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2012 Colts Training Camp Report: Pagano Switches Linkenbach To Guard For Reasons That Defy Logic

By Brad Wells
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Hooray!!!

We have our first What the f**k is he doing? decision by new Colts head coach Chuck Pagano!

[Out come the party favors, free booze, and donkeys snorting cocaine]

That it should happen on the first day of training camp is a bit troubling, but... hey, this is a brand new job for Chuck. He's going to make questionable calls (or calls perceived as questionable) from time to time. Of course, he won't get any slack (because his predecessor didn't), but it's important to acknowledge that Chuck Pagano is not going to be 100% right 100% of the time.

That said, moving Jeff Linkenbach from tackle to guard is dumb. Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb-diddy, dumb-dumb-dumb, DUMB!

And here people were giving me flak for not listing Linkenbach as a left tackle in my pre-camp 53-man roster guesstimate. Sheesh.

There are a few reasons for this move (and none of them sound appealing):

  • The coaches were more impressed with second year players Steven Baker & Mike Tepper, along with journeyman veteran George Foster, at the tackle spots during OTAs than they were with Linkenbach
  • Linkenbach seems better suited for guard in this system
  • The Colts are moving Ben Ijalana back to tackle
  • The coaches are just interchanging players because, quite frankly, they don't have a clue

We all saw Link play guard in 2010, and to say he was terrible would not give proper justice to the word. Olympic broadcast tape delays are terrible. Adam Sandler's last movie was terrible. Linkenbach at guard was a catastrophe!

Regarding Ijalana, he is still listed as a guard on the team's depth chart page. Then again, Linkenbach is still listed at tackle there too. If Ijalana stays at guard, that means the tackle depth is Anthony Castonzo, Winston Justice, Steven Baker, George Foster, and Mike Tepper.

Yeah, I just shook my head at that. Here's to hoping Pagano knows what he's doing.

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