INDIANAPOLIS -- Each week on Examiner.com, Indy Football Report Editor John Oehser offers seven thoughts on all things surrounding the Indianapolis Colts. Without further delay, the fifth Magnificent Seven of the 2010 season, this one looking at seven issues as the Colts approach the 2010 regular-season opener . . .
7. Farewell, Tony Ugoh. The move made sense, and in retrospect, maybe we should have seen it coming, but it was still a bit of surprise Wednesday afternoon when the Colts waived/injured offensive tackle Tony Ugoh. However unexpected or unexpected, the move likely marked the end of the Colts career of a player who never quite fulfilled expectations, and whose status around the Colts dropped dramatically in the last 18 months. Ugoh, who played collegiately at Arkansas, was a second-round selection in the 2007 NFL Draft, but he actually was more than that, with the Colts having traded a first-round selection in the 2008 NFL Draft for the rights to select him in '07. He quickly moved into a difficult situation, because although he was drafted to replace three-time Pro Bowl left tackle Tarik Glenn in 2008, Glenn retired shortly before the 2007 training camp opened. Ugoh moved into the lineup, starting for two seasons before he was replaced by Charlie Johnson during the 2009 off-season. Ugoh played a backup role last season, then worked at guard during this year's off-season and preseason, but with the Colts dealing with injuries all around the offensive line – and with Ugoh missing practice Wednesday with a toe injury – the Colts placed him on the waived/injured list early Wednesday evening. The move surprised only because you figured Ugoh's versatility might be valuable considering the depleted line. But if Ugoh had shown he couldn't play guard and that he couldn't stay healthy and available in a time of need, then the move indeed made sense. Either way, it is the apparent end of a player who seemed to have a lot of ability, but never developed into the dominating, franchise-level left tackle the Colts hoped he'd become in April 2007.
6. A difficult debut. If the Colts hadn't done this “Next Man Up” thing so well and so often, the idea of starting a rookie at left tackle against – gulp – Texans Pro Bowl defensive end Mario Williams would be a huge story. As it is, the thought of rookie offensive left tackle Jeff Linkenbach possibly starting Sunday in the regular season is noteworthy, but perhaps not a situation that can't be overcome by the Colts. With Charlie Johnson, the starter at left tackle last season, limited on Wednesday in practice with a foot injury, the possibility of Linkenbach – who played at the University of Cincinnati and signed as a free agent shortly after the 2010 NFL Draft – starting the regular-season opener became more real. And the release of Ugoh further solidified that possibility. But the Colts have been here before. They started rookie free-agent corner Jacob Lacey throughout last season, and seventh-rounder Jamey Richard starter at center and guard as a rookie seven times in 2008. It's not ideal, and it's hard to imagine Linkenbach won't get a lot of help from tight ends and backs on the dangerous Williams, but the Colts believe reserves – no matter what their draft status or experience level – have to play at a high level and they've done so often enough that you're sort of surprised when it doesn't happen. “If he (Johnson) were to be unable to play, I still feel good about the plan,” Colts quarterback Peyton Manning said.
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