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Colts Wednesday Mailbag: When Will The Colts Settle On A Starting Offensive Line?

Intro: This Wednesday, mailbag readers inquire about how the Colts will use their pass catchers, the defensive line rotation and how much Andrew Luck will run in 2015.

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INDIANAPOLIS – Each week, readers of Colts.com can submit their questions to have a chance of them being answered in our Wednesday or Saturday mailbag.

Here is the collection of Wednesday questions:Charles Smith (Fresno, CA)

I think we need a more powerful offensive run formation that includes pass options for our 2 tight ends. We have great blocking with gore. Let's create a new formation to capitalize on our talent. then we can also spread wide and pass or run gore from that to throw defense off balance. What do you think

Bowen: This is one of my areas to watch in Training Camp, and in the preseason. With all the additions and talent at the wide receiver position, is that going to diminish the roles of Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen? Pep Hamilton loves unpredictability in his personnel groupings so I don't see him totally discounting how he uses his tight ends (Jack Doyle included). There's no denying that when the Colts had a healthy Allen and Fleener last year, the offense was at its peak. I expect those sorts of sets to continue in 2015, because of the balance it provides the offense.

Gordon Leffel (Fredericksburg, VA)

Do you think the Colts will make a play for Evan Mathis .. With Grigson's ties to Philly or are we going to hold onto that money for other players ?

Bowen: Reports certainly say that the Colts will not be making a move for Mathis. The ties to Philadelphia (like you mentioned) though are obvious with Ryan Grigson's history there. Obviously, the money situation is one to watch, too. Mathis is going to warrant a much more significant payday than most free agents this time of year. Would that impact the Colts interest with the well-known upcoming free agents already on the Indianapolis roster? The other thing to keep in mind is the suitors for Mathis. He's likely to have plenty of options to weigh in his next NFL move, along with no real immediate timetable to make a decision. The Colts have their options at guard right now, so a move for Mathis would indicate to me that the health concern of Gosder Cherilus (thus forcing Jack Mewhort to right tackle) is very, very real.

John LeBoeuf (New Bedord, MA)

Why are we doing much shifting around with our offense line ? It seem like were doing all this for one player . We talk all time about keeping this unit together. Why mess the left side of the line (Luck 's blind side ) I would keep Holmes at center ,play Herremans at right guard and Reitz at right tackle. Everything I've read indicates to me that Chreilus won't be ready. Your thoughts please.

Bowen: John, I understand where you're coming from and Chuck Pagano actually addressed this specific question at his final press conference of the offseason. The Colts want OTAs/mini-camp for the offensive line to be all about seeing where guys can fit. Expecting that you will have the same starting five for an entire season would just be naïve. Now, once Training Camp arrives, Pagano says the Colts do need to find an early five and mesh that group together as best as possible. When the Colts head up to Anderson, I do expect a five to begin to separate themselves and then the effort to find an eight-to-nine man group becomes the next challenge with Gosder Cherilus' health the X-factor up front.

Aidan Matthews (Ireland)

Hi Kevin,

How is the d-line looking in practise? Do you believe some of the younger additions like Anderson, Perry and Irving can get consistent starts or will we see them given their time to develop over the season for future season starts?

Bowen: For the first time in a few weeks, we got a couple of defensive line questions. I'll begin this answer by prefacing it with the disclaimer that full pads (and more accurate judgments) won't come until Training Camp. Nate Irving is going to be an inside linebacker with his return expected to be sometime in August. In the base defense, I still think the Colts will run out Kendall Langford, Josh Chapman and Arthur Jones along the defensive line. I do believe that rookies Henry Anderson and David Parry will see playing time in 2015. Anderson was rotating with the first-team at times in OTAs/mini-camp. He's more of a natural 3-4 defensive end and just because he might not start in 2015, that doesn't mean he won't play 30-40 percent of the defensive snaps as a rookie. Parry is more of an interior guy (could play nose tackle or defensive tackle in sub packages) where the numbers have to get sorted out during Training Camp.

Rodney Allen (Winston-Salem, NC)

HI KEVIN,

HAS THE COLTS FRONT OFFICE TOLD LUCK NOT TO RUN UNLESS AS A LAST RESORT ? IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, LUCK IS THE ONLY QB IN THE HISTORY OF THE NCAA TO HAVE