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How has Hugh Thornton played this year?

Trace Pyott

By Trace Pyott
in Colts Football

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Trace Pyott Active Roster

Trace Pyott

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I must admit I know absolutely nothing about offensive line play. I can tell when Luck has no time or pocket, or if our running backs have no holes to run through but I casually have trouble consistently judging our offensive line players one at a time by themselves. I know Hugh was a rookie last year and hAd the usual rookie stumbles but how has he played this year? Has he made improvements like we hoped or has he regressed? Also what changes do you see coming to our o line next yr personnel wise?

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BProland85 Ring of Honor

BProland85

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I don't think he has regressed, but I don't think he has much improved either. Still has many missed blocks. As for changes next year, I think it's long overdue that we find a prominent OL coach either from the pros or college. Our OL hasn't been good since Howard Mudd left.

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DoubleE Colt Active Roster

DoubleE Colt

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Thornton has still been pretty hit and miss imo but I think he will still be starting at RG next season. AC and Mewhort (who has shown good potential in some games so far) are set to stay there I believe. If anything I can see us looking for a RT moving forward and Gosder is expensive and none too impressive this year. Center is anyones guess! My opinion is we should try free agency next year and make a run on someone.

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DougDew Ring of Honor

DougDew

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I think Thornton has been hit and miss.  His performance may be getting impacted by Cherilous' decreased mobility from last year.  I think Gosder has had a chronic problem with one of his knees that was not a problem last year, but it this year, according to some ofthe comments from Pagano.

 

Mewhort is a rookie.  All rookies entering the NFL lack true NFL strength their first year, IMO.  It looks to me like he is built more like a T than a G, taller and lankier than Thornton.  Mewhort is supposed to be versatile, so we may see him move to RT after he gains more weight and strength. 

 

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Surge89 Walk On

Surge89

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I don't think anyone on the OL has been anything but average. Being average is not good enough against the better teams.

I don't agree that our whole line is average.

Also you do not need allstar talent on the line to have a good line. You need good coaching and a unit that works together. An average line that knows each other well can neutralize 4 guys easy regardless of talent.

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Coffeedrinker Practice Squad

Coffeedrinker

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To me it seems Thornton's biggest weakness is his conditioning.  He's seems to tire pretty quickly and when he does he starts lunging and losing his form and balance his other big problem that I see is he's not real powerful once engaged.  Aside from that, there are a lot of things to like about Thornton.  He is so fast off the snap and (when he's not gassed) he gets good position on the defender, takes good angles and seems to have very good field awareness.

 

With his quickness and footwork and size, he could become an top tier guard in the league, IMO, but he needs to work on his conditioning and his functional strength, maybe go push around some Chevy Suburbans up a hill during the offseason or something.

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Smash Mouth Practice Squad

Smash Mouth

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I don't agree that our whole line is average.

Also you do not need allstar talent on the line to have a good line. You need good coaching and a unit that works together. An average line that knows each other well can neutralize 4 guys easy regardless of talent.

Ok, fair enough - as a unit their execution has been just average.

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ColtStronger Walk On

ColtStronger

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I don't think anyone on the OL has been anything but average.  Being average is not good enough against the better teams.

That is exactly right!  Better teams will expose average offensive or defensive lines.  In order to contend with the Patriots, Broncos, Packers... We need consistent efforts of good play out of the lines.  That's the difference of blowing Jax out by 40 or losing by 20 to a great team.  Once that is corrected, the possibilities of this team are endless!  Until then it's still a dream!

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lollygagger8 Hall of Famer

lollygagger8

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Thornton has played like garbage. So has Cherilus. 

 

I say move Mewhort to RG and put in Reitz at LG (where he excels) and hopefully Cherilus turns it around.

 

Harrison seems to have regressed as well. Not sure what to think about Center. 

 

My biggest question is, why does the coaching staff hate Holmes so much? 

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ColtStronger Walk On

ColtStronger

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I don't agree that our whole line is average.

Also you do not need allstar talent on the line to have a good line. You need good coaching and a unit that works together. An average line that knows each other well can neutralize 4 guys easy regardless of talent.

You're right about the talent of the line.  You don't need all  Pro Bowlers on the line for them to work well together, but we do need a leader... It's usually the Center but he is a rookie.  Both tackles are veterans, but should be better than what they are imo.  Not complaining about them but, they should be better!  The interior is just too young.  We need a leader who will take responsibility and stand up for other players, who will also motivate the rest of the line.  We also need a O-line coach who has a proven track record.  Even with the talent we do have, no SB's will be won unless the line get's better.  We need to have a dominant run game, and I've only seen that maybe 2 games this season, but unfortunately it was against sub average teams.

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Track Guy Walk On

Track Guy

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That is exactly right!  Better teams will expose average offensive or defensive lines.  In order to contend with the Patriots, Broncos, Packers... We need consistent efforts of good play out of the lines.  That's the difference of blowing Jax out by 40 or losing by 20 to a great team.  Once that is corrected, the possibilities of this team are endless!  Until then it's still a dream!

