Grading the Colts roster ahead of 2020 NFL Draft and free agency: Guard

A long off-season is upon us and while Chris Ballard and the Colts front office has plenty of time to work on rounding out the 2020 roster, Stampede Blue would like to take a pretty in-depth look at each position group and assign them letter grades.

The purpose of this exercise is to identify where the team stands at each position, based upon who is currently under contract. Re-signing in-house free agents could have a big impact on numerous grades but until that happens, we know what we know.

With that in mind, let’s dive in and discuss ways the team might move forward and share thoughts about what course of action makes the most sense.

Guard: B+

Quenton Nelson may be the best interior offensive lineman in football and will be entering his third season in the NFL. Counterpart Mark Glowinski is closer to average at his position and could be upgraded but does not create an emergency. The great priority will be shoring up the players behind the starters on the depth chart. Joe Haeg is set to hit free agency, as is his teammate Josh Andrews — who played primarily as a backup at center.

Under Contract: Quenton Nelson, Mark Glowinski, Jake Eldrenkamp, Chaz Green

Possible Free Agent Options: Joe Haeg, Brandon Scherff, Ereck Flowers, Andrus Peat, Evan Boehm

Draft Prospects: Solomon Kindley, Shane Lemieux, Deonte Brown, Trey Smith, Ben Bredeson

Secondary Need

If not for the lack of depth, this unit would have an A rating. While the Colts could improve at the right guard spot over Glowinski, his play is good enough to not create a sense of urgency to do so. That said, I don’t think anyone in the Colts front office would be comfortable having no proven talent behind the starters in training camp. Additionally, one has to at least acknowledge that while Glowinski is a serviceable starter, upgrading over him would do nothing more than make an impressive offensive interior even better.