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Andrew Luck Hurting. Who’s to Blame?

By Luke Schultheis

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With Andrew Luck now “legitimately questionable” for Sunday’s game, the Indianapolis Colts have no one to blame but themselves.

Quite frankly, it should have never come to this.

Yes, injuries are a part of the game, but Luck’s risk of injury has been heightened by an exorbitant amount of sacks and QB hits he’s taken this year and over the past 3 seasons in what’s been an alarming trend:

It was really only a matter of time before Luck suffered a fairly serious injury behind the sieve that has become the Colts offensive line. To be fair, the reshuffled offensive line did play better last week against the Titans, but it was hard to be much worse.

Sep 27, 2015; Nashville, TN, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) is sacked by Tennessee Titans linebacker Brian Orakpo (98) during the first half at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

There’s simply not much talent outside left tackle Anthony Castonzo–who’s struggled by his usual standards early this season, as well as promising 2nd-year pro Jack Mewhort.

It’s not that the team hasn’t invested into the offensive line during the “Andrew Luck Era”, it’s just that two of their “big signings” in 2013, Gosder Cherilus (5 years, $35M) and Donald Thomas ($4 years, $14M) were busts because of injuries and are no longer even on the team.

Meanwhile, (outside Mewhort) the team hasn’t fared much better in the draft with its 2013 draft picks. 3rd rounder Hugh Thornton has been a disappointment at guard and 4th rounder Khaled Holmes looks like a middling level talent at center respectively.

The team tried to boost the offensive line by signing Ex-Eagles veteran guard Todd Herremans this offseason, but he was awful in 2 starts and benched in favor of Mewhort during a reshuffling of the Colts offensive line last week.

Through 3 games, here are the Colts offensive lineman overall ratings per ProFootballFocus (subscription):

LT- Anthony Castonzo (3 gms): -3.4 overall

LG- Lance Louis (2 gms): -5.6 overall; Jack Mewhort (1 gm): -1.5 overall

C- Khaled Holmes (3 gms): -3.7 overall

RG- Todd Herremans (2 gms): -9.1 overall; Hugh Thornton (1 gm): -4.5 overall

RT- Jack Mewhort (2 gms): +0.7; Joe Reitz (1 gm): +1.3 overall

It’s not pretty folks, and it makes you question whether enough was done this offseason to address the unit as a whole.

The Colts can have all of the offensive weapons in the world, but it won’t matter if the team can’t actually keep Luck upright.

Sep 13, 2015; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Indianapolis Colts center Khaled Holmes (62) during a game against the Buffalo Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

This weekend it may cost the team Luck’s availability, as he’s nursing a sore throwing shoulder. However, going forward it could cost the team much more if things don’t improve dramatically.

The Colts are only going to go as far as Luck takes them after all, and that’s not very far with him injured or even worse, holding a clipboard on the sideline.

No one’s advocating that the Colts should invest multiple first rounders in their offensive line like the Dallas Cowboys, but at the same time, the team went into the opener with Lance Louis as their starting left guard.

Nothing against Louis, but he’s a backup level talent at best. Having him as the opening game starter tells one all they really need to know about the state of the Colts offensive line in a nutshell (Hint: It’s not very good).

It would be one thing if this were Week 10, where injuries occur during the course of a season and replacement bodies are needed. However, it’s only Week 4, and this is what we’re looking at already.

If the ultimate goal is protecting their franchise player, hopefully Luck’s shoulder injury is a wake-up call to all parties involved that it has to improve before it’s too late.

After all, a wise person once said, “It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt,” especially when that someone happens to be your team’s best player.

Sep 27, 2015; Nashville, TN, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) runs off the field after defeating the Tennessee Titans during the second half at Nissan Stadium. Indianapolis won 35-33. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

Next: Andrew Luck Limited for Second Straight Day

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