Matt Pryor
 

Matt Pryor doesn't get much love around here or with the national media. Almost everyone thinks he is not the answer at LT. I am just a fan, not great a breaking down these players, so I am wondering why? Is it reputation or the fact that he was a low draft pick we got for a song from Phili? The reason I am asking is his performance seems pretty damn good when he played. In 266 snaps at right tackle and 96 at left tackle the guy gave up 6 pressures, 2 hits and zero sacks last year. With the signing of Kelly, a swing tackle if there ever was one, it looks more and more like we may be rolling with Pryor. Is this a case of Ballard/Reich trying to be to cute or are they just believing what their eyes tell them?

I believe Ballard + Reich view Pryor as an insurance policy.

I think Ballard + Reich hope that Raimann shows enough in the offseason workouts + camp to give the rookie the job. But if Raimann struggles, they will roll with Pryor instead.

I agree that Pryor played well last year when his number was called upon. Even with all the foot injuries to the line last year, Prior only played in about 40% of the snaps on offense, however.

Yes I get that everyone believes that Pryor should be replaced, my question is why?

Because he is not some high draft pick with press rep.

People thought the Steelers were crazy for playing Villanueva. Its not just cone drills and the bench press.

I dont know if Pryor is the answer. He has some good stats, he has some athletic ability if can play both sides of the line.

Just what I think. The offense is not based on 7 step drops, and sending it 80 miles deep. Its a progression read with outlet options for check downs. With a smart QB, and an ass kicking running game, ryan can kill other teams with play action. It allows for TE and RB help, its flexible.

I am an optimist by upbringing. I am positive that the front office knows more than anyone here. And if I am wrong, I will own it.

I really like the competition. Ballard said that the top 5 will play. I wonder if that means kicking Raimann inside for his first year.

Could happen, but I have doubts he would beat out kelly, Nelson, or Pinter if he can't top Pryor.

Watched Pryor's lone game of 2021 at LT just now. His play recognition, at least at LT, is bad. He let a blitz through the B gap because he just didn't see it, and several times he missed the guy he was supposed to block, allowing them to make a play. He was up against Yannick Ngakoue for most of the game and did better than I thought he would given the matchup, but there were a handful of times that Ngakoue beat him badly. On one play, Ngakoue had him completely turned around. Ngakoue was also able to coax a holding penalty out of Pryor. Ngakoue registered a sack in the game that did not come against Pryor, but there were several pressures by Ngakoue against Pryor, including one that was dangerously close to a perfectly timed strip sack. Overall it was a solid performance for a swing tackle making a spot start out of necessity, but it's definitely not a performance you'd want to see from your starting left tackle.

I could see raiman starting at LT and Pryor starting RG

Dam thanks. That is what I was wondering about. It doesn't sound like he was physically overmatched from what you wrote, just mostly mental mistakes. I wonder if given a full off season working at LT he can clean up a whole lot of those mistakes? Either way, the Colts don't seem to be panicking about the situation. He can't be worse than Fischer, at least I hope not. I am rooting for Pyror to take a step and be one of those dudes that took a little longer to mature. Hope he refuses to give up the starting job, earns it and is solid. If that happens we have depth like we need.

He wasn't necessarily physically outmatched, but his technique and play recognition were both bad. He gave up 5 pressures to Ngakoue, and at least one more in the game. In a 60 snap game, that's a 10% pressure rate coming from his position alone. That's not what I want to see from my starting LT, and I don't know if the fix, if there is one, is purely a coaching thing.

It will be interesting to watch. Technique and play recognition should be better if you do it full time (LT). I'm still rooting for the man to take the next step. To be a formidable team it really helps to get big time contributions from unexpected places. Fingers crossed.

When they start talking about Hilton around the 11-minute mark... That's one of the reasons I'd like Hilton to come back. He may not be the burner he once was, but he does have the experience and savvy to beat zones and separate on shorter routes. It's a little odd to think, but he could be a great security blanket for Ryan which is something we lost with Doyle.

