If Quenton Nelson was an instrument in a band, he would be a tuba.
He's big and he's powerful. He's strong and he's loud, and he can be pretty intimidating. He doesn't often get the recognition he deserves, but without him there's a good chance the band would fall apart.
The Colts' offensive line is the truest representation of a band of brothers you'll ever see, a unit far more concerned with collective success than individual accolades. And like a musical group, they all play their individual roles to produce one combined result.
"One band, one song," cornerback Kenny Moore II described them.
The unquestioned leader of that band is Nelson, but not in the traditional sense – he's not the conductor or the lead singer, and he's not jumping out for a solo in the middle of the set.
Instead, he's a tuba, a bass guitar, a percussion instrument. Something that doesn't jump out as all that flashy or important at first glance, something that is underestimated for its difficulty. Something that, if it's not there, everybody notices and everything changes.
Something that lays the foundation and sets the tone. Something that never wavers.
From the moment he set foot in the Colts locker room in 2018 – and even before that, throughout his time at Notre Dame – Nelson has been lauded as a hard worker, a pure lover of the game and a natural-born leader. He carries himself in such a confident and determined way that he can make an impression without even saying a word.
"Since day one, he's really been a culture-setter," tackle Braden Smith said. "Sometimes guys try to fake it, but this is all genuine. He just brings it every day, he has a really positive attitude, just a great guy to be around, a great teammate.
"And he just really, truly loves every guy in this locker room."
Nelson and Smith both entered the NFL in 2018, truly together since the beginning; Nelson was the Colts' first-round pick in the draft and Smith was a second-round pick. Not much has changed since then – not in the way Nelson plays, and not in the way he leads his teammates. The only noticeable things, really, are the beard on his face and the "C" on his chest.
"He's always been very passionate about the game and being one of the guys and just connecting with guys," Smith said. "He's always been very selfless. He's obviously very gifted and he's been balling out this year, and just doing a lot of great stuff out there."
The Colts offense has emerged as the talk of the NFL through the first seven weeks of the season, with quarterback Daniel Jones spearheading the most efficient offense in the NFL this century. Running back Jonathan Taylor leads the league in touchdowns (11) and rushing yards (697), arguably playing the best he ever has, and rookie tight end Tyler Warren is somehow even more impressive than expected.
At the heart of it all, though, is Nelson.
So far this season, the eighth-year guard has allowed just nine pressures and hasn't allowed a single sack. He's been the one to open paths for Taylor's runs – whether it's by ferociously blocking defenders or running out ahead of Taylor in the open field himself to clear the way. Per Pro Football Focus, Nelson has an overall performance grade of 88.2 and a run blocking grade of 91.8, both good for first among all NFL guards.
Nelson has always been great. But this season, he's reached a whole new level.
"The trajectory he's on, he's actually already locked in – Hall of Fame guy," Taylor said. "But just being able to run behind him, to be able to have him as an anchor on that offensive line, it means a lot. He brings a tenacity. He brings the edge. He pulls the rest of the guys along with him and elevates everyone's level of play. So, to be able to have that confidence to know no matter who we're going against, no matter what defensive front, I know there's going to be a sliver of daylight and Q is going to create that...to be able to utilize him in different ways like that, I think you can't even put a price on it. It's invaluable."
Nelson's effort doesn't stop when the play is over, either. He's also the first to help a teammate off the ground and the first to praise them when they succeed, running anywhere he needs to on the field to support his guys.
"You see a guy who strains every single play, which is exhausting already as it is, and then he's also the first person to spring down the field after a big play," tight end Mo Alie-Cox said. "Definitely sets a great example for young guys, just being excited for your teammates and things like that. Because that's not easy to do for sure.
"And you see more guys doing it now. It's translated over, and more guys are running up to guys, helping them up off the ground and different things like that."
Of course, no one else is hoisting Taylor into the air after he scores a touchdown, but the point Nelson makes when he does that is as clear as ever:
"It's really important to support your teammates and have their backs," Nelson said. "It's something I pride myself on doing my whole career."
At the same time, though, it doesn't matter if you're a rookie or a 10-year veteran – if you make a mistake, you're going to hear about it. If you don't work hard, you're going to hear about it. Nelson has high standards, and he expects his teammates to meet them the same way he does.
