What to Expect: Offensive Line
by Colts Homer on Jul 31, 2009 12:04 AM EDT
10 comments
The offensive line scares me. There is only one player that I am completely sure in, and that is All-Pro center Jeff Saturday. Mike Pollak had a terrible rookie year. Ryan Lilja is coming off of a bad injury. Tony Ugoh is very injury-prone. Ryan Diem is old and losing it. I feel extremely confident about every single unit except for this one. Saturday is obviously a once-in-a-generation type of center, but I cannot get behind the rest of the offensive line. Hopefully Ugoh and Lilja can stay healthy and Pollak and Diem can improve and prove me wrong. 10 questions this time.
1. Do you expect Jeff Saturday to be a Hall of Famer?
2. Do you expect Tony Ugoh to be the starting left tackle in 2010?
3. Do you expect Ryan Lilja to start in Week One against Jacksonvile?
4. Do you expect Mike Pollak to be significantly improved this year?
5. Do you expect Ryan Diem to be on the Colts in 2010?
6. Do you expect Jaimie Thomas to make the roster?
7. Do you expect Charlie Johnson to ever be a regular starter for the Colts again?
8. How many more years do you expect Jeff Saturday to play?
9. Do you expect either Kyle DeVan or Tom Pestock to make the roster?
10. Do you expect Ugoh to be re-signed after the 2010 season?
My answers are after the jump.
1. Yes. If Dwight Stephenson is in the Hall of Fame, Saturday will get in also.
2. Yes. Ugoh will have a bounce back year and claim his starting job.
3. He better be. I expect him too, and if he is not, I will freak out about the offensive line.
4. Yes. Remember he did not have a training camp last season, and Mudd will work extensively with him and make him a good lineman.
5. No. Diem will be cut to save money. Either a draft pick or Charlie Johnson will be the starting right tackle in 2010.
6. Before Cornelius Lewis got cut, I would have said no way in hell. But with Lewis gone, he will make the roster.
7. Yes. Johnson will either be a starting right tackle in 2010 or a starting guard in the near future. He will be re-signed after this season.
8. Saturday will play out his contract and retire when it is finished. Jamey Richard will take over after that.
9. No. Both of them will get cut unless Steve Justice just absolutely sucks in training camp and preseason.
10. Yes. Ugoh will be re-signed for a short three year contract barring a major injury.
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1. Do you expect Jeff Saturday to be a Hall of Famer?
Yes, he’s the man
2. Do you expect Tony Ugoh to be the starting left tackle in 2010?
Yes and beyond
3. Do you expect Ryan Lilja to start in Week One against Jacksonvile?
Yes, I’m hopeful, though the word from camp last year was that he was going to be ok to play.
4. Do you expect Mike Pollak to be significantly improved this year?
Yes, more time to learn and adjust, after he got less than usual thanks to a preseason injury costing him valuable preseason/early season time
5. Do you expect Ryan Diem to be on the Colts in 2010?
Yes, unless the cap comes off he’ll cost about as much to cut (4.6mil) as to keep (4.95mil) next year. He may return to his roots and play guard in 2010 or 2011 though.
6. Do you expect Jaimie Thomas to make the roster?
Yeah, but not to do much of anything in the league.
7. Do you expect Charlie Johnson to ever be a regular starter for the Colts again?
Completely depends on the health of the line, he’s still the 6th man in my eyes and if he keeps progressing as a player he might end up as the RT.
8. How many more years do you expect Jeff Saturday to play?
I expect he’ll finish out his 3 year contract. Centers play a long time.
9. Do you expect either Kyle DeVan or Tom Pestock to make the roster?
No
10. Do you expect Ugoh to be re-signed after the 2010 season?
Yes, unless he takes another step backwards or expects to be paid for his unrealized potential rather than his past play.
That's big talk for a little guy,
but I'm walkin' without reply.
-Lil Wayne "Mr. Postman"
Ditto
"I throw, you catch. It's NOT that hard!"
Peyton Manning, SNL, 2007
by peytonsthebest on Jul 31, 2009 12:17 PM EDT up reply actions
Not terribly surprising
That I agree with Shake on most everything above.
But Saturday, as much as we might want it, will not make the HOF.
What he needs, IMO, is another SB win, maybe 2, three more Pro Bowls, three more 12-win seasons with high offensive rankings, and heavy campaigning from his battery mate (which will happen—see Bradshaw/Webster).
He COULD achieve all these things and then I am pretty confident he’d be elected eventually (you know how skill-player focused these numbskulls are—guys with measurable stats are where it’s at, unfortunately. What’s the on-field ratio of OL to QBs, 5:1, but the HOF has it almost reversed. How can that be logically justified?), but if he has no more broad national exposure and plugs along at his current level with 11-win seasons, he’ll fade into national obscurity like most other lunchpail guys.
Does he deserve it? Yes. So do Jim Johnson and Tom Moore and Bill Polian. But….. the Hall has not made a habit of rewarding all the deserving but slightly obscure men out there.
