Bleacher Report chose a "best-kept" secret for each NFL team. Who made it for the Indianapolis Colts?
When it comes to team building in the NFL, hitting on free agents or trade acquisitions and seeing the money it costs be well spent can be a tremendous relief. However, homegrown talent cultivated through the draft can be just as rewarding, especially when those players are selected without high picks and perform at a high level on cheap contracts.
Many of those players can slip under the radar until it's time for their first big contract extension.
As an offseason exercise, Bleacher Report's Brent Sobleski identified which player is the best-kept secret on each of the 32 NFL teams. For the Indianapolis Colts, he chose third-year center Tanor Bortolini.
"After one full season as a starter, the Indianapolis Colts' Tanor Bortolini has established himself as one of the game's best centers already," Sobleski wrote.
"The Colts eased Bortolini into the lineup as a rookie because Ryan Kelly was still on the team," Sobleski continued. "With Kelly leaving last offseason, Bortolini was asked to take over the spot and excelled. The Colts' coaching staff also realized it had a much more athletic snapper on the field and played to Bortolini's strengths."
Bortolini (6'4", 303, 23 years old) was a fourth-round draft pick by the Colts in 2024, and the Colts were immediately thrilled with their choice, as general manager Chris Ballard declared multiple times after the selection that Bortolini had "a bright future."
The rookie was brought along slowly until starting center Ryan Kelly missed time with an injury, which thrust Bortolini into the starting role. However, a concussion briefly disrupted his season. He ultimately saw snaps in eight games.
Nov 2, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Indianapolis Colts guard Dalton Tucker (68) and center Tanor Bortolini (60) and center Danny Pinter (63) take the field to warm up before the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn ImagesWith Kelly's free-agent departure, Bortolini took over as the full-time starter in 2025, playing 937 snaps in 16 games.
He allowed no sacks and just 17 overall pressures despite blocking for three different quarterbacks. Pro Football Focus gave him a grade of 88.2 in run blocking, which ranked third among all NFL centers, a 66.2 in pass blocking, which was 12th, and his overall grade of 82.6 was also third among NFL centers behind only Aaron Brewer of the Miami Dolphins (87.4) and Creed Humphrey of the Kansas City Chiefs (88.8).
Colts defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, a two-time All-Pro and three-time Pro Bowler, goes against Bortolini every day in practice and had rave reviews about him when asked about his growth last season.
"He’s shown tremendous growth," Buckner said of Bortolini. "Tanor, coming in and competing for the starting center job, and obviously winning it. Just using the potential that everybody saw, the coaches saw when they drafted him, his ability to get onto guards or D-tackles quickly, especially in the zone scheme, how smart he is, checking protections, and little things like that.
"I think he’s taken leaps from training camp and obviously gotten stronger and everything like that. It’s pretty cool to see him... doing a great job."
Bortolini enters his third season in the NFL and second as the Colts' full-time starting center in 2026. His relationship and chemistry with quarterback Daniel Jones are expected to play a key role in the Colts' offense's success.
If Bortolini has another season as he did in 2025, it's reasonable to expect he could follow in the footsteps of Kelly, who earned four Pro Bowls and an All-Pro nod in his nine years with the Colts.