"Everybody knows how well he plays on Sundays, but it's that same mindset and that same standard every single day in practice," tackle Bernhard Raimann said. "That's what people don't see. He approaches every single practice as if it was a game, and he also expects the same from us. If something doesn't work out in practice, obviously we have to fix it right away. He gets just as mad as in a game. It's just great to have him in the room, just that leader that has high expectations and also lives up to those expectations himself."
"You can earn his respect or you can lose his respect really, really fast," Raimann added.
And if Nelson is talking, you better shut up and listen.
"When Q talks, he talks with emotion," Alie-Cox said. "You can hear it in his voice, so you definitely lock in and pay attention when he's talking because you definitely know he means it."
"Some of those guys, it's in their DNA, you know what I mean?" head coach Shane Steichen said about Nelson's natural leadership. "Just his competitiveness and the way he attacks every single day from the meeting rooms, the weight room, to this – just how he talks to the guys, how he leads. Obviously, being a veteran now – he loves the game. He loves the game, and he holds everyone to a high standard. He's all over the details. And when you've got a guy that plays at the level he plays that all the time and holds guys accountable, that goes a long way."
Someone like Warren, for example, has all the qualities to earn Nelson's respect: he comes in and works hard, gives his all every play and is always looking for ways to improve. He even beat Nelson to the weight room after the Colts' first training camp practice.
"He's in there doing bicep curls and some (shoulder) shrugs and triceps," Nelson said back in August. "Like, what are you doing, rookie? You're trying to make me look bad...he has really just been a great rookie."
When Warren first met Nelson, shortly after being selected as the 14th overall pick the 2025 NFL Draft, it was in the most casual of settings: the locker room. Nelson, in keeping with his typical straightforward attitude, simply walked over to Warren and introduced himself.
"He didn't make it a big deal," Warren recalled. "Like, I thought it was a big deal, but he didn't."
And as a true leader, Nelson concerns himself with the state of the entire locker room – not just the offense. When Moore sustained an Achilles injury a few weeks into the season, causing him to miss three consecutive games, Nelson made a point to check in on his fellow captain and make sure Moore knew how much Nelson missed seeing him out on the field.
"He's really cool and personable," Moore said. "He's intentional. And honestly, it creates a two-way street, to where I'm gonna be doing the same thing for him, you know. Looking at what he's doing on an off day or looking at what he's doing in the shadows where a lot of guys don't see many guys and how hard they work. He's a great guy. He really is."
While Moore and Nelson don't necessarily interact all that often in terms of meetings and practice, Moore is still well aware of the effort Nelson puts into perfecting his craft and being a leader – it's hard not to pick up on that.
"Athletes in general, we just know who's a guy and who's not, and we give that respect accordingly," Moore explained. "We all know. We can smell whenever a guy is about his crap or he's not. I can tell that he does a lot more stuff off the field. He values his work and he wants to be the best...and we want to give him his flowers while he's the best."
The Colts are certainly giving Nelson and the rest of the offensive line all the credit they deserve for the team's overall success so far this season; any talk about the offense always starts with a credit to the offensive line. Their success and their effort are infectious, and so are their celebrations – starting with Nelson's.
"He's always played with joy, but now it's like he's a lot more loose," Alie-Cox, who has known Nelson since he was a rookie, said. "He's dancing on the field, getting in on the celebrations and different things like that. So you definitely see him super excited, but I just think everyone's excited with the way our offense is playing."
"We've just had more to celebrate this year," Nelson said. "We've been scoring a good amount of points, more so than we have in years past. So there's a lot more opportunities, you know."
After all, it's hard not to be a little happier and a little freer when you're seeing your teammates succeed all around you.
"It's been really fun," Nelson said. "You don't know whose week it's going to be every week, like, anyone can go off. Daniel's doing a great job of spreading the ball around and getting everyone involved, going through his progression. And then in the run game, we got to do our thing.
"But really, it's not just the line, it's the tight ends blocking in there and then also the wide receivers downfield that are helping create a lot of these runs. So, just 11 guys trying to do their job and playing for each other."
And while the sound those 11 guys create comes in the form of cleats stomping and pads colliding, it's a kind of music nonetheless. It's impossible to produce individually, but collectively it makes stadiums roar. It's the sound of all the right instruments coming together, backed by a true leader. It's the sound of the brotherhood Nelson has worked so hard to inspire.