I could be off on that, but that's how I've thought of Hilton coming back. And like they mentioned; he would be a guy that Reggie Wayne could point to and tell these young guys, "Do it like this."

That honestly sounds like a problem playing the position, that is, the uniqueness of the LT. It’s one thing to recognize and use correct technique at RT (or even Guard) but you face different alignments and play a different direction when you flip to LT

That's exactly my problem with Pryor at LT as the starter. Blitz disguises are going to be more complex there as well as he'll be matching up regularly with the other team's best pass rusher. I don't know that he'll hold up there without getting Ryan killed, especially since Ryan has become more statuesque with age.

Actually that one of his big issues was blitz disguises gives me great hope for Pryor. If there is one thing you would pick up doing LT full time I would expect your ability to recognize blitzes to be among the top. Spending 100% of your time vs 25% should provide dividends. Ryan/Kelly will help I would assume by providing better (in Ryans case anyway) pre snap recognition.

How have the Colts managed without you?

I appreciated Dam's reply to my question. He gave me specifics on on why he felt Pryor was going to have issues full time at LT, which is exactly what I had asked for. I don't think this was damning of the Colts. In any case, I have not really seen anyone on this forum that is high on Pyror, nobody.

Just taking a wait and see attitude. It's not that I am high or low on Pryor, just have to see how he handles it.

I think most of us on here like Pryor and are glad that he's back, but we also realize that going from backup swing OL to the full time starter on the most important position on the OL is a big leap. Hopefully he's up to the task and able to lock the position down or at least play well enough for us to get buy until Raimann is ready, who I think could either get a redshirt year or will be brought along slowly.

I really like the Dennis Kelly signing. Should be great depth and some insurance in case Pryor isn't up to the task.

I think the hope in the building is that Raimann will come in and have a Joe Staley like career, including starting from Day 1. That's certainly what I'm hoping for, and lots of reason to believe it could happen watching his tape. Didn't see much downside to him, and honestly his tape reminded me of late career Anthony Castanzo in that he had the technique (specifically excellent kick slide) and athleticism to handle elite speed off the edge, and overall showed out as an excellent pass blocker and an average run blocker, someone who can seal off a hole but won't get you very much push from the line of scrimmage.

He was more than an average run blocker. How many stiffs played next to him, and the Colts could always run left? Didnt miss many games, never made mental mistakes.

I wouldnt count on this guy starting at left tackle, he hasnt seen this kind of competition, ever.

I said Castanzo didn't get push and was an effective run blocker by sealing off a running lane as opposed to getting push upfield. Castanzo was never an elite run blocker and was not effective by generating push upfield, as in moving the line of scrimmage forward by pushing the defender backward. Feel free to try to find tape that will prove that wrong, but I don't think you will.

As for Raimann, I'd encourage you to watch his LSU tape where he didn't have a single bad play as proof that he can play up to competition. His performance at the Senior Bowl was also solid.

I had endzone seats for several years at LOS, and that statement is nonsense

https://www.colts.com/news/anthony-c...ed-player-2020

While I'm sure the hope is that he can step right in and start from day one, realistically speaking if he was ready to do that he likely would have been drafted well before where we picked up. For all of his physical traits he still has only played 2 years at OL in the MAC, which will probably be too big of a leap for him. Guessing he'll get eased into it, but of course stranger things have happened.

:cool:I hope you don't think that article refutes my point. If anything, it bolsters my point. The PFF grades say the exact same thing I said, elite pass blocker, average run blocker. I don't usually trust PFF, but it looks like they got that one right.

He played SEC teams (Missouri, LSU) and held up against them, also played well in the Senior Bowl. From what I've heard,, his medicals dropped him for a lot of teams, also he's a bit older than the average rookie at age 25. Either way, he's someone the Colts would've been comfortable taking at 42, and some outlets even had a first round grade on him.