Indianapolis Colts guards Quenton Nelson and Matt Goncalves have been named one of the best veteran-youngster partnerships in the NFL.
The Indianapolis Colts have been searching for consistency in many critical areas for what seems like years now, but one group that has seen very few hiccups is the offensive line.
The Colts and general manager Chris Ballard have been proactive about using quality draft picks on linemen and getting them on the field early, allowing them to hit the ground running when it's their time to be used extensively.
One of those hits has been Matt Goncalves, who the Colts drafted in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
As a rookie, Goncalves earned the team's swing tackle role, playing 566 snaps, with all but one at either left or right tackle or as the extra sixth lineman. However, in 2025, Goncalves made the transition to guard for the first time in his career, playing 949 snaps as the team's starting right guard, with another 59 at right tackle in Week 16 when the Colts needed to shuffle the line due to injuries.
Brent Sobleski of Bleacher Report took notice of Goncalves' 2025 performance and paired him with Colts left guard Quenton Nelson as one of the NFL's best veteran-budding-star tandems.
"Quenton Nelson is the standard at guard. Matt Goncalves gets the chance to be in the same meeting room and play the same position, albeit on the right side, every day," Sobleski wrote. "The last part of the previous statement is key, because Goncalves didn't make a full-time switch to guard until last season, which was the first time he had done so at any level. Thus, what Goncalves learns playing alongside Nelson will be invaluable in the 25-year-old's development."
"At 30 years old, Nelson has been named to six All-Pro teams, including three first-team nods, with eight straight Pro Bowl appearances to start his career," Sobleski continued. "He's well on his way to donning a gold jacket once his career is complete.
"Goncalves can't physically emulate everything Nelson does well. However, his understanding of the position and what it takes to succeed should continue to grow with each passing day."
Despite making a positional switch from 2024 to 2025 and playing nearly double the snaps in Year 2, Goncalves finished with a better pass-blocking efficiency, according to Pro Football Focus, earning a 96.8 in 2025 compared to 95.5 in 2024. He also allowed just two sacks in 2025, down from three in 2024.
Colts offensive line coach Tony Sparano Jr. recently spoke about Goncalves' transition from tackle to guard and how bullish he is on the third-year lineman moving into 2026.
"Anytime you look at year one to year two jump for a guy, you're going to see significant improvement if the guys are working like (Goncalves) does," Sparano told reporters. "You know, to have 16 starts, 15 starts plus one at tackle under his belt last year as a guard, having never previously played the position before, I can't underscore how difficult that is.
"This dude was not a guard in Pop Warner. He was not a guard in middle school, high school, college. This guy was a tackle. So then he's making a positional jump at the highest level of football. There's going to be some growing pains with that. That being said, you watch what he did last year, this dude played some really high-level ball for the majority of the season, and he learned a ton of stuff in the process. So yeah, I expect him to hit the ground running. He's already well ahead right now of where he was a year ago, which is what you want to see."
As for Goncalves, he recently took it upon himself to visit former Chicago Bears All-Pro center Olin Kruetz for some offseason tutelage and says he got a lot out of it as he continues his transition into a full-time guard.
"A lot of strength," Goncalves said he got out of his work with Kruetz. "I mean, I felt like I was a little bit underweight, not as strong as some of the other guys in this league. So, I gained 10 pounds of lean body mass, worked out six days a week. (Got) a lot of good information from him just about the o-line, about your body, stuff like that."
Goncalves now feels much more comfortable, both mentally and physically heading into his second season as the Colts' right guard.
"Oh yeah, 100 percent. I mean, coming into this year, just more prepared, like understanding the game plan, understanding my responsibilities, the technique," Goncalves said. "I feel very comfortable coming into this year, compared to last year.
"Last year was kind of like a feeling-out process. It's a very difficult thing to do, transition to another position – one that you never played. So, I feel a lot more comfortable, and I feel great right now.
