INDIANAPOLIS — While the Colts were struggling in the second half of the 2022 season, Will Fries was in the middle of realizing something important, something that would pay dividends for him and Indianapolis down the road.

Fries realized he could be a starter in the NFL.

Originally handed the role eight games into a disastrous season because the Colts were essentially out of options on the offensive line, the former seventh-round pick out of Penn State held up better than expected, offering hope that he could solidify a right guard spot that had played a key role in the collapse of the Indianapolis offensive line early last season.

“Thought I played some good ball, played against some good players,” Fries said. “It really told me a lot about what I need to focus on coming into this year, where my deficiencies were and where I could get better.”

Fries built his offseason training around improving those deficiencies.

“I think it starts with strength, improving my overall strength level, putting a lot of time in the weight room and getting stronger, and then have a little more mobility,” Fries said. “Those two things helped me a lot.”

The other piece that helped was that the Indianapolis front office agreed with Fries.

Colts decision-makers saw the same possibilities in the former Penn State product, and rather than sign a starting-caliber guard in free agency, Indianapolis spent most of the offseason betting that its former seventh-round pick would be able to make the leap to full-time starter.

This front office had found a right guard in an unlikely place before, developing Seahawks castoff Mark Glowinski into a reliable starter for four seasons.

Fries, initially drafted in part because of his versatility, showed enough down the stretch that the Colts were willing to bet heavily on him, the same way Indianapolis bet on second-year left tackle Bernhard Raimann.

He didn’t just have the ability.

Fries had the right mindset.

“Every week, you have to put on tape who you can be and who you think you can be,” Fries said.

Fries had already spent a long time working just to get a chance to start.

He played just 22 offensive snaps as a rookie in 2021, then made a single emergency start in the first eight games of the 2022 season. The Colts were so convinced that Fries wasn’t ready that he played just one offensive snap in the other seven games.

But Fries was undeterred.

“It’s no secret,” Colts center Ryan Kelly said. “He’s put the work in. … He’s a very detail-oriented guy who works his tail off during the offseason, during the season, to get better.”

Fries played mostly tackle at Penn State until the second half of his final season in Happy Valley.

But the Colts have always seen Fries primarily as an interior player, trying him out at center at times in practice, and the more he played inside, the more Fries believed the position suited his 6-6, 304-pound frame.

“All the different positions kind of help you learn how to mold yourself for one position and how it all works together,” Fries said. “Obviously, inside is a lot closer combat, things happen a lot quicker, but I think it works to my advantage, my size.”

Everything has come together for Fries this season.

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Fries has started every game for the Colts, playing 1,004 of a possible 1,026 snaps, and he’s played well, teaming with established left guard Quenton Nelson to form the bedrock of an offensive line that has seen injuries at both tackle positions and center.

The third-year player has been solid, giving up just three sacks, according to Sports Info Solutions, and like Glowinski before him, Fries has brought a nastiness to the offensive line that can be sorely needed.

“Fries has played really good football,” offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said. “He’s done a nice job playing with a little bit of that competitive edge that you like out of your offensive line.”

Fries has established himself as a solid right guard at the NFL, an outcome that’s hard to predict for any player in the seventh round.

And because he had to fight so hard to establish himself in that spot, Fries knows it can’t be taken for granted.

“You work your whole life to get to that position,” Fries said.

Now that he’s there, Fries is going to work hard to stay there.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts' Will Fries has developed from 7th-round pick into starting RG