The Colts placed their starting center on the injured reserve this week with a knee injury. Ryan Kelly has battled injuries all season, and will now miss the next 4 games of this season. It will be a blow to this now-banged up offensive line after losing starting right guard Will Fries earlier this season.
Losing An Offensive Captain
With the loss of Ryan Kelly, the Colts lost their true offensive captain with this team. Kelly was the team’s first round draft pick in 2016 out of Alabama. He has continued to be the anchor of the offensive line, along with Quenton Nelson. He has stayed relatively healthy outside of the 2017 season, where he broke a bone in his foot. He has not started less than 14 games outside of 2017. This season, he will break that consistency as well. The Colts rewarded Kelly with a giant 4-year extension worth $50 million in 2020. That contract expires after this season.
Is Bortolini The Future?
The Colts made a hand-tipping move to the future of the center position by drafting Wisconsin Center Tanor Bortolini in last April’s draft. They drafted him in the fourth round, and it was apparent with Kelly in a contract season, that Bortolini is the future at this position. Nearly identical in size to his predecessor, Bortolini came in with plenty of experience to take over for Ryan Kelly. While no one could be as decorated as Kelly was coming out of Alabama, Bortolini did play 34 games at Wisconsin getting the start in 28 of those games.
#Colts Tanor Bortolini and Ryan Kelly are tied as the 14th highest graded center in the NFL by PFF this season with a 66.3.
— Destin Adams (@TheDestinAdams) October 14, 2024
They also have the same run blocking grade with a 64.2. Bortolini has a slight edge with a 77.3 pass blocking grade compared to Kelly's 75.9. pic.twitter.com/yXgd4n2AGj
What set him apart was his ability to play every position on the line. He saw time at guard, tackle and, finally, setting in at center on his senior year. He finished Third Team All-Big Ten on a solid Wisconsin offensive line. He missed some time to start the year with a toe injury, but did get his first start in Week 4, and showed his abilities to be a strength in pass blocking.
The End For Ryan Kelly?
First and foremost, above all, the NFL is a business. Teams always put that first when declaring their intentions for roster decisions. It appears that will be the case again. Ryan Kelly approached the front office about a contract extension, and they did not reciprocate. He is getting up there in age, and commanding a large contract for an aging veteran is rare in this NFL. Quenton Nelson and Braden Smith also have large contracts already, and some potential extensions are due with Will Fries and Bernhard Raimann next in line.
These next four games for Bortolini will be his first true audition for the starting center job. With the quarterback job in flux, this team must decide which direction they are going. Last week showed that this team is not a contender, let alone a team with any direction. Ryan Kelly is great for this football team, and his family story has been one to applaud. However, financially it does not make sense to bring him back and continue to stall the development of the new infusion of youth this offensive line could potentially see.