A Decade of Chris Ballard: 2016 VS 2026 Colts OTs
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - OCTOBER 27: Anthony Castonzo #74 of the Indianapolis Colts blocks Von Miller #58 of the Denver Broncos during the third quarter of the game at Lucas Oil Stadium on October 27, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Bobby Ellis/Getty Images) | Getty ImagesThe Colts are about to finish the offseason with some post-draft free agency moves, marking the 10th offseason under Chris Ballard. The decade of Ballard's management has been a wild rollercoaster ride, albeit not all of it due to Ballard himself. But after this Ballard decade, how does the Colts roster stack up from 2026 compared to 2016, the last year of the Grigson era?
In this position by position series, we breakdown each spot of the Colts roster to see if the Colts are better or worse than their counterparts from a decade ago. If you want to find our previous entries of this series, you can find them below:
We are going over the Offensive Tackles next!
2016 LTs: Anthony Castonzo, Joe Haeg2026 LTs: Bernhard Raimann, Blake FreelandWe now have one of the toughest battles of this series: Castonzo vs Raimann. Both are proven franchise blindside protectors with 4-5 years of high level play, but neither have been a Pro Bowl or All Pro.
The battle of the Austrian Oak vs Godzilla on the left side is as fierce as it is entertaining for fans of quality trench play.
This article is amazing.
- Chris Shepherd (@NFLscheme) February 3, 2022
I'll never get over random people in a Japanese nightclub hitting Anthony Castonzo with glow sticks and calling him Godzilla. https://t.co/2ihHbHkrGopic.twitter.com/BqbwWzdsEr
In pass protection, both have QBs in the middle of the pack in Time To Throw, with Luck holding on to the ball for 2.86 seconds and Jones for 2.76 seconds. That .1 second can make a big difference in pressure and sack numbers in the NFL. So let's compare 2016 Castonzo with 2025 Raimann in Pressures, Hits, Sacks Allowed, and pass pro grade.
Pressures- Castonzo: 51 Pressures in 666 Pass Pro Snaps = 7.7% Pressure Rate
- Raimann: 31 Pressures in 549 Pass Pro Snaps = 5.6% Pressure Rate
- Castonzo: 8 QB Hits in 666 Pass Pro Snaps = 1.2% QB Hit Rate
- Raimann: 2 QB Hits in 549 Pass Pro Snaps = 0.4% QB Hit Rate
- Castonzo: 6 Sacks in 666 Pass Pro Snaps = 0.9% Sack Rate
- Raimann: 8 Sacks in 549 Pass Pro Snaps = 1.5% Sack Rate
- Castonzo: 79 Pass Pro Grade
- Raimann: 78.9 Pass Pro Grade
Raimann has allowed less pressures and QB Hits, but Castonzo allowed less sacks (though Luck's escapability and ability to shrug off would be sackers is a big factor too). However Castonzo had the harder assignment with Andrew Luck at QB in Rob Chudzinski's scheme.
22 DAYS UNTIL THE NFL DRAFT
- SleeperColts (@SleeperColts) April 2, 2025
Anthony Castonzo was the 22nd pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.
Throwback to his touchdown catch vs. the Patriots in 2014. A key piece of the #Colts' success in the early 2010s. pic.twitter.com/EyzFGmLtdg
Luck held onto the ball longer and Chudzinski put Castonzo in a True Pass Set 52.6% of his pass pro snaps compared to Steichen putting Raimann in a True Pass Set on just 41.7% of his pass pro snaps.
A True Pass Set is a pass protection snap that is:
- without play action
- without a screen
- without a rollout
- with time to throw between two and four seconds
- with more than three rushers coming to attack the QB
This eliminates a multitude of factors that can affect what a Tackle is asked to do in a set and how much help they get from either teammates or scheme. Raimann got more help on 9.9% of his pass pro snaps compared to Castonzo, which also helped his numbers. Thus despite the big gap in pressure rate allowed, the Pass Pro Grades for each Tackle is nearly identical.
