Colts Offensive Line Continuity Woes

Its no secret that the Indianapolis Colts offensive line has struggled since Andrew Luck was drafted in 2012. In truth, those problems started long before his arrival but have continued with the new front office and coaching staff.

One of the biggest issues for the Colts has been one of continuity. In 2014, the Colts played 10 different starters along the line and played 11 different lineups over the course of the season.

Football Outsiders broke down the offensive lines for the season and gave the Colts a continuity score of 19 (out of a possible 48), the lowest in the NFL. FO also had the Colts with the 16th ranked line in terms of run blocking and were seventh in pass protection.

What we can take from this is that while the Colts constantly changed up the lineup, they were about average all season long. While taking 27 sacks isn’t a recipe for good health, Luck dropped back to pass more often than not and the Colts had a sack rate of just 4.8-percent.

Luck covers up a lot of problems on the roster. He’s a big player who shrug off tackles and has the speed to get out of the pocket when protection falls apart. That said, a number of those sacks from the past three years are all on Luck trying too hard to make a play or holding onto the ball for too long. Sacks are more on quarterbacks than the play of the line anyway.

Many of the changes along the line were dictated to the team due to injuries as well. Khaled Holmes, Hugh Thornton, Jonotthan Harrison, and Gosder Cherilus were all injured this past season and a few players ended up on IR. Merely getting healthy can help

In 2010, Jeff Saturday told me that regardless of who the Colts drafted, assuming they went offensive line, he wouldn’t be as good as the players already on the roster simply due to continuity issues. The fact that the five starters already on the roster had played with each other for a season meant that bringing in a talented rookie wouldn’t necessarily cover up any problems.

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Ryan Grigson stated in an interview late in the season that he would love to have more continuity along the line but in the very next sentence stated that the lineup for the following week’s game would probably change. Some of the Colts decisions last season were injury based, others were either obsessive tinkering or baffling changes (like benching A.Q. Shipley).

The same holds true for this years draft. We have been preaching that the problems on defense far outweigh the problems along the offensive line. Yes, the Colts need to protect Luck but protection hasn’t been the reason for the playoff losses over the past three years.

A few things should make the line play better in 2015.

Adding Todd Herremans gives the Colts a consistent starter who will like take the right guard spot if healthy. The Colts also get Cherilus back from injury and despite what some would have you believe, he played very well in 2013 but played all of 2014 with injuries which limited his mobility.

The Colts still have a mess at center but the left side of the line is already locked down. Anthony Castonzo anchors the left tackle spot while Jack Mewhort heads into his second season at left guard.

Merely staying healthy will go a long way towards improving the play of the offensive line. Drafting a lineman in the first round won’t have nearly the impact that many think it will. Continuity will help the line in 2015, but not having it won’t kill the team either.

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