As Pro Football Focus continues on with their positional rankings, they’ve reached the guard position, where the Colts’ Quenton Nelson is among the best.
From Nos. 1-32, PFF put together its list of the top guards in football ahead of the 2024 season. Coming in at No. 11 was Nelson. At the top of the list was Chris Lindstrom, followed by Joe Thuney, Sam Cosmi, Tyler Smith, and Quinn Meinerz, rounding out the top-five.
Here is what PFF had to say about Nelson and his spot on this list:
“Nelson solidified himself as one of the league’s best guards in his first three years. He was a first-team All-Pro three times between 2018 and 2020, but an injury in 2021 affected his play, and he’s been slowly working his way back up to his previous levels. Nelson’s 70.8 PFF overall grade in 2023 ranked 15th, his highest mark since 2020, while his 80.3 pass-blocking grade ranked fourth.”
Nelson played 1,141 snaps last season, 686 of which came in pass protection. He allowed just one sack, according to PFF, and 21 pressures. He ranked sixth among all guards in PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency metric.
In addition to Nelson’s individual performances, he is a force multiplier–making the players around him better. Nelson’s presence, both on and off the field was an important factor in the growth we saw from Bernhard Raimann in his second season.
“That’s just huge,” said Raiman of playing next to Nelson. “The communication on the field, for me personally it’s huge because I’m right next to him, but his leadership as a whole for the entire offensive line, and just the consistency.
“I know where he’s going to be in pass protection, I know how he’s going to step in the run game. I know how I have to fit in double-teams with him to move the defensive tackle, and that just makes my game that much easier.”
Naturally, much of the attention this offseason was on adding to the receiver position, and moving forward, much of it will be on Anthony Richardson’s return. However, as GM Chris Ballard mentioned prior to the draft, having consistent success on offense begins with blocking and protecting.
Moving the ball in the run game creates short down-and-distances, opening up the playbook for Shane Steichen and keeping defenses guessing. Time and space to throw from in the pocket are, of course, vital to regular success in the passing game.
Without those elements, however, offenses will face predictable passing situations, giving the defense the advantage, while as we all know, pressure leads to errant throws and turnovers.
As the old saying goes, if you can control the line of scrimmage, you can control the game, and the Colts are positioned very well to do just that. Along with Nelson, the Colts are returning all five of their starters up front–a unit that, as a whole, bounced back in 2023, ranking top-10 in both pressure rate and yards per carry.
