Can the Indianapolis Colts Overcome Offensive Line Woes?

To say the Indianapolis Colts offense has high expectations this year would be putting it mildly.

Along with the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers, the Colts have been seen as one of the potentially record-breaking offenses for 2015. Chris Simms of Bleacher Report ranked the Colts as the second-best offense in the league earlier this offseason.

With star Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson falling victim to a season-ending ACL tear, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, and stud Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey suffering a surgery-inducing ankle injury this weekend, the possibility of the Colts leading the league in offense has increased even further.

The Colts were one of the most explosive offenses in the league last season, finishing among the top teams in the NFL in bulk statistics.

Statistic	Total	2014 Rank
Yards	6,506	3rd
Points	458	6th
Passing Yards	4,894	1st
Passing Touchdowns	42	1st

Now, according to Football Outsiders, the Colts did suffer a bit in rate and efficiency metrics, but a strong offense was clearly the strength of the team.

With the additions of Andre Johnson and Frank Gore, the Colts addressed those efficiency issues. Gore adds a huge upgrade to Trent Richardson at running back, giving the Colts a viable between-the-tackles threat to keep defenses honest. Johnson gives the Colts a legitimate upgrade over Reggie Wayne as a possession receiver, so the Colts can still function when teams take away the deep pass.

Then there is the ascension of Donte Moncrief and T.Y. Hilton at receiver, Dwayne Allen and Coby Fleener at tight end and the return of Dan Herron as a depth running back. Throw in exciting rookie options in Phillip Dorsett and Josh Robinson, and you have a perfect mix of skill position players for Indianapolis.

All seems to be well for the Colts.

Unfortunately, there is one group of players that can quickly derail an offense, and it happens to be the Colts' weakest position group on the team: offensive line.

Outside of left tackle Anthony Castonzo, the Colts offensive line is a complete question mark.

Going position by position does not instill confidence.

• Left guard Lance Louis finished last year with the Colts' second-worst Pro Football Focus grade on the offense with a minus-14.3. His backup, Hugh Thornton, is out with a knee injury for the foreseeable future.
• Center Khaled Holmes is an abysmal run-blocker and has started just two games in two seasons despite the Colts' poor play at the position. His backup, Jonotthan Harrison, provides much more push in the run game but is an undrafted free agent who has displayed significant awareness and communication concerns.
• Right guard Todd Herremans is 32, coming off the worst year of his career and has looked terrible in the preseason thus far. His minus-3.7 grade from Pro Football Focus is the worst among the starting offensive linemen.
• Jack Mewhort was moved to right tackle this offseason but was roasted by Pernell McPhee in the Colts' loss to the Bears, and his ability to handle NFL-caliber speed-rushers is a complete question mark.

So far in the preseason, the offensive line struggles have been apparent for the first team in Indianapolis.

In the Colts' first game against the Eagles, the first team couldn't get any push in the run game. The interior offensive line especially struggled to get to the second level and block linebackers. Frank Gore and Dan Herron both sitting out didn't help, but second-year running back Zurlon Tipton had a tough time getting past the line of scrimmage.

The second week of the preseason was the opposite: Pass protection was the problem. Mewhort almost single-handedly sabotaged the Colts' first drive, allowing a sack on 2nd-and-5 and a pressure on third down to force an incompletion. Nat Newell of the Indianapolis Star tweeted:

On the Colts' second drive, Mewhort and Herremans both lost control of their men, leading to a hard hit on Luck. Even the usually sturdy Castonzo got in on the action, allowing a hurry around the edge on third down to force a punt on the drive.

The team did manage to put an impressive 89-yard touchdown drive together on the third try, but the damage was already done in terms of perception.

Luck got beat up. Two drives were cut short because of high-profile offensive line leaks.

It's led to a lot of handwringing among Indianapolis media and understandably so. According to Mike Wells of ESPN.com, the Colts have concerns about Luck's protection behind the offensive line. Mewhort, per Mike Chappell of Indy Sports Central, calls the struggles "growing pains":

"

Obviously I'm having some growing pains. Our emphasis has been on starting fast and when I go out there and do something like that ... you can't start fast when your guy's on top of the quarterback. ...

They're monsters and I have to be ready to go against guys like that every week. Obviously (Saturday) I didn't hold up the way I wanted to. I settled in better later, but it's crippling when you go out there as a tackle and give up a bad sack like that on the second play of the game.

"

The Colts certainly hope they are just growing pains rather than symptoms of larger, more permanent issues. Last season, the offensive line was closer to average than league-worst, and if it improves at all, the league-leading offense should certainly reside in Indianapolis.

Can the Colts overcome a below-average line? Certainly. The Colts have done that before and certainly could again.

The offense will be good, no matter what. The spectrum of possibilities for the offense is all on the above-average side. But just how good could be determined by the line.

Record-breaking? League leaders? The Colts will need the offensive line to be better than it's been thus far in the preseason for that.