High Praise for Colts Quenton Nelson
Pro Football Focus (PFF) does an excellent job of tracking every play by every player and is a good reference point for players. But even PFF will tell you to take the grades with a grain of salt.
Case in point: Quenton Nelson of the Indianapolis Colts was graded the No. 26 offensive guard in the NFL last season with a paltry 69.1 from PFF.
PFF is willing to hedge its bets though and acknowledge the 69.1 outlier for Nelson. They've finished their list of Top 50 Players in the NFL Right Now, and Nelson comes in at No. 11 regardless of position.
Nelson has as much talent as any offensive lineman in the game, but we didn’t see a fully healthy version of him in 2021. At his best, he is a unique force in the running game and a very high-level pass blocker, but he needs to bounce back in 2022 now that he is back to full health. -- Sam Monson, PFF
Monson actually dropped Nelson a bit down his list after ranking Nelson No. 4 last year on the same list.
Having an interior-offensive lineman, one graded poorly by his own publication, speaks to the "grain of salt" nature of PFF's rankings.
Monson isn't afraid to step outside the box and disregard positional value. Dallas Cowboys guard Zach Martin is ranked No. 9 on the list and is the highest rated guard or center.
Aaron Donald of the Los Angeles Rams tops the list for the second-straight year.
The Colts have three players on the list including Nelson, Jonathan Taylor (No. 21) and Darius Leonard (No. 43).
