The Indianapolis Colts have a number of issues on their roster needing to be addressed, but initially, the offensive line wouldn't have likely been named as one of them. At the beginning of the 2024 season, the Colts had an elite-level offensive line, and even after losing multiple starters to injury over the months, still held up well with solid performances from rookies like Tanor Bortolini and Matt Goncalves. Yet that quickly changed, as stalwart center Ryan Kelly and right guard Will Fries both signed with the Minnesota Vikings.
Currently, the Colts are known to have a hole at right guard, and generally speaking, need to add more depth to their offensive line. And it appears they have a prospect in mind. Tom Pelissero reported on X that Dalton Cooper is visiting Indianapolis, Green Bay, and Kansas City for pre-draft visits.
Former Oklahoma State OT Dalton Cooper is scheduled for pre-draft visits with the #Colts, #Packers and #Chiefs.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) April 7, 2025
Cooper started 57 college games and posted a 4.97/4.99 40, 28-inch vertical, 9-foot broad jump and 26 bench reps at 6-foot-6, 326 pounds.
Cooper had almost 3,900 career snaps on offense over six college seasons. He played four seasons with Texas State, and his last two at Oklahoma State; almost all of his snaps came in at left tackle. In his final season, he appeared in nine games, where he especially excelled at pass protection. He allowed no sacks and just six pressures out of 285 pass-blocking snaps, and ranked 13th in pass-blocking efficiency.
Now that Fries is gone, it is assumed that Goncalves will be moving to right guard, putting the swing tackle up for grabs. Blake Freeland would be Cooper's main competition; Freeland previously filled in for Braden Smith, who sat out much of the 2024 season due to an unnamed personal issue. Smith's contract has been extended, and Bernhard Raimann - the left tackle - is not going anywhere.
Freeland has not performed well, and with Smith tending to miss a decent amount of time each season, Cooper could easily take over from Freeland and see some playing time in his rookie season if he ends up getting drafted.