Would you feel confident IF this is our starting o-line?

[CS Coltsfan]

I don't care who they use as long as we are good and steady...I think and hope that Grigs gets serious about the Oline in the next draft

 

as far as Mathis.... I don't think he will be signed by anyone until after the first season game beause of the savings in money... I believe that after the 1st regular season game teams do not have to offer the vet minimum.... I may be wrong but I think that is how it goes,,,

[Colt Forty-Five]

This O-line is terrible. Frank Gore is not a happy camper right now. Did you see him storm off yesterday? Today in short yardage we did not get one yard on about ten attempts. Those that think that is good should go see a practice.

[cjwhiskers]

Our line was not terrible last year and I think it will be as adequate or better this year. No worries. It's not like every team other than the Colts have some magical offensive line, this is a league wide issue. Only a couple of teams have good to very good lines and it's not easy to do by any means. 

[BOTT]

Not thrilled

Since 2007

[OLD FAN MAN]

Leaving Mewhort at LG would be fine but if he's going to be a great T then the move has to be made. I think he shows a lot of promise. He and Costanzo could be book ends for the next decade. Wouldn't that be nice!

 

I think the coaches are trying to light a fire under Thornton with Louis being ahead of him.

 

Reitz is versatile enough to play any position along the line.

 

As for Don Thomas, I don't have much hope that he'll be back at all let alone playing back to form.

 

This could be a solid line. I still think there is a piece or two missing tho.

with the nfls current system . no player will be with a team beyond their contract.to have this the nfl needs to install career contracts

[Stephen]

Gore said the line was fine

[Douzer]

I'm optimistic.

 

I think the line was ranked 17th overall last year, meaning they were average, not horrible or terrible or any of the other overly negative assessments sometimes thrown their way, just simply average. To me, average, with Richardson behind them is actually better than average. They also had a lot of first year play in the middle with Holmes, Harrison & Mewhort getting their feet wet.

 

So why wouldn't I be optimistic? Gore will be behind them now, all of the first year players will come back stronger and more experienced and a good quality veteran in Herremans has been added at right guard.  I see them around10th overall at this point. No, they won't be the best in the league, but they'll be a good line.

 

Finally, Reitz will service the #3 tackle position wonderfully, as he always does, and will allow Denzelle Good to develop as the #4 tackle, Harrison will be ready behind Holmes, while Thornton, Thomas, Louis & Arkin battle for the 3 remaining guard spots, starter and 2's.

 

I am allowed to be optimistic, right?

[Colt Forty-Five]

Gore said that to who? When you get blown up and then throw a ball at your teammate, start a fight and storm off the field. That is not happiness. Don't believe what the media is feeding. Go look for your self! We have serious line problems. especially in the run game.

[zibby43]

It is puzzling that Grigs just added Herremanns to last years group(minus Cherilus) and called it a day. Perhaps, he thinks Superbowl can be won with serviceable offensive lineman. I would have been furious if you would have told me that right after the AFCCG.

Maybe they'll gain chemistry from continuity. I don't know. My fear is Andrew will face many exotic blitz packages in the play-offs a la Pittsburgh 2005. Defenses might go high risk against us. Can we make them pay for it?

 

I think you make a great point re: chemistry from continuity.  Continuity is vital to an offensive line.  An o-line needs to know how to work together.  It's a unit.  There are all kinds of calls and protections that need to be made/recognized and changing out the pieces constantly definitely serves to disrupt that vital process. 

 

On a side note, if you remember the Giants game from last year, the Giants blitzed the Colts/Luck more than any other team had before.

 

Luck absolutely shredded the Giants D like it was wet toilet paper.  So yes, I hope teams try to blitz Luck!

[Colt Forty-Five]

Like I said before, we are one player away from contender to disaster ....  and his name starts with A. This line will do nothing to help the cause. Very dissapointing to load the team with 50 receivers and spend big bucks on Frankie Boy while being ignorant to line problems. You pay your money and you take your chances.

[Horse Shoe Heaven]

If the coaches think Louis is the guy, I defer to them. The rest of the guys seem like our best lineman so, Yes that will have to do.

I thought Louis played well at the end of last year, I am cool with it until I see that he isn't playing well!

[Track Guy]

Whenever I saw Reitz play LG, he worked well with Castanzo. If we believe Reitz does not have the athleticism to play tackle, it only makes sense that he is in a tandem with Castanzo on the left side. However, having played Reitz at RT at playoff time, the Colts coaches may feel differently.

 

Where has Reitz been lining up mostly in camp?

 

Seems like they want Reitz to be a backup swing tackle rather than the starting LG for some reason. I don't get the logic behind starting Louis ahead of him though. If it was Thronton I could understand maybe they were excited about seeing if he could cash in on any of his potential as a rising young player but with Louis it's just another veteran who we already know Reitz definitely is better than. If it were up to me I'd put Retiz at LG and either let Ulrick John be the swing reserve OT or if the coaches think he's not good enough of a player to do that then sign someone who can.

[RealityIsLuck]

That's probably what we're stuck with. I really don't like Louis at LG though. Hopefully Donald Thomas can get healthy if not I hope Hugh Thorton can earn that role.

[Track Guy]

That's probably what we're stuck with. I really don't like Louis at LG though. Hopefully Donald Thomas can get healthy if not I hope Hugh Thorton can earn that role.

