to bottom, there is either a young player doing really well or a veteran leader making an impact in their position.
So, who can the Colts not afford to go down with an injury during camp, causing them to miss time throughout the regular season? Let’s take a look at 3 players.
3. Quenton Nelson
Chris Ballard is prepared to make Quenton Nelson the highest-paid guard in NFL history. That’s going to be really difficult to sell to a fanbase if Nelson spends time on the injury report for a second-straight year.
Last year, we saw Nelson have some issues and need surgeries early on. He did miss a few games, which created a hole, even if it was a small hole. Luckily for the Colts, they had a little bit of guard depth having both Chris Reed and Mark Glowinski.
If Quenton goes down this camp again, there is not the same kind of depth the Colts had last year. Both pieces from last year now have starting positions in the NFC. The backup guard/center is now the projected starting right guard.
An injury to Big Q this offseason puts a damper on his contract extension. Do the Colts sign him to as large of a deal if he is now damaged goods? Does he start getting shopped around the league for more assets and picks?
Let’s not forget what the Colts had to deal with last year when Braden Smith signed a large extension and then missed a good portion of the start of 2021.
Quenton Nelson must stay healthy in this training camp if the Colts have any plans of winning now and extending their most coveted lineman for the future.