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Colts Rookie Review: Tanor Bortolini Shines in Debut Season

Indianapolis Colts rookie Tanor Bortolini showcased his long-term potential in year one.

Zach Hicks

Indianapolis Colts guard Tanor Bortolini (60) warms up before an Indianapolis Colts game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, at Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis.
Indianapolis Colts guard Tanor Bortolini (60) warms up before an Indianapolis Colts game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, at Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis. / Christine Tannous/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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The Indianapolis Colts selected Tanor Bortolini with the 117th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. The 22-year-old center outplayed expectations in year one, and the team may be ready to ride with him as the starter on the interior next season.

Bortolini was an experienced draft prospect, despite his age (21 when drafted), starting in 28 games in his collegiate career. He also showcased his versatility at the college level, making starts at tackle, guard, and center with the Wisconsin Badgers. The Colts elected to keep him at center, but Bortolini will always have that positional flexibility in his back pocket.

The biggest appeal of Bortolini as a prospect was his athleticism. At 6'4", 303 pounds, Bortolini tested as a 90th+ percentile athlete in just about every metric at the combine outside of bench press. His shuttle and three-cone times were particularly standout, both testing in the 99th percentile among all draft-eligible centers since 1987.

Bortolini parlayed his athleticism and experience into a strong debut season with the Colts. As the primary backup to veteran Ryan Kelly, Bortolini made five starts and appeared in 351 offensive snaps as a rookie. He allowed just seven pressures in 211 pass-blocking snaps and finished the season allowing zero sacks in pass protection.

Pro Football Focus was mostly positive on the young center in their grades this season. He graded out as the number 18 center in the league in overall blocking grade among all players with at least 257 snaps. Bortolini finished as the number nine player from the 2024 draft class in overall grade and the number three player in terms of pass-blocking efficiency.

Bortolini may not have been some next-level superstar as a rookie, but he measured out as a low- to mid-level starter in the league in his age-21 season. That is phenomenal for a player recently taken on day three of the NFL draft.

Scouting the Film

Bortolini's impressive statistical season is backed up by his play on film. He is a supercharged athlete with a great head on his shoulders, which makes him perfect for playing center in the modern game. His ability as a help blocker is truly underrated and that skill alone makes his future in this league very oprtimistic.

Offensive lines in the NFL have to work in tandem every step of the way, particularly in pass protection. Pass blocking on a tether is key to success in this league, as one false step or poor depth can leave a group exposed to a late stunt on the defensive line. The man in the middle is the most responsible for making sure the junk in front stays out of the quarterback's way.

Bortolini already excels in this area at such a young age. He has fantastic eyes and a great feel at the position already, making him a major asset in pass protection. He is often left uncovered in the pass game, but his ability to constantly scan and find work makes life easier on his running mates. As far as help blockers go, Bortolini is already a fantastic player.

This next-level feel and awareness carries over well to the run game as well. Bortolini is excellent at moving off of blocks to wash out late threats in the run game. His positional run blocking is also at a high level, as there are very few landmarks that he can't reach with his athleticism.

There may not be a better combination than a great athlete that is already a cerebral player. Bortolini constantly showed on film last season why offensive line coach Tony Sparano Jr. fell in love with him in the pre-draft process. There is so much good to work with in his game that it's hard to nitpick on the flaws.

The next step for a player like Bortolini is fully rounding off his game and fully maximizing his body. He has the athleticism and the brain to be a star in this league, he just needs the strength now. There were times last season where he got blown off the ball in pass protection or in the run game and it really showcased how far he still has to go as a player.

There are ways to work around this lack of strength at center, but ideally, this is a deficiency he can improve upon with time. Particularly In the run game, he struggled to displace defensive tackles and create space for his running back. If he can't add more muscle to his frame or at least find some way to displace players on the interior, it will severely limit his ceiling as a starter.

Overall, Bortolini has found a few ways to survive despite this flaw. He mastered the art of winning ugly in pass protection, which is always a plus in my book (as long as a player isn't only winning ugly in the pass game). In the run game, the Colts used him more in space to limit his struggles on duo blocks that require upfield displacement.

For now, this deficiency in his game is perfectly fine for a 22-year-old to have. He has plenty of time to get stronger and more technically sound to eliminate it going forward.

The Bottom Line

Full transparency, Bortolini shattered all expectations I had for him this past season. I fully expected him to be a project player that took 1-2 years as a gameday inactive to fully acclimate to the NFL. His age and his athleticism were exciting, but I was a bit concerned from his college film that he would be ready to contribute from day one.

He proved me wrong quite a bit right out of the gate. He had a strong first game against the Pittsburgh Steelers early in the season and never seemed to hit that rookie wall as his snap count kept growing. There are certainly areas of growth needed in his game, but Bortolini had a fantastic season, given his age and his draft status.

The biggest thing for him now is just growth. He needs to continue to grow into his body and stack good days, good practices, and good games. Progress isn't a given just because a player is young and athletic; it's on the player to not get complacent and continue to build on a strong foundation.

Bortolini is likely the Colts' starting center next season and he has earned that opportunity with his play. If he can add even a little bit of progress from what we saw last season, the Colts might have found themselves a gem in the fourth round of the 2024 draft.

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Zach Hicks
ZACH HICKS

Zach Hicks is the Lead Analyst for HorseshoeHuddle.com. Zach has been on the NFL beat since 2017. His works have appeared on SBNation.com, the Locked On Podcast Network, BleacherReport.com, MSN.com, & Yardbarker.com. 

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