Pro Football Focus considers Indianapolis Colts’ center Ryan Kelly one of the “underrated” free agents that are available this offseason.
Zoltan Buday of PFF recently selected one underrated free agent from each position group, and at center, Kelly was selected.
“As is often the case, age and injury history are the only things that should really make teams second-guess signing center Ryan Kelly,” wrote Buday. “Kelly is still among the best pass-blocking centers in the NFL and could solidify the interior of any offensive line.”
According to PFF’s metrics, Kelly’s pass-blocking grade over the last three seasons is the fourth-best among 28 eligible centers. His 2.9% pressure rate allowed ranks fourth as well.
In run-blocking grade, Kelly would rank 25th last season. However, Kelly’s presence was very much missed when he was sidelined with an injury. In those five games, Taylor eclipsed the 100-yard mark just two times and averaged over 4.0 yards per carry only twice as well.
However, in Kelly’s return in Week 16, Taylor rushed for at least 125 yards in all three games, including a 218 yard performance against Tennessee.
So will Kelly return to the Colts in 2025?
It’s not looking that way. Extension talks between the Colts and Kelly never materialized over the last year. In addition to that, the Colts also used a fourth-round pick on Tanor Bortolini, who fared well when called upon last year and is an obvious replacement at center for Kelly.
Among all centers, Bortolini ranked 15th in PFF’s pass-blocking efficiency metric and was 22nd out of 40 centers in run-blocking grade.
Lastly, long-time Colts’ beat reporter Mike Chappell posted on X recently that he spoke with Kelly, who said he will see “what’s out there” when the free agent market opens.