Coinciding with the positional competition at starting right guard along their offensive line, the Indianapolis Colts also are projected to have a training camp battle at starting right tackle.<\/p>\n
Now, this competition has changed a bit in the last few weeks from what we once knew, and it may be a lot more anticlimactic than we initially anticipated.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
Specifically, 3rd-year offensive lineman Matt Goncalves<\/a>, who\u2019s returning from being last year\u2019s starter at right guard, has admittedly \u2018bulked up\u2019 in the hopes of improving his playing strength and core power at that position<\/a>. That means he\u2019s more focused on keeping his job at right guard than he is winning an adjacent competition at right tackle as it currently stands.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Colts\u2019 rookie 4th round pick Jalen Farmer, who was initially expected to compete at both starting spots along the right side of the revamped Indy offensive line\u2014as publicly stated by general manager Chris Ballard right after he was drafted, is now focusing on right guard. <\/a><\/p>\n For what it\u2019s worth Colts offensive line coach Tony Sparano Jr. views him as a guard first and foremost too:<\/p>\n \u201cBut he is a guard,\u2019\u2019 Sparano said a few weeks ago via FOX59\/CBS4\u2019s Mike Chappell<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s a guard, first and foremost. That\u2019s where he\u2019s going to train the vast majority of the time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFrom there, we\u2019ll see where that goes and potentially, he could flex to some other spots. But he is a guard.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n That means what was once expected to be more of an open competition at right tackle during this summer\u2019s training camp and preseason looks like it\u2019s 2nd-year offensive tackle Jalen Travis\u2019s job to lose:<\/p>\n \u201cI get really excited about his potential,\u2019\u2019 Sparano also said via Chappell<\/a>. \u201cAt (right tackle), I expect him to make that his own.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n \u201c. . . This is a tough, smart, physical dude that\u2019s a better athlete than people give him credit for.\u201d<\/p>\n With Colts longtime starting veteran right tackle Braden Smith<\/a> departing to the Houston Texans<\/a> in free agency, who solidified the position for the Colts over the past 8 seasons, the torch appears to have been passed to Travis.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The Colts\u2019 mammoth-sized 2025 4th round pick at 6,\u20188\u201d, 339 pounds, was thrown into the fire early as a rookie last year, even making 4 starts in relief of Smith. The 24-year-old had more initial polish than expected at the right tackle position, and while he had some rookie growing pains, largely held his own out there down the final stretch for Indianapolis\u2014showing considerable improvement in his growth and development.<\/p>\n However, being a spot-starter is a little bit different than a full-time starter at right tackle, as the more you play, the more film there is out there, and arguably the more opportunities there are for you to be potentially exposed.<\/p>\n Still, with Goncalves and Farmer focusing more so on starting right guard, it appears as though Travis is in the driver\u2019s seat at right tackle. The Colts\u2019 other depth options at the position are 4th-year offensive tackle Blake Freeland<\/a> and Luke Tenuta<\/a>, both of whom appear to be more backup caliber offensive linemen at the position.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Coinciding with the positional competition at starting right guard along their offensive line, the Indianapolis Colts also are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":906628,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2059],"tags":[4980,4973,2005,7,253,2004,392,2381,125,1989,27970,4977,6,1482,453,3675,8556],"class_list":["post-906627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-indianapolis-colts","tag-blake-freeland","tag-braden-smith","tag-colts","tag-football","tag-houston-texans","tag-indianapolis","tag-indianapolis-colts","tag-indianapoliscolts","tag-jacksonville-jaguars","tag-jalen-travis","tag-luke-tenuta","tag-matt-goncalves","tag-nfl","tag-offensive-line","tag-offensive-lineman","tag-position","tag-tony-sparano"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116672043679517513","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=906627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/906628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=906627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=906627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=906627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}