Since Andrew Luck joined the Indianapolis Colts in 2012, the team has gone through five different centers. The Colts’ latest center hopes to be the one that sticks.
Luck’s sixth center is Ryan Kelly, who was taken in the first round by Indianapolis in this year’s draft. Throughout the preseason, Kelly and Luck have been working on establishing some chemistry. For Kelly, that means building up his vocabulary.
Kelly needs to boost his word power to keep pace with the astute Luck.
“I have to study up on my vocabulary,” Kelly said, laughing. “I do like to read, though. Once we get a little more comfortable, I’m going to throw a word his way to kind of throw him off his game.”
Luck entered the NFL after spending four years at one of the best colleges in the country, Stanford. Kelly, meanwhile, spent his time at Alabama.
Aside from learning a few new words, Kelly and Luck have spent quite a bit of time together on and off the field. Kelly, Luck and the Colts all think that is important for the duo to be successful on the field.
“There’s a lot to it,” Luck said. “It’s understanding each other’s personalities. You don’t have to be best friends by any means. You have to be able to communicate. Sometimes that communication is nonverbal. It’s a look, it’s a feel. It’s making sure you’re on the same page and you build that relationship not necessarily on the football field. I do think it is important.”
Kelly added, “I don’t think it’s something that you can rush. It’s something you know has to eventually happen. You can’t fake it if you don’t know each other on and off the field.”
Indianapolis’ revolving door of centers comes following a previous era where Peyton Manning and Jeff Saturday worked together for an NFL-record 170 games.
Thus far, Kelly has proven himself while playing on the Colts’ offensive line. This preseason, Indianapolis has yet to give up a sack when Luck has been on the field.
And though it might seem like Kelly is already an improvement from the past, we should probably wait until the regular season to make a judgment on him. The Colts head into the 2016 season needing to make improvements following a disappointing 2015.
[ESPN]
