Most essential Colts, No. 4: Bernhard Raimann must save Anthony Richardson's blindside
In a salary-cap league like the NFL, finding building blocks is essential. As teams churn and burn the roster through the draft and bargain signings in free agency, it helps to find the players who are either a cut above the rest or can perform a task few others can. They relieve the pressure on everyone.
Over the next few weeks, we'll be ranking the 15 most essential players to the Colts' success in 2024. It's a subjective process, weighing factors such as ability, positional value within a scheme, age, leadership and durability.
To make it simpler, we're asking the following two questions about these players:
1. How difficult would he be to replace for more than a month?
2. What does the Colts' 2024 ceiling become if this player hits his?
With the return of Anthony Richardson from shoulder surgery, the Colts’ outlook is on the future but also on the present after a 9-8 season fell a fourth-down conversion short of winning the AFC South. This list will primarily look at 2024 value, but certain players' development for the long-term can help to break ties along the way.
Here's the list so far:
5. Braden Smith, offensive tackle
6. DeForest Buckner, defensive tackle
9. Kenny Moore II, nickel cornerback
12. Laiatu Latu, defensive end
14. Zaire Franklin, linebacker
Today, we look into No. 4, Bernhard Raimann.
Position: Offensive tackle
Age: 26
Experience: 2nd season
Last year's rank: No. 8
Why he's here: The past two Colts seasons have largely gone as Bernhard Raimann has.
In 2022, Raimann arrived to the Colts as a third-round Central Michigan experiment, just a couple years into playing offensive line after growing up in Austria. He was an extra pick for the Colts who needed bulk and training, so a redshirt season felt in the cards.
That didn't happen, as the Colts' other project of moving Matt Pryor to left tackle blew up early. Raimann wound up getting 11 starts that season, but they came in a disastrous 4-12-1 campaign where the offensive line became the biggest problem.
But those 11 starts set Raimann up to attack the 2023 season in a special way. The left tackle spot was his from the jump, and he gained 15 pounds through his first full NFL offseason. He found confidence under new offensive line coach Tony Sparano Jr. And quickly, he was thriving and so were the Colts, who overcame injuries to Anthony Richardson and Jonathan Taylor to finish 11th in scoring and fall a game short of the playoffs at 9-8.
Raimann's improvements year-to-year were tremendous: According to Sports Info Solutions, he dropped his sack rate from 2.2% to 1.2%, his blown block rate in the run game from 3.7% to 2.1% and his penalties from 8 to 5, despite playing 180 more passing snaps. Along the way, he earned the Colts' trust as their full-time left tackle, which now sets him up for one massive responsibility.
Richardson is coming back from surgery on a sprained AC joint that cost him the final 13 games of his rookie season. The Colts want to build on what he showed last season as a passer who can extend plays and as a runner who can match that explosiveness on scrambles and designed runs. Running quarterbacks incur a certain risk of injury, but it will be imperative that Richardson not take too many shots on designed drop-back passes.
That responsibility falls on the entire offensive line, which is why Quenton Nelson and Braden Smith are also in the top 10. The list also has to get Richardson comfortable in order to develop as a more consistent and accurate passer. That falls more on the man protecting Richardson's blind side than any other. Smith and Nelson are more proven, but Raimann could have the most room to grow.
Raimann has a perennial All-Pro as his left guard, and Richardson's mobility can help negate his misses. Even still, no team can just hide its left tackle. The Colts need Raimann to take another step in his combo blocks with Nelson to unleash Richardson and Taylor as lethal runners, to keep the fastest players from delivering kill shots to the quarterback and to be steady enough that Richardson can find all the comfort in dropping back and delivering strikes.
If he does that, and good health comes to his backfield as a result, it's hard to not see this offense being highly explosive.
Contact Nate Atkins at natkins@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @NateAtkins_.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Most essential Colts, No. 4: Bernhard Raimann