Saturday is not the overpowering dominant mountain of muscle one might think of as the stereotypical OL, but he is cerebral and fast to adapt—he is the Peyton Manning of a very successful OL, making late calls and adjustments on the fly. And who can forget the first Broncos playoff game when he switched to guard to manhandle Trevor price after Pryce abused our Guard two weeks before? Didn’t somebody rack up a perfect passer rating in that game? Let’s see…. Selfless to the extreme, the archetype of what you want an OL to be. But all he gets from me is an “I hope he makes it, he deserves it, but right now it’s maybe 50/50” for the HOF.
I hate Joe Namath. That's how long I've been a Colts fan.
correction
with a new CBA they’ll probably be able to split the cap penalty for cuts over two years again. I think it worked out as 2/3rd in year 1 and 1/3 in year two meaning it would cost 3.1mil against the cap to cut Diem under a CBA that runs capped to at least 2012 with the same rules on cut players.
So the question in 2010 would be is he worth 1.85mil in cap space. I think he will be, but maybe as a guard.
That's big talk for a little guy,
but I'm walkin' without reply.
-Lil Wayne "Mr. Postman"
by shake n bake on Jul 31, 2009 12:51 PM EDT up reply actions
I really don't know much about the O-line, so bare with me :-)
1. Do you expect Jeff Saturday to be a Hall of Famer?
Heck Yeah!!!
2. Do you expect Tony Ugoh to be the starting left tackle in 2010?
Yes, hopefully this will be a rebound year for him.
3. Do you expect Ryan Lilja to start in Week One against Jacksonvile?
God, I hope so.
4. Do you expect Mike Pollak to be significantly improved this year?
Yes.
5. Do you expect Ryan Diem to be on the Colts in 2010?
Nah, dude’s old.
6. Do you expect Jaimie Thomas to make the roster?
Maybe.
7. Do you expect Charlie Johnson to ever be a regular starter for the Colts again?
I guess.
8. How many more years do you expect Jeff Saturday to play?
He’ll finish out his contract.
9. Do you expect either Kyle DeVan or Tom Pestock to make the roster?
Who?
10. Do you expect Ugoh to be re-signed after the 2010 season?
It depends on how well he does this up coming season.
"Peyton Manning flow, I just go no huddle."
- Lil' Wayne, Put Some Keys on That
My Answers~
1.Yes.
2. If he proves he can be healthy and consistant, then yes.
3. Yes, he should be starting.
4. Yes, he’s had one year under his belt now.
5. No, the Colts have made moves to replace Diem.
6. Yes.
7. Not unless someone’s injurred.
8. He’ll play out his contract and then retire.
9. ….No.
10. See #2.
I'll be the DJ, tell me what to play. No, I won't even play, just keep it on replay.
1. Do you expect Jeff Saturday to be a Hall of Famer?
Absolutely
2. Do you expect Tony Ugoh to be the starting left tackle in 2010?
Yes
3. Do you expect Ryan Lilja to start in Week One against Jacksonvile?
I think more than a year to recover is plenty enough to return. Him actually participating in minicamp is a positive
4. Do you expect Mike Pollak to be significantly improved this year?
Definitely
5. Do you expect Ryan Diem to be on the Colts in 2010?
Yes, but I expect him to be gone sometime after
6. Do you expect Jaimie Thomas to make the roster?
This year yes. Future years? not so sure
7. Do you expect Charlie Johnson to ever be a regular starter for the Colts again?
He showed he is capable of playing RT, so naybe he will take over for Diem in a year or two
8. How many more years do you expect Jeff Saturday to play?
4. I think he will play one more year after his current deal is up.
9. Do you expect either Kyle DeVan or Tom Pestock to make the roster?
I think one of them might make it. Im banking on the younger one (not sure who is the younger of the two) as he might be the air apparent to Saturday depending on his performance in camo this year.
10. Do you expect Ugoh to be re-signed after the 2010 season?
Yes. I believe Ugoh will finally display why the Colts spent a 1st rounder to move up and get him.
My answers are quite simple...
1. Do you expect Jeff Saturday to be a Hall of Famer?
YES
2. Do you expect Tony Ugoh to be the starting left tackle in 2010?
YES
3. Do you expect Ryan Lilja to start in Week One against Jacksonvile?
YES
4. Do you expect Mike Pollak to be significantly improved this year?
YES
5. Do you expect Ryan Diem to be on the Colts in 2010?
YES
6. Do you expect Jaimie Thomas to make the roster?
YES
7. Do you expect Charlie Johnson to ever be a regular starter for the Colts again?
YES
8. How many more years do you expect Jeff Saturday to play?
YES?
9. Do you expect either Kyle DeVan or Tom Pestock to make the roster?
YES
10. Do you expect Ugoh to be re-signed after the 2010 season?
YES
by Colts_and_Cavs_in_09! on Jul 31, 2009 3:10 AM EDT reply actions
..
1, No, but not because he lacks the talent for it
2, Yes
3, No
4, Yes
5, No
6, No
7, Maybe
8, 2
9, No
10, Yes
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Ugoh
I agree with everyone here except MAYBE for #10 Ugoh. I think he has underachieved and if he doesn’t improve…I could see us drafting a lineman early in the next couple drafts to take his place. But I think even if he does play bad they will keep him…they just wont pay to keep him. Having said this, he had better improve after being called out
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