In Run Blocking, Castonzo was a dominant force on Zone concepts, earning a 82.8 Run Block Grade to pave the way for Gore and Turbin. But on Gap plays his Run Blocking Grade fell to 60.1, showing some issues there. Overall he had a 77.9 Run Block Grade as the Colts favored a Zone heavy blocking scheme with Chudzinski and the Colts gained 419 Yards (3.9 per carry) and 5 TDs in 2016 running from the combined B through D gaps on the left side.
Anthony Castonzo on the move!#MINvsIND#Vikings#Coltspic.twitter.com/8bl46n0FU2
- Chris Shepherd (@NFLscheme) September 20, 2020
Raimann also favored Zone blocking over Gap blocking, with grades of 79.6 and 67.8 in both respectively. Raimann was more well rounded of a run blocker than Castonzo and the Colts had a more balanced split of Zone and Gap blocking (albeit favored Gap a bit more) in 2025, giving Raimann a 78.7 Run Blocking Grade overall. 2025 Colts runners gained 647 yards (5.4 per carry) and 8 TDs rushing through the B-D gaps on the left side, albeit Raimann did benefit from a better running back getting 4.2 Yards After Contact per carry on those runs compared to the 2016 RBs gaining just 2.4 Yards After Contact per carry on their runs in those gaps.
Bernhard Raimann has been incredible this season for Indy. I doubt there is a better run blocking left tackle this year, and his pass blocking has been outstanding.
- Zach Hicks (@ZachHicks2) November 17, 2025
Even the last two weeks, I haven't seen many losses in pass pro from him (outside of the 1 bad Highsmith beat) https://t.co/tcryHQEua4
Backups wise, 2016 has a clear edge over 2026. Joe Haag was initially a backup swing Tackle to play on either side, but ended up as a rookie 5th Round pick starting 7 games at Right Tackle, 4 at Left Guard, and 3 at Left Guard in 2016 due to injuries along the offensive line and subsequent shuffling.
I NEEDED JOE HAEG GLORY
- Charlie Clifford (@char_cliff) February 8, 2021
Haeg ended up allowing 53 Pressures on 569 pass pro snaps (9.3%) along with 12 QB Hits and 9 Sacks as a rookie, showing some struggles in pass blocking. Despite those struggles in the pass game, Haeg showed a lot of promise as a run blocker as a rookie. He had a 76 Zone Grade, 62.7 Gap Grade, and a 72.9 Run Blocking Grade, helping shore up a variety of rushing assignments along the line.
Blake Freeland's pro experience to this point has basically just been his rookie year in 2023, as he played just 23 snaps in 2024 and missed all of 2025 with a broken leg in the preseason. Even if we don't factor Freeland coming off of a major injury, his rookie year was worse than Haeg's.
One thing I'll say about Blake Freeland at least is that he's been better than a 4th round rookie should be at OT (outside of the Rams game).
- Zach Hicks (@ZachHicks2) October 27, 2023
He hasn't been good but it's at least a step up from the Matt Pryor's or Le'Raven Clark type of players https://t.co/uTjKL9LQFQ
Freeland allowed 45 Pressures on 395 Pass Pro snaps (11.4%) along with 4 QB Hits and 4 Sacks. His Pass Pro Grade was 42.6. Freeland did go through a murderer's row of pass rushing edge rushers in his starting experience on both sides of the line, but he was demonstrably worse of a pass blocker than Haeg. Run Blocking was also not a strength for Freeland with a 53.1 Zone Grade, 40.4 Gap Grade, and 47.6 Run Blocking Grade in 2023.
Perhaps Freeland has developed since his rookie year, as 2026 will be the last year of his rookie contract. But banking on such development coming off of a major injury is perhaps too optimistic for this exercise.
Advantage: 2016 ColtsRaimann vs Castonzo is as close of a battle as one can find in this exercise, but with Haeg having a clear advantage over Freeland, the advantage on the blindside goes to the 2016 Colts.
