The Indianapolis Colts no longer have two of their best players ahead of Sunday's Week 8 matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
With the Colts sitting at 2-5 and having recently fired GM Chris Ballard, the rebuild has officially begun. On Tuesday, the Colts traded left guard Quenton Nelson to the Seattle Seahawks and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to the San Francisco 49ers.
Both have been franchise cornerstone players during their respective careers in Indianapolis.
Nelson was the sixth overall pick by the Colts in the 2018 NFL Draft. He is an eight-time Pro Bowler and has made six All-Pro teams in his career.
He continues to play at a high level, ranking third among guards in PFF's pass-blocking efficiency metric and seventh in run-blocking
grade.
Buckner, meanwhile, was a two-time Pro Bowler and named a first-team All-Pro during his six seasons with the team. Like Nelson, Buckner continues to play really good football, ranking 15th among defensive tackles in pressures this season.
To state the obvious, the departure of these two players leaves massive voids for the Colts to fill on each side of the ball. In Nelson's place, we could see rookie fourth-round pick Jalen Farmer, while Adetomiwa Adebawore, who is having a very nice season, will step into the starting role at defensive tackle.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Colts trade away 2 top players before matchup v. Jaguars