 

I don't see where the upside is with Louis either. If DT isn't really in the mix, to me it should be a decision about whether they want a vet who has played at a higher level (Reitz) or a young guy who might theoretically have a higher ceiling (Thornton). I also think it's a pretty bad sign for Thornton if he can't even beat out Lance Louis in his 3rd year in the league. 

[mvbighead]

I feel like, if nothing else, the depth is better this year than last.

 

Castonzo/Mewhort at tackle, Reitz as the backup.  Good potentially the additional depth, who they like for his size and athleticism.

 

Louis/Herremans/Thornton/Holmes/Harrison on the interior, and potentially some fill in from Reitz there as needed?

 

I dunno, prior to this we had Thonton pegged as depth behind an often injured Thomas.  Now we at least have some durable guys ahead of our depth.  I just hope they stay mostly healthy throughout the season and that any injuries are minor.  Very difficult to field a solid line when we're losing starters for the season.

[Track Guy]

As for the whole Even Mathis thing - I get it. We don't want to invest heavily in an aged guard. But wouldn't he be an upgrade on Donald Thomas, who we can save something like $3 million per year the next two years if we cut? We could offer Mathis 3.5 to 4 mil for a year or two at least, which might be enough to get him at this point... Miami was trying to offer a $2 million salary according to rotoworld!

[Defjamz26]

I want Thorton at LG. Louis isn't that good. He has a much higher ceiling. I'm sure he's improved a bit in 2 years. Plus he's a 3rd round pick. It's time for him to start producing. It's already a shame that Holmes is the only person from the 2013 class that's starting.

[MacDee1975]

I'm optimistic.

 

I think the line was ranked 17th overall last year, meaning they were average, not horrible or terrible or any of the other overly negative assessments sometimes thrown their way, just simply average. To me, average, with Richardson behind them is actually better than average. They also had a lot of first year play in the middle with Holmes, Harrison & Mewhort getting their feet wet.

 

So why wouldn't I be optimistic? Gore will be behind them now, all of the first year players will come back stronger and more experienced and a good quality veteran in Herremans has been added at right guard.  I see them around10th overall at this point. No, they won't be the best in the league, but they'll be a good line.

 

Finally, Reitz will service the #3 tackle position wonderfully, as he always does, and will allow Denzelle Good to develop as the #4 tackle, Harrison will be ready behind Holmes, while Thornton, Thomas, Louis & Arkin battle for the 3 remaining guard spots, starter and 2's.

 

I am allowed to be optimistic, right?

 

Exactly.  People act like we had the worst line in the league last year, which isn't even close to being true.

 

It was average last year, and the weakest link, Cherilus, is gone.  I expect us to be slightly above average this year, which is fine.

[Track Guy]

Exactly.  People act like we had the worst line in the league last year, which isn't even close to being true.

 

It was average last year, and the weakest link, Cherilus, is gone.  I expect us to be slightly above average this year, which is fine.

If I knew for sure we were going to be completely healthy and start Castonzo - Reitz - Holmes - Herremans - Mewhort, I'd tend to agree. But we are very thin at tackle, and really I don't think any of our guards are more than replacement level players aside from Retiz and Herremans. And I still think of Holmes as a pretty big question mark. 

[Steamboat_Shaun]

Hindsight being 20/20 and all, I really would've liked to see Grigson draft La'el Collins in the 7th round. Did you see him just pancaking people last night?!

[csmopar]

Hindsight being 20/20 and all, I really would've liked to see Grigson draft La'el Collins in the 7th round. Did you see him just pancaking people last night?!

 

 

Me too, only move I'm truly questioning out of that draft.  Total handpalm, even if he wound up in jail, it's only a 7th....

[Steamboat_Shaun]

Me too, only move I'm truly questioning out of that draft.  Total handpalm, even if he wound up in jail, it's only a 7th....

 

On the flip-side, had they drafted him with that 7th round pick, and Collins ends up in jail, we would've slammed Grigson so hard in this forum, and in the newspaper, and on ESPN, etc, etc. The PR fallout from that would've been a pain for the organization, but honestly, would've been worth the risk all things considered.

[BOTT]

On the flip-side, had they drafted him with that 7th round pick, and Collins ends up in jail, we would've slammed Grigson so hard in this forum, and in the newspaper, and on ESPN, etc, etc. The PR fallout from that would've been a pain for the organization, but honestly, would've been worth the risk all things considered.

Not really. If the police had made Collins a real suspect and had real evidence the colts would have released him. And I'm sure the talking heads would have commentary about violence in the NFL and if it's linked to their behavior off the field., blah blah.

Hell, the Cowboys signed Gregg hardy knowing full well what he did. Nobody cares....

[GwinnettColt]

I'd rather see Reitz at LG than Louis.  

 

I think Holmes will be mediocre and Herremans will be good.

 

I really like Castonzo at LT and I think Mewhort has the talent for RT.

[Steamboat_Shaun]

Not really. If the police had made Collins a real suspect and had real evidence the colts would have released him. And I'm sure the talking heads would have commentary about violence in the NFL and if it's linked to their behavior off the field., blah blah.

Hell, the Cowboys signed Gregg hardy knowing full well what he did. Nobody cares....

 

… and they signed Collins. They're going for broke this year.

[RockThatBlue]

Will definitely be watching the o-line tomorrow