It is worth noting that while Haeg was a Grigson find in the 5th round of the 2016 Draft, Castonzo was the last Round 1 pick of the Polian era in 2011. While he played predominantly in the Grigson era, acquiring him was not a product of Grigson's evaluation. Raimann and Freeland however were both Round 3-4 picks by Ballard, giving him both credit and blame for their respective hit and miss in the draft.
2016 RTs: Joe Reitz, Le'Raven Clark2026 RTs: Jalen Travis, Matt Goncalves?, Luke Tenuta, Nolan RucciOn the right side of the line, there are far less parallels between the 2016 and 2026 Colts. The only big one is that neither position was really set in stone for starters heading into their respective seasons with rookies potentially shaking up the lineup.
Joe Reitz was a Bill Polian find as a journeyman practice squad lineman before earning a starting job in 2011 for the Colts at Left Guard. He stayed there for 012 and 2013 before being predominantly a starting Right Tackle from 2014 on (albeit with some starts at Left Tackle, Left Guard, and Right Guard mixed in) and being one of the few bright spots when healthy along the line for Grigson era trenches. 2016 marked his last season in the NFL before retiring in 2017, earning his last 6 NFL starts all at Right Tackle but battling injuries throughout most of the year.
Joe Reitz https://t.co/8Jh98Ll8iGpic.twitter.com/yJdNHfgkxc
- ColtsFanCole (@ColtsFanCole) January 21, 2023
Jalen Travis meanwhile is coming off his rookie season as a 4th Round pick from Iowa State. As a rookie Travis was a backup getting scant snaps for most of the season, but in the last 5 games of the season with injuries to Raimann and longtime starting Right Tackle Braden Smith thrust him into the starting lineup against some vicious pass rushes (Jaguars twice, Seahawks, 49ers, and Texans).
tough dude Jalen Travis pic.twitter.com/kmXObaQWPx
- Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) April 21, 2026
There is a clear experience gap, with Reitz having 2,993 snaps to Travis' 316. Still for this exercise we are just comparing the final year of Reitz (424 snaps) to Travis' rookie year, making it a far closer gap.
Who did Grigson use to protect Luck in 2015?
- Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) August 25, 2019
Joe Reitz: an undrafted NCAABB player (not football) signed to play TE, converted to O-Line
Jonotthan Harrison: another undrafted lineman
Thornton & Mewhort - Grigson draft picks. Both washed out of the NFL after their rookie deals.
However these two weren't the only ones who have started at RT on their respective Colts teams. We already covered rookie Joe Haeg in the left tackle segment, but fellow 2016 rookie Le'Raven Clark from Texas Tech in Round 3 also started in the final 3 games of 2016 at Right Tackle.
Indianapolis Colts' Matt Goncalves Ready to Take Big Year 3 Leap? pic.twitter.com/irJKvA4dv6
- Locked On Colts Podcast (@LockedOnColts) May 24, 2026
Meanwhile Round 3 rookie Matt Goncalves ended up starting on both sides of the line in 2023 with 8 starts and 563 snaps outside. Goncalves will be covered more in depth in the upcoming Guard article, but since he is involved in position battles at both his 2025 starting spot at Right Guard against 2026 rookie Jalen Farmer and his 2024 predominant starting spot against Jalen Travis, he will also be included in this segment.
