NFL Draft: Manorville's Matt Goncalves selected by Colts in third round

Matt Goncalves was still recovering from a toe injury when he went to the Combine in late February, so he wasn’t able to participate in any of the workouts for NFL teams while there.

Now he’s now going back to Indianapolis, this time fully healthy, and this time as a fully-fledged NFL player with a chance to finally show the league what he can do.

The offensive lineman from Eastport-South Manor High School, who missed most of his senior season at Pitt in 2023, was selected by the Colts in the third round of the NFL draft, 79th overall, on Friday night. The Colts traded up with the Cardinals to get the well-traveled pick that had also previously belonged to the Jaguars and Falcons.

At 6-6 and 327 pounds, he’ll help fill a need for a team that last year selected Anthony Richardson as its quarterback and then went 9-8 under first-year coach Shane Steichen.

Goncalves told reporters in Indianapolis that he had lots of conversations with Colts offensive line coach (and former Giants assistant) Tony Sparano Jr. in the predraft process, so it was not a surprise when the Colts selected him.

“They won’t regret this pick, I promise you,” Goncalves said.

While Goncalves played right and left tackle primarily in college, he could project as a guard in the NFL. The Colts loved his versatility in that regard. “I’m not so sure he couldn’t play center,” Colts GM Chris Ballard said half-jokingly. “He’ll fit in well. He was one of our favorite o-linemen in the whole draft.”

Goncalves tore the plantar plate in his left big toe in a September game against West Virginia and had to sit out the rest of the season after surgery. He was only able to participate in off-field interviews with teams at the East-West Shrine Game and the Combine, but he did go through some drills at his Pro Day in late March. At that point he estimated he was about 90 percent healthy from the injury. He expects to be at full health and participate in Colts rookie minicamp in the coming weeks.

When he called Goncalves on Friday to tell him he was coming to the Colts, Ballard even joked about the injury history and inactivity.

“I said ‘Are you tired of sitting around?’” Ballard said. “The passion came out pretty clearly on the phone.”

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.