The Colts will face a key decision this offseason on what to do with breakout free agent starting right guard Will Fries.
According to PFF, Indianapolis Colts starting right guard Will Fries is the ‘2025 free agent that the team can’t afford to lose’:
Indianapolis Colts: G Will Fries
Fries was playing the best football of his career before suffering a season-ending leg injury in Week 5. His 86.9 PFF overall grade still ranked second among all guards who played at least 250 snaps in 2024. If he can fully recover from the serious injury, the Colts could field one of the best offensive lines in the NFL next season.
The 4th year pro, who was originally a 2021 7th round pick of the Colts, was in the midst of a breakout campaign before suffering a season-ending tibia/fibula during Week 5 against the Jacksonville Jaguars on the road.
Specifically, per PFF, Fries ended his season prematurely with a +86.9 overall grade, which would still rank 4th highest among all 2024 offensive guards—if he qualified in total snap count, and even is a tad higher than his Colts’ All-Pro teammate Quenton Nelson (+81.3 overall).
While Fries held his own in pass blocking (+74.9), it was really his run blocking grade that stands out as a bulldozer of a blocker for star workhorse Jonathan Taylor—featuring a +84.9 run blocking grade through 5 starts in 2024.
During Fries’ midseason absence, the Colts struggled filling his shoes, as undrafted rookie guard Dalton Tucker eventually hit a rookie wall, before the team re-signed veteran Mark Glowinski down the stretch, who helped stabilize the starting right guard job a bit better.
That being said, with longtime veteran center Ryan Kelly appearing unlikely to be re-signed (with 2nd-year heir apparent Tanor Bortolini waiting in the wings), would the team let two key starting interior offensive linemen walk in the same offseason, with Fries too?
It’ll be interesting to see how things unfold for Indianapolis.
Among a Colts free agent group that includes Fries, Kelly, E.J. Speed, Dayo Odeyingbo, and Julian Blackmon among others, Fries is a worthy pick for the most valuable free agent for Indianapolis coming up—although I do really like Odeyingbo’s still untapped pass rushing upside as well.