Colts Will Start an Unexpected Offensive Line Against the Rams
By Keenan Alban
The Colts are mixing up their offensive line this week. At the beginning of the offseason, all fans expected the offensive line to be Castonzo, Mewhort, Kelly, Haeg, Clark. Injuries and other various factors have occurred, and now the Colts will feature a very different offensive line this Sunday.
Left Tackle
As expected, Anthony Castonzo will get the call once again.
He has been a rock for the line since being drafted in the first round in 2011. Despite being a slightly above-average left tackle in the NFL, he has been the most important and relied on offensive lineman in the Andrew Luck era.
Look for Castonzo to handle Robert Quinn on Sunday, and to continue to deal with opponents’ best pass rushers all season long.
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Left Guard
Jeremy Vujnovich has been Joe Philbin’s plug-and-play guy since he came to the Colts last year.
Despite expecting to be a backup, Vujnovich will start over Joe Haeg on Sunday. Neither one had a great preseason, but we’ve all heard so much about Jeremy’s great work ethic, which is probably what won him this job.
Thankfully Aaron Donald will not be playing, but Vujnovich will still have a tough task dealing with Wade Phillips’ famous inside stunts, and having to help an undrafted rookie starting next to him.
Center
As mentioned above, Jeremy Vujnovich will have an undrafted rookie starting next to him.
Ryan Kelly went down a few weeks ago with a foot injury, and enter Deyshawn Bond. Many people expected Brian Schwenke to backup Kelly this season, but Schwenke was hurt throughout the offseason program and did not make the roster.
Bond played decent in the preseason, and fans should just hope he can hold down the fort while we wait for Kelly to return.
Right Guard
Thank the lord for a healthy Jack Mewhort.
Mewhort will switch over from the left side to the right this year in a schematic decision made by offensive line coach, Joe Philbin. Mewhort has been awesome when healthy in his career and has shown an ability to play left guard, right tackle, and now right guard.
He will need to help Deyshawn Bond a lot this week, as well as dealing with defensive tackle Michael Brockers.
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Right Tackle
Ryan Grigson‘s 2016 third round pick, Le’Raven Clark had a disappointing preseason and will take the back seat to Denzelle Good, at least for now.
Good showed promise at right tackle in his rookie year before switching to guard, and the former seventh round pick will be out to prove his worth on Sunday. Hopefully we see Le’Raven Clark get back to where he was at the end of 2016, and eventually overtake Good. But for now, Denzelle Good will start at right tackle.
The Colts’ offensive line is far from a finished product, despite the excitement Chuck Pagano expressed earlier this week.
The line will improve significantly when Ryan Kelly returns, which Chris Ballard mentioned will be soon. As far as the future of the offensive line for this year and years to come, it is important that Joe Haeg and Le’Raven Clark continue to develop. For now the line is a bit scary, but if Clark and Haeg can live up to expectations, it could be as good as average by the end of the year.