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Colts' OL Projected to Finish Top 10 in ESPN's Pass Block Win Rate

With an elite-level offensive line, the Indianapolis Colts are projected to provide new quarterback Carson Wentz plenty of time in pass protection, according to ESPN's Pass Block Win Rate in 2021.
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It seems at this point in the NFL world, new analytical statistics continue to be introduced. Some are great, others are just...there. 

ESPN's Pass Block Win Rate (PBWR) measures how often individual players and teams sustained their pass blocks for at least 2.5 seconds, using player tracking data from NFL Next Gen Stats.

With an elite-level offensive line in Indianapolis, the Colts finished 12th in the NFL in 2020 with a PBWR of 60%, finishing just outside of the top 10 behind the likes of the Philadelphia Eagles and Las Vegas Raiders, which is a bit surprising, at least with Philadelphia. 

The Indianapolis Colts offense line will be without injured left tackle Anthony Castonzo (74) for Sunday's road game at the Houston Texans.

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Now, the Colts break in a new starting left tackle and put quarterback Carson Wentz into the lineup behind a strong offensive line. Ahead of the 2021 season, the Colts are projected to finish ninth in ESPN's PBWR with a PBWR of 61%, a 1% increase from 2020. 

Projected offensive line: Eric Fisher (36th), Quenton Nelson (3rd), Ryan Kelly (18th), Mark Glowinski (49th), Braden Smith (30th)

Adding Fisher blunts the loss of the retiring Anthony Castonzo, who finished 21st in PBWR among tackles last season, but it's still a downgrade at left tackle. With Nelson still anchoring the line, though -- only Joel Bitonio and Zack Martin had a higher PBWR at guard last season -- the Colts are in solid shape.

ESPN is accurate in stating that the replacement of Eric Fisher for Anthony Castonzo — who retired in January — is a slight downgrade at the position. However, the rest of the offensive line remains incredibly solid left to right starting with left guard Quenton Nelson. 

One of the Indianapolis Colts' areas of need after Saturday's NFL draft is offensive line depth.

Braden Smith is surprisingly low at the position when it comes to PBWR, but I expect him to take another step forward at the position in 2021, moving up the board overall in the stat, which should help the Colts' offensive line crack the top 10 overall in the new advanced analytic. 

Overall, this group should be able to protect Wentz much better than the Eagles were able to in 2020, regardless of the PBWR being higher than the Colts last season. 

Expectations are high for the offensive line overall. Now we wait and see if they can live up to the lofty expectations. 

Have thoughts on the Colts' offensive line projection in Pass Block Win Rate? Drop a line in the comments section below letting us know your thoughts! 


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