Chris Ballard On Shaquille Leonard’s Status, Why Sam Ehlinger Made The Roster, Offensive Line Depth And More

French Fries And The State Of The O-Line Depth

The Colts on Wednesday claimed tackle Luke Tenuta off waivers from the Buffalo Bills. Tenuta, a sixth-round pick of the Bills earlier this year, has collegiate experience playing both left tackle and right tackle. He played the most snaps of any rookie offensive lineman (152) this preseason, including 29 at left tackle and 123 at right tackle.

And it was notable that about an hour after Ballard said “We like Dennis (Kelly). I think that one will play out, but we like Dennis,” that the Colts re-signed the 10-year veteran swing tackle.

So the Colts’ offensive line room now has five starters (Matt Pryor, Quenton Nelson, Ryan Kelly, Danny Pinter, Braden Smith) and five reserves (Wesley French, Will Fries, Dennis Kelly, Bernhard Raimann, Luke Tenuta). This after the initial – emphasis on initial – 53-man roster only had eight offensive linemen on it.

“We think Will Fries took some good steps,” Ballard said. “We feel good about Wesley French, (he) was a good find by our scouts, the scouts did a really good job. He gives you guard/center flexibility that we like. We like the progress that Bernhard is making. We thought he really came on. He gave up the one sack this past week but the rest of the game was really good. We feel good about where we’re at and the depth. They’re young, but that’s not a bad thing.”

Or, as Ballard later said about the youth on his O-line: “They don’t become veterans unless they play.”