With training camp a little less than two weeks away, Indy Football Report Editor John Oehser will spend the final weeks of the off-season examining 21 questions about the Indianapolis Colts entering 2010 . . .
No. 12: Will the run blocking improve?
We move today to the 12th part of this series examining 21 questions around the 2010 Indianapolis Colts, this one addressing what has been a question throughout the off-season -- and really, what has been a question for several years: Will the run blocking improve?
The answer is if it doesn't, the Colts certainly will be disappointed.
It has, after all, been a major focus of the 2010 off-season.
The Colts, after ranking 31st in the NFL in rushing in 2008, ranked 32nd – last – in the category last season, and while the Colts focus more on yards per carry than the NFL's measure of rushing yards-per-game, the area is still enough of a concern that the team made several off-season moves addressing the area.
The Colts early in the off-season released OG Ryan Lilja, a long-time starter, and enter training camp with what appears a relatively open competition on the line, particularly at guard.
Tony Ugoh, a starter at left tackle in 2007 and 2008, worked at guard in organized team activities, as did 2008 starter Mike Pollak, 2009 starter Kyle DeVan and Jamey Richard, who started seven games at center and guard as a rookie in 2008.
Jaimie Thomas, who spent last season on the practice squad after being a seventh-round selection in the 2009 NFL Draft, also could compete at the spot, as could Jacques McClendon, a fourth-round selection in the 2010 NFL Draft from the University of Tennessee.
The idea throughout the off-season has been to get a bit bigger on the line, although the team has stopped short of calling it a major change in philosophy.
“I don’t know if it’s a 'shift,'''General Manager Chris Polian said during the off-season. “I think it's kind of analogous to what we did on the defensive line last year, where we may have gotten a little bit too far from the norm, and may have gotten to a little bit of an extreme. Anytime you acquire a player, you’re certainly looking at his size and his strength.
“It's an old Bill Parcells axiom: You don’t want to become too much of one thing at a position. Otherwise, your team becomes that. Just as we focused a little bit more on size that the defensive line last year, it's been a little more of a focus [on size with the offensive line], but I don’t want to say it’s a 'shift' because we would have always liked big offensive linemen. . . . It’s not a shift because the guys we’re bringing in still have feet and still have athletic ability.
"But, to be honest, it's probably something that we are taking a bit more focus on.”
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