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Report: Colts may change up starting offensive line for game versus Titans

According to the Indianapolis Star's Stephen Holder, there may be a change to the starting offensive line for the Colts for today's game against the Titans. We just don't know what that change will be.

Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

It's no secret that the Indianapolis Colts' offensive line has been bad in the first two games of the season.  Andrew Luck has been under way too much pressure, with much of it coming along the interior of the line.  Blown blocks and holding penalties have added up to make it a pretty dismal offensive start this season.  They're not the only ones to blame, to be sure, as Andrew Luck shares a lot of it, as do others.  But the line needs to be better when protecting the franchise quarterback.  It's that simple.

The Colts talked a lot about continuity along the line, and that was the right focus.  They wanted the same starting five out there, which is exactly what they did in training camp, preseason, and the first two games.  But could it be that they are already considering a chance?  It sounds like that may be the case, according to the Indianapolis Star's Stephen Holder:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Heads up: Look for possible OL change in today&#39;s <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Colts?src=hash">#Colts</a> game. Info sketchy so I won&#39;t get specific/speculate. Lots of OL discussion this wk</p>&mdash; Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) <a href="https://twitter.com/HolderStephen/status/648127761408741376">September 27, 2015</a></blockquote>

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He declines to get into specifics but indicates an offensive line change might be coming.  This wouldn't be abnormal for the Colts, as they kept things very secretive before inserting Jonotthan Harrison into the starting lineup in place of A.Q. Shipley last year.

If there is a change, I can think of two positions that could be the options.  Firstly, the center position would be an option, as Khaled Holmes has struggled and Jonotthan Harrison is on the bench.  The Colts have been firmly behind Holmes as their starting center ever since training camp began, however, and so it would be a surprising move to see the Colts bench Holmes now after only two weeks, even with his struggles.  It would say a lot about what the Colts think of Holmes' play if that is the case.

I think it more likely, however, that a change would come at left guard.  Lance Louis has been starting there and has been even worse than Holmes, and he's also dealing with a shoulder injury.  He missed practice on Wednesday and was limited on Thursday, and while he was a full participant on Friday and listed as probable, the Colts still got a chance to work Hugh Thornton in at left guard some in practice this week.  Making the switch from Louis to Thornton, therefore, would at least have some semblance of continuity (it's a stretch, but you can see it) and would make sense.  Of course, I'd be all in favor of giving Joe Reitz the start there, but it's much more likely that it would be Thornton if a move is made.

We don't have much information to go on, so we'll just have to wait and see.  If nothing else, it's a talking point before the game: what move would you most like to see the Colts make along the offensive line for today's game?