Pressures- Reitz: 42 Pressures in 266 Pass Pro Snaps = 15.8% Pressure Rate
- Clark: 14 Pressures in 106 Pass Pro Snaps = 13.2% Pressure Rate
- Travis: 12 Pressures in 165 Pass Pro Snaps = 7.3% Pressure Rate
- 2024 Goncalves: 22 Pressures in 280 Pass Pro Snaps = 7.9% Pressure Rate
- Reitz: 5 QB Hits in 266 Pass Pro Snaps = 1.9% QB Hit Rate
- Clark: 1 QB Hit in 106 Pass Pro Snaps = 0.9% QB Hit Rate
- Travis: 3 QB Hits in 165 Pass Pro Snaps = 1.8% QB Hit Rate
- 2024 Goncalves: 4 QB Hits in 280 Pass Pro Snaps = 1.4% QB Hit Rate
- Reitz: 5 Sacks in 266 Pass Pro Snaps = 1.9% Sack Rate
- Clark: 1 Sack in 106 Pass Pro Snaps = 0.9% Sack Rate
- Travis: 1 Sack in 165 Pass Pro Snaps = 0.6% Sack Rate
- 2024 Goncalves: 3 Sacks in 280 Pass Pro Snaps = 1.1% Sack Rate
- Reitz: 53.3 Pass Pro Grade
- Clark: 48.2 Pass Pro Grade
- Travis: 71.2 Pass Pro Grade
- 2024 Goncalves: 78.9 Pass Pro Grade
- Reitz: 66.6 | 60.5 | 64.7
- Clark: 64.7 | 92.9 | 77
- Travis: 68.2 | 75.2 | 72.6
- 2024 Goncalves: 71.8 | 65.5 | 69.3
Between Reitz, Haeg, and LeRaven Clark, the 2016 Colts might have the edge in terms of starting options and depth. But the 2026 Colts have a better assortment of meant of pass protectors with Reitz' regression in his final year and the rookie duo of Haeg and Clark struggling in a big way in pass protection.
Jalen Travis and Matt Goncalves have better pass pro tape and have solid run blocking grades as well. UDFA Nolan Rocci had a Day 3 Grade by me (Round 6 for me, but I did see others I respect in the industry giving him Round 5 Grades) and could provide some nice depth as a potential UDFA keeper.
Matt Goncalves (#76) LT/RT
- Bengals & Brews (@BengalsBrews) February 20, 2024
*These clips are from 2022 when he played RT. Switched to LT this year but only played 3 games due to injury.
Pros: versatility (has played both Left and Right Tackle along with some games at Guard), awareness on stunts, technique, wide base, thick... pic.twitter.com/V7dGvTMOHE
As much as I love Reitz and Haeg's versatility and impact for the Colts over the years, 2016 wasn't the best season for either of these Swiss Army knife offensive lineman, giving the young Colts Tackles of 2026 a solid opportunity to surpass them.
Which Tackle Unit Wins?2016 had the advantage at Left Tackle with Haeg providing just enough solid depth to break the starter deadlock, while 2026 had the edge at Right Tackle with similar depth of options and better pass pro tape compared to down years for the rookie Tackles and end-of-career Reitz. Barring injuries to both Jalen Travis and Matt Goncalves, the Colts won't have a rookie starting at Right Tackle for a majority of 2026 like what occurred in 2016, helping give an edge there for the present day Colts.
Jalen Travis is one of the freakiest athletes from this draft class. His explosiveness on film is absurd, especially when you consider that he is 6'8" 340 pounds.
- Zach Hicks (@ZachHicks2) April 30, 2025
Look at how quick he explodes out of his stance on these angle sets to establish position (slowed down to 0.7 speed) pic.twitter.com/F1sZHrrShG
Honestly this is one of the tougher calls. I lean this 2026 Colts due to more confidence in their ability to pass protect, but the 2016 Colts had more depth and versatility (albeit more injury questions). Still, it's hard to argue against the massive gap in pressure % allowed on the right side, as even the context of more True Pass Sets and a QB with a .1 second longer Time to Throw doesn't account for that large gap.
Frankly, I believe in the upward trajectory of the Colts young offensive linemen of 2026 more than I did in the 2016 Colts OL. OL coach Tony Sporano Jr has proven to be one of the better talent developers and teachers at his position in the league, and the Offensive Line is filled with young players who are continuing to grow as pros. The best could very well be yet to come for these young Colts offensive linemen. 2016's rookies showed some promise, but Grigson at the time had struggled mightily in OL evaluation and scouting while the at the time OL Coach Joe Philbin had less success in his previous head coaching stop with the Dolphins to consistently replicate the same development in the trenches as he did in Green Bay in developing Offensive Line talent.
Still, this was a tough positional battle!
Let us know in the comments which group of Tackles is better in your opinion: the 2016 Colts or 2026 Colts!