Indianapolis Colts guard Quenton Nelson loves to run the damn ball. That only works, though, if your fellow offensive linemen love to run the damn ball, too.
Thankfully for Big Q, his teammates share that same passion. The Colts' star lineman spoke on the brotherhood of the group on Zaire Franklin's "The Trenches" podcast and shared a story on left tackle Bernhard Raimann that highlights his grit.
With Bernhard... He's only been playing O-Line for a few years now. For him to be doing what he's doing, playing as a top-five tackle. There were some downs... also some injuries, which, he didn't even f***ing flinch. The trainer was like, 'You have a grade 2 high ankle sprain and it's two minutes left and we're down 20 points, do you want to come out of the game?' and he's like, "F*** no!"... That's when I knew, that's my left tackle.Quenton Nelson, Colts G
Raimann, 26, is entering his third year in the league. Indy's left tackle was born in Vienna, Austria, and grew up there until committing to Central Michigan University to play tight end. After two seasons, Raimann switched to left tackle and earned the Offensive Player of the Year award for the Mid-American Conference from Pro Football Focus.
The Colts took a chance on him in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft and played him from day one. Now, two years later, Raimann will play his third consecutive season next to an All-Pro quality lineman in Nelson.
Protecting the blindside of second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson is one of the more important jobs on the field. Raimann's pass blocking ability is near the top of the league, making a comfortable pocket for Richardson.
If the Colts keep a healthy group of linemen, the offense could explode with good protection and blocking. Indy opens with a divisional game against the Houston Texans, the perfect stage for this year's group to showcase their improvement.