 

I agree being weaker on the O-line and defensive front 7 is most of what's holding us back. With our amazing passing attack I don't even think we need great play out of our lines... Just good. And we're not getting that. On offense, what we need is a running game that can play respectably enough to open up the pass against the top defenses in the league. We're a passing specialist team, that's part of our identity, but part of having a great passing attack is being good enough at running the football that the defense isn't able to predict pass on every play. When/if we get that, this offense will really take the league by storm. Till then we're just a somewhat dangerous team who could make a playoff run if we get hot at the right time, but we're not the big dog, and we won't be till we can run the football better than this.

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BrentMc11 Walk On

BrentMc11

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To me it seems Thornton's biggest weakness is his conditioning.  He's seems to tire pretty quickly and when he does he starts lunging and losing his form and balance his other big problem that I see is he's not real powerful once engaged.  Aside from that, there are a lot of things to like about Thornton.  He is so fast off the snap and (when he's not gassed) he gets good position on the defender, takes good angles and seems to have very good field awareness.

 

With his quickness and footwork and size, he could become an top tier guard in the league, IMO, but he needs to work on his conditioning and his functional strength, maybe go push around some Chevy Suburbans up a hill during the offseason or something.

Maybe some help from Hans and Franz like Aaron Rodgers.

 

Row row row your boat...gently down the LOSER stream :)

 

anigif_enhanced-19098-1409840981-8.gif

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throwing BBZ Ring of Honor

throwing BBZ

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To me it seems Thornton's biggest weakness is his conditioning.  He's seems to tire pretty quickly and when he does he starts lunging and losing his form and balance his other big problem that I see is he's not real powerful once engaged.  Aside from that, there are a lot of things to like about Thornton.  He is so fast off the snap and (when he's not gassed) he gets good position on the defender, takes good angles and seems to have very good field awareness.

 

With his quickness and footwork and size, he could become an top tier guard in the league, IMO, but he needs to work on his conditioning and his functional strength, maybe go push around some Chevy Suburbans up a hill during the offseason or something.

 

 Awareness? Don`t think he has ever picked up a stunt cleanly. A disaster at awareness. JMO of course.

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Gavin Walk On

Gavin

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To me it seems Thornton's biggest weakness is his conditioning.  He's seems to tire pretty quickly and when he does he starts lunging and losing his form and balance his other big problem that I see is he's not real powerful once engaged.  Aside from that, there are a lot of things to like about Thornton.  He is so fast off the snap and (when he's not gassed) he gets good position on the defender, takes good angles and seems to have very good field awareness.

 

With his quickness and footwork and size, he could become an top tier guard in the league, IMO, but he needs to work on his conditioning and his functional strength, maybe go push around some Chevy Suburbans up a hill during the offseason or something.

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BrentMc11 Walk On

BrentMc11

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He's not very good at pulling either.

I would not say he is not good at pulling, I feel he is inconsistent.  As Coffee says above maybe he lacks the stamina out there for pulling as the game goes on.  I have seen him destroy a few guys pulling this season.

 

I am going to really watch the linemen this week on both sides.  I am looking forward to it.

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GwinnettColt Practice Squad

GwinnettColt

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Not to hijack your thread and I'm speculating here but I think the whole line plays better with Shipley on it, Thornton included.  Who knows if we'll ever see Holmes as he should have been back weeks ago.  Maybe he's hanging out with Tupac, Biggie, Elvis, and Jim Morrison on some island. 

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dudeski Walk On

dudeski

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I would not say he is not good at pulling, I feel he is inconsistent. As Coffee says above maybe he lacks the stamina out there for pulling as the game goes on. I have seen him destroy a few guys pulling this season.

I am going to really watch the linemen this week on both sides. I am looking forward to it.

why don't you do it every week?
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GoColts8818 Ring of Honor

GoColts8818

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I don't think anyone on the OL has been anything but average.  Being average is not good enough against the better teams.

i disagree with that Castonzo has played as well as you can ask him or any left tackle for that matter.

Mewhort has played very well for a rookie. It's the other three who have really struggled.

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Archer Team Captain

Archer

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LT Costanzo - Has been a slightly-better-than-average LT this year.  We're getting great bang for our buck with him.

LG Mewhort - He has a very bright future, but has made mistakes.  He's at least an average LG, with a trajectory to be very good.

C Harrison - Also a learning year for him.  He's made mistakes and had good plays.  He'll be a reliable, average center into the future.

RG Thornton - Definitely our most Jeckyl and Hyde OL.  He has some good plays and some bad.  I like his potential in the run-blocking department.  I think he will start for the next two years and hopefully become more reliable.

RT - Cherilus.  Terrible this year.  By far our worst OL.  With a big salary next year, he will almost certainly be a salary cap cut.  We'll let Nixon, John, and a draft pick compete for his spot. 

 

In general, we have some good young talent in the interior.  I don't think that Khaled Holmes is done, and he'll probably be the versatile interior lineman next year (which the terrible Louis is now filling).  The OTs will be in flux the next couple of years, as we try to find cheap options during the early years of Luck's new contract.

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Dark Superman Active Roster

Dark Superman

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I think Mewhort is going to be a solid player for us, but I am not sold on Thornton and Harrison. I was really hoping Donald Thomas was going to produce this year but we all saw how that turned out. Either Shipley or Holmes need to be the guy if not, find someone else.. I really would have loved to see Luck and Mack play together..

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