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In case you haven't been following along this offseason, there are legitimate concerns about Colts' right tackle Gosder Cherilus. He should still be penciled in as the team's projected starter, but there are questions about his health and his play, and questions particularly about how he'll do recovering from injuries that plagued him last year and eventually ended his season. For the Colts (and, as a result, for media and fans as well), it's a wait and see approach for Cherilus, and while the hope is that he'll be back and play at his 2013 level again, it's simply unknown right now.
The team is targeting a June return for Cherilus, meaning that he's not yet back participating in the offseason workouts with the team. That was true today as well, as Cherilus wasn't practicing during the team's second OTA session of the year and the first one that was open to the media.
Because of the fact that Cherilus isn't back yet, it's important to not read too much into who is at right tackle (or even along the other offensive line spots) during OTAs. But because of the legitimate questions surrounding Cherilus' status, it's at least worth noting, as it could give us an idea of what the Colts might do if Cherilus can't go at right tackle.
As the Indianapolis Star's Stephen Holder notes, Joe Reitz spent time at right tackle today, as did Jack Mewhort.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Remember what I said about Jack Mewhort getting a look at right tackle? Well he's getting some reps there. Shows what I know. Nothing.</p>— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) <a href="https://twitter.com/HolderStephen/status/601053056986456065">May 20, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Also have seen Joe Reitz at right tackle with first team. A lot of Hugh Thornton at left guard too. Take it all w grain of salt.</p>— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) <a href="https://twitter.com/HolderStephen/status/601054971640053760">May 20, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Remember, it's crucial to not read too much into what happens at one workout, particularly during OTAs. But based on today's session that was open to the media, it appears that the Colts' top choices at right tackle in the case Cherilus can't go would be Joe Reitz or Jack Mewhort. It seems like Reitz would be the first guy to get a chance there, as he was the one who stepped in last year and played well once Cherilus was placed on IR, and the Colts brought him back on a three-year deal this offseason. Furthermore, that would allow Jack Mewhort to stay at left guard, where he played well a year ago as a rookie.
But another option that the Colts would have is to move Jack Mewhort to right tackle, since the team appears to have more depth at guard than they do at tackle. According to Mike Chappell, the starting right tackle today would appear to have been Mewhort. Moving Mewhort to right tackle would open up the left guard spot, and it sounds like the Colts are having Hugh Thornton work there a bit despite playing right guard in his first two seasons with the team. At the very least, this gives Thornton a bit of flexibility to play multiple spots along the line wherever the Colts need him, and if Mewhort did move to right tackle then Thornton might be one of the top options to replace him at guard. What we also see in all of this is that, at least right now, it looks like the team is fully planning on Todd Herremans starting at right guard, which has been expected ever since the Colts signed him. One more note from Chappell is that Jonotthan Harrison would appear to have been the first-team starting center today (instead of Khaled Holmes), though keep in mind that things are fluid and likely will change quite a bit moving forward. Harrison and Holmes will be splitting reps this offseason.
Again (because someone is sure to miss this and leave a comment about it below), it's important to not read too much into things right now. It's still a fluid situation, and especially since the media is only able to see one OTA session a week we don't know whether the Colts are just trying something out for the day or whether it's something that they'll keep working on. But since we know there are questions about Gosder Cherilus, the right tackle position is going to be one to watch and we can get at least an idea of what the Colts might do if Cherilus can't go from seeing what the team is doing during OTAs, as Cherilus isn't yet practicing.