Colts have a young player named to PFF’s 2023 All-Breakout team
The 2023 season was a big one for the Indianapolis Colts. They played the majority of the season without their staring rookie quarterback and also missed the postseason by a game, but still, Indianapolis improved its record by five wins, and are clearly moving in the right direction as a franchise.
A lot of this improvement is because of individual improvement across the roster. The Colts saw a lot of young players develop and become impact players, while established veterans were able to bounce back and take things to another level. However, while having stars like Michael Pittman Jr. and Jonathan Taylor is great, it was especially exciting to see some of the younger guys establish themselves.
One of the young guys that did that this year was left tackle Bernhard Raimann. The young lineman had high expectations entering his second season and it’s safe to say he delivered. Raimann was recently named to PFF’s All-Breakout team for the 2023 season.
Bernhard Raimann named to PFF’s All-Breakout team
Proof of Raimann’s high expectations, he was the preseason tackle pick to breakout this season and that held up. Jim Wyman detailed Raimann’s breakout season, pointing out that he was the seventh-highest graded tackle in the entire league with an 82.3 grade. Wyman got even more in depth, showing how good the year was for Raimann:
"Raimann continued to be very well-rounded as a pass blocker and a run blocker, grading out at 80.6 and 74.6 in those fields, respectively. He allowed just four sacks all year, and they all came against elite pass rushers — Myles Garrett, Josh Allen and Trey Hendrickson twice."
- Jim Wyman
With Raimann playing well on the left side, Braden Smith healthy on the right side, Quenton Nelson and Ryan Kelly looking like their elite versions, and Will Fries also have a breakout year of sorts, the Colts had one of the best lines in the league. They were great run blockers and good in pass protection as well. It’s important that the line keeps this up next season when Anthony Richardson is back in the mix.