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A rare occurrence in a redraft of the 2016 NFL draft happened for the Indianapolis Colts.
Pro Football Focus recently redrafted the entire first round of the 2016 NFL draft, and a very rare occurrence happened with the Indianapolis Colts in these do-overs: they picked the same player.
With the 18th overall pick in this draft, the Colts originally selected center Ryan Kelly out of Alabama. In the redraft, PFF had them doing the exact same thing.
“Ryan Kelly played at least 880 snaps in seven of those nine years while recording at least a 67.0 PFF overall grade in six,” wrote PFF. “His best season came in 2023, when his 77.2 PFF overall grade ranked eighth among qualified centers.”
A reason it’s rare to see a team land the same player in a redraft, especially if they are picking the middle to latter portion of the first round, is that in order for it to happen, the player has to be available, for one, and have been one of the top players in that year’s class.
Kelly was the starting center for the Colts in 2016 and held on to that role for nine seasons. He made 121 starts during that span, was a four-time Pro Bowler, and a one-time second-team All-Pro.
Over the last three seasons, Kelly has allowed the fourth-lowest pressure rate among centers, according to PFF’s metrics.
This offseason, Kelly signed with the Minnesota Vikings as a free agent. This will be his first season not wearing a Colts uniform. Taking over for him in Indianapolis will presumably be Tanor Bortolini, although he is competing for those starting reps with Danny Pinter.
#Colts #stick #Ryan #Kelly #NFL #redraft
