Auburn's Braden Smith and Notre Dame's Quenton Nelson were figurative teammates as the guards for The Associated Press All-American first-team selections for the 2017 season. Now Smith and Nelson are literal teammates after the Indianapolis Colts selected them in the NFL Draft last week.
The Colts took Nelson with the sixth pick in the draft. After selecting South Carolina State linebacker Darius Leonard at No. 36, Indianapolis chose Smith at No. 37, the first player picked by the Colts from Auburn since cornerback Jerraud Powers in 2009.
Why would Indianapolis spend two of the first 37 picks in the draft on the same position?
"(Smith) was the last guard that we thought was a starting-level guard," Colts general manager Chris Ballard said. "And we wanted to make sure we upped the competition level on the O-line and added some depth. And we think we did that, without question.
"I think he's going to be a heck of a player for us long-term. Pairing him with Nelson gives us two young guards going forward that can really help set the depth of the pocket and really help in our run game."
Last season, Jeremy Vujnovich started every game at left guard for the Colts. Before 2017, Vujnovich had played in two games in his three seasons in the NFL.
Jack Mewhort started the first five games at right guard for Indianapolis last season. After a knee injury sidelined Mewhort for the rest of the campaign, Indianapolis started five more players at right guard in the 11 games remaining in 2017.
Adding to the inconsistency in the middle of Indianapolis' offensive line last year, center Ryan Kelly, the 2016 first-round pick from Alabama who made almost every snap as a rookie, missed nine games because of a foot injury and a concussion.
As a result, the Colts yielded an NFL-high 56 sacks and only five teams had a yards-per-carry average worse than the Indianapolis rushing attack's 3.7 in 2017.
The Colts have Vujnovich and three of the six right-guard starters returning, and they signed Matt Slauson, an eight-year veteran at guard and center, in free agency last month.
Frank Reich, the Colts' first-year coach, said Indianapolis was "looking for eight or nine starters on the offensive line" in hopes of protecting quarterback Andrew Luck, if he makes it back after missing the 2017 season because of a shoulder injury.
"If you remember last year, we were having to pick guys off the street, and they're starting," Ballard said, "and I didn't want to go through that again. We need depth. If I learned anything from Andy Reid: O-line, O-line, O-line. That wins. That wins in December and January. When you have a good O-line/D-line, that wins."
To critics of the Colts using two of their first three draft picks on guards, Ballard said they can't have it both ways.
"They complain when our quarterbacks get hit," Ballard said. "They've been hit more than any other quarterbacks in the league over the last five years. People forget that on draft day. It's not sexy to draft on the O-line."
After taking Nelson in the first round, the Colts had four second-round selections, picking Rutgers linebacker Kemoko Turay and Ohio State defensive end Tyquan Lewis to go with Leonard and Smith.
"I just thought at the end of the day, we needed to get our foundation right," Ballard said of the Colts' early emphasis. "It's hard to sustain winning when your foundation and your O-line and D-line are not good."
When Smith got the call from Ballard on Friday, the national anthem was playing before the Auburn-Texas A&M softball game. Smith was at a softball game in College Station, Texas, instead of a draft party so he could watch his fiancee, Auburn catcher Courtney Shea, play.
Smith stepped away from the game for a FaceTime interview with the Colts' official website.
"Basically, I'm this guy that's going to bring my lunch pail to work every day," Smith said about what he'd bring to Indianapolis. "I'm going to go 100 percent, give it my all and try to give it all I can."
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @AMarkG1.
from Auburn Sports Impact http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2018/05/indianapolis_colts_consider_br.html
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