Indianapolis Colts: Ryan Kelly Willing to Work With Andrew Luck
The Indianapolis Colts won’t see the practice field until the start of training camp next month. Newly drafted center Ryan Kelly expressed his willingness to work out with quarterback Andrew Luck any time in-between, however.
The Indianapolis Colts’ offensive line was very inconsistent in 2015 — suffering multiple shakeups and injuries on a line that didn’t have much depth.
The Colts knew that they had one particular glaring hole on the unit, with the chance to fix the problem in the 2016 NFL Draft — and just that they did. The team selected Ryan Kelly out of Alabama with the 18th selection in the draft and proceeded to use three more of their eight picks on offensive linemen in order to add depth to the line.
While at Alabama, Kelly, a center, won numerous awards such as the award given out each year to the nation’s best blocker, as well as first team all-american honors.
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According to Mike Wells of ESPN.com, Kelly has stated that he would “definitely be there” if Luck were to call him so that the two could work out together any time between now and the start of training camp in late-July.
“He’s a Cincinnati guy, so not far away,” Luck said about Kelly. “Again, I think a big part of the quarterback-center relationship is knowing each other and just getting reps. The fact of the matter is, we haven’t been together for that long, so reps will be important.”
The Colts are hoping that they can get the same kind of longevity and success from the Luck-Kelly combination that they did for over a decade with the Jeff Saturday–Peyton Manning duo.
Wells shared some of his thoughts on the relationship thus far between the two:
"Luck and Kelly have been together for less than two months, but in that time they have been working as closely as possible. Their lockers are side-by-side, they eat together and Kelly took just about every snap with the first unit during offseason workouts. There’s no debating the center position this time around — the job is all Kelly’s after Luck went through five different centers during his first four seasons."
Next: Indianapolis Colts: What Will the Offensive Line Look Like?
As Wells said, Kelly will undoubtably be a starter for the Colts come week one. With his presence in the middle of the offensive line, the Colts and Luck are getting a reliable and consistent blocker that can not only protect the 26-year-old quarterback, but help preserve his health long-term.
Be sure to follow Ink On Indy as we continue our coverage of the Indianapolis Colts’ offseason.