INDIANAPOLIS – The Colts have a new right guard.
His name is Matt Goncalves.
Indianapolis’ plan to move last year’s third-round draft pick from tackle to right guard is officially underway as the offseason program progresses toward on-field work next week.
“The plan is to move Matty in there and let him play in there, and I’m really excited,” offensive line coach Tony Sparano Jr. said.
It’s a move that materialized after last month’s draft. The Colts had an obvious replacement set up for departed center Ryan Kelly, as they had drafted Tanor Bortolini in the fourth round last year and gave him five starts to build into the role as a rookie.
But when right guard Will Fries also left in free agency, the Colts knew they needed to add help in the draft but went not with a guard but a tackle. They took Iowa State’s Jalen Travis in the fourth round, and his 6-foot-8, 339-pound frame became an obvious long-term fit to stay at tackle.
After reworking Braden Smith’s contract to bring him back as a starter at right tackle for another year, moving Goncalves inside became a way to get the best five offensive linemen on the field at the same time.
“When you’re evaluating players coming out of college, you have to look at the full skillset. Will (Fries) was a tackle at Penn State,” Sparano said. “(Matt) is a big man (at 6-foot-6 and 327 pounds). He’s power. He’s got length. He’s really deceptively very light on his feet for his size. He’s quick. He can get out in space.
“… Plus, he’s a really tough and physical player. For our guards, that is non-negotiable. They have to be that way. And he is that way.”
The challenge for Goncalves is that he’s playing a position he never played in games in college or the NFL. He’s been a tackle consistently and filled in for one play at guard last season. Though he did some cross-training at the position in practices last year, the Colts opted against moving him there when Fries suffered a broken tibia in Week 5 and couldn’t suit up again.
Indianapolis instead started undrafted free agent Dalton Tucker for seven games and then brought Mark Glowinski back to start five more games in an effort to patch the spot together.
“Matt had been repping pretty exclusively at tackle with a little bit of guard sprinkled in. Dalton was a guard. I had confidence in both players. To me, I wanted to go with the guy who had the work out here as opposed to saying, ‘Matt, I’m going to move you now,'” Sparano said.
“… It’s a new year. We have a chance to start from the ground up with him in there to get him all of those reps so he has that work and has that background and put him in a better position to succeed as opposed to me saying, ‘Hey, look, you don’t have a ton of work at this but two days before we play, get on in there.'”
Goncalves will get that full runway now, starting with the current position meetings and continuing into on-field drills next week and padded practices in training camp.
He has three and a half months until Week 1 against the Dolphins.
“I can help him a ton,” All-Pro left guard Quenton Nelson said. “… His transition has been pretty good so far, just in drills and watching him in the walk-throughs. I think more things will come up when the game speeds up and we’re going against a defense and we’re live. That’s when I think I’ll be able to help him more.
“… I’m watching him and a lot of times, all I can say is, ‘Good job,’ because he’s doing a great job out there, which is very promising.”
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