It's been an offseason to remember thus far for Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard. He of course made a huge splash in improving the quarterbacks room, first signing Gardner Minshew to a deal and then drafting phenom Anthony Richardson No. 4 overall.
The QBs unit is in good hands moving forward. However, one of the main issues that haunted the Colts last season was poor play from the offensive line. This is something Ballard didn't really attack in aggressive fashion the past few months.
If you ask NFL.com's Marc Sessler, he thinks patching things up for the Indy O-line is something that must be addressed as soon as possible. It's hard to argue with Sessler in this case.
The Colts still need to improve their offensive line ahead of Week 1
"The Colts ignored their line in free agency before waiting until the fourth round to draft tackle Blake Freeland out of BYU. Fellow tackle Jake Witt came in the seventh, but nothing was done to shore up a troubling situation at right guard. It's up to general manager Chris Ballard to find help before Richardson is unleashed in games that count. "Marc Sessler
It doesn't matter who you have at quarterback, if you can't protect the guy, then even the biggest of talents won't be able to have success. Again, the Colts group up front was a nightmare in 2022, consistently putting up performances that had people pulling out their hair.
This can't be the case in 2023 and beyond. Richardson is an exciting, young signal-caller. There are some young offensive playmakers, including Jonathan Taylor and Michael Pittman, around him, but if he doesn't have time to stay in the pocket, it's going to be a big-time problem for this team.
Despite it being so late in free agency and plenty of top names being off the board, there are still some guys out there looking for a new home. Guard in particular is a position the Colts should focus on - someone like Dalton Rinser could make sense for Ballard and Co.
If Ballard and new head coach Shane Steichen want to put Richardson in the best position possible to impress, then they need to get him some more help in the form of 300-pound beasts in front of him.
READ MORE: Former NFL exec has a wild prediction on Anthony Richardson