Indianapolis, IN — Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard has always had a knack for drafting offensive line talent. From one of the easiest choices of all time in selecting guard Quenton Nelson at the top of the draft to finding gems on Day 3 (Rounds 4-7), such as current starting center Tanor Bortolini and recently departed guard Will Fries, there’s been no shortage of valuable finds via the draft.
Pittsburgh Steelers sign old friend, former QB-turned-wide receiver
Posted October 29, 2025
The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed wide receiver John Rhys Plumlee to their practice squad, the team announced. Plumlee signed with the team as an undrafted free agent but labeled as a quarterback a season ago before turning into a wide receiver full time.
Plumlee was cut by the Seattle Seahawks in September and since that time, he has not found another home until now when the Steelers picked him up.
Plumlee signed a contract with the Seahawks after the Steelers let him go last season, and even made his NFL debut in Week 18.
Plumlee had been working as a quarterback and wide receiver across three teams. However, the Seahawks are the first team to use him as exclusively a wide receiver. Plumlee wanted to try and be a quarterback first, but as a plus athlete and with good size, teams have been more interested in making him a wide receiver.
Plumlee signed with the Steelers as an undrafted free agent out of UCF because they promised him a chance to play quarterback. Throughout the rest of the training camp, Plumlee would get time as a quarterback, work as a kick returner, and plug-in as a wide receiver.
Yet, after the Steelers cut him during their final cutdowns, Plumlee had multiple offers and decided to head to Jacksonville rather than stay in Pittsburgh. With Jacksonville, he worked strictly as a quarterback.
OL Coach Tony Sparano Jr. is the Colts’ saving grace
Indy’s offensive line coach has been the team’s unsung hero amidst their dominant rebound.
Throughout all of his impressive draft selections, though, resides one man who has singlehandedly righted the ship: Tony Sparano Jr.
“You’re locked in. You’re playing for each other. There’s so much juice out there, and it’s coming from you guys. We’ve gotta keep this focus. I’m really, really proud of you guys for the way we’ve started this.”
This quote is from Sparano Jr. as a first-time offensive line coach in the NFL back in training camp of the 2023-24 season. Son of former NFL head coach Tony Sparano, Sparano Jr. spent the first twelve seasons of his professional coaching career as an assistant before he was given the opportunity to lead an OL room for the first time under a fresh head coach in Shane Steichen.
Ever since he set foot in Indianapolis, Tony Sparano Jr. has proven that he is the right man for the job.
His first task as an offensive line coach would require no easy remedy as he, Shane Steichen, and company attempted to navigate the murky waters otherwise known as a rookie quarterback. Not just any rookie signal caller, no. Sparano Jr. was tasked with keeping arguably the rawest quarterback prospect in history upright. Despite this, Indy’s offensive line has not only managed to play its part in each of the three seasons that he’s been here, but they’ve thrived amidst an upward trajectory that not even Jeff Stoutland’s Philadelphia Eagles front can match.
In the season prior to his arrival, the Colts’ vaunted offensive line that dominated from 2019-2021 and additionally helped aid an OPOY-caliber season from running back Jonathan Taylor the year before simply fell apart. Though they were in limbo at multiple positions on the line, this was largely the same dominant group from years past, and they regressed into allowing the second-most sacks given up in 2022, with 60 sacks.
After a changing of the guard entirely, Sparano Jr. was brought into the right the ship, and he has been — from day one. While longtime Colts OL Quenton Nelson, Ryan Kelly, and Braden Smith bounced back under Sparano Jr., his calling card is his ability to turn the inexperienced and/or youngins into strong spot-starters and legitimate players entirely.
During his short time in Indianapolis (2.5 seasons), Tony Sparano Jr. has helped Bernhard Raimann go from a raw prospect into a legitimate NFL left tackle, got a 7th-round pick paid in Will Fries, and has strung together one of the most impressive succession plans in recent memory as first-time starters across the interior, center Tanor Bortolini and tackle-turned-guard Matt Goncalves, have blossomed into potential stars (especially Bortolini).
Including the two seasons prior to his arrival as a reference point, here’s how Indy’s offensive line has fared in the five seasons before and after adding Tony Sparano Jr. to the mix:
2021: 32 Sacks Allowed (8th), 149.4 rush yards per game (2nd), 197.7 pass yards per game (26th), 26.5 points per game (9th)
2022: 60 Sacks Allowed (31st), 109.8 rush ypg (23rd), 201.9 pass ypg (23rd), 17.0 PPG (T-31st)
2023: 41 Sacks Allowed (14th), 121.1 rush ypg (10th), 215.6 pass ypg (20th), 23.3 PPG (T-10th)
2024: 32 Sacks Allowed (T-6th), 137.1 rush ypg (8th), 197.7 pass ypg (25th), 22.2 PPG (17th)
2025: 9 Sacks Allowed (2nd), 134.3 rush ypg (6th), 250.9 pass ypg (6th), 33.8 PPG (1st)
It’s difficult to pinpoint how this Colts team has seemingly evolved overnight. On one hand, the easy answer is that the steady hand of Daniel Jones was exactly what this team needed. Chris Ballard’s roster construction always pointed at a game manager tying the bow, but Shane Steichen and Co.‘s collective genius was so strong it, as a result, had people believing that an Anthony Richardson-led team could at least produce.
The Colts’ utter dominance over the rest of the NFL as we hit the season’s midway point makes it additionally difficult, but the position group that is inherently overlooked and subsequently undervalued — the offensive line — has proven to be the sport’s perfect example of how a top-tier unit will take you as far as you’ll let them. Tony Sparano Jr. is the straw that stirs the drink that is Indy’s historic offense, and it won’t be long before we’re putting him up with the likes of legendary offensive line coaches, so long as he keeps this pace and track record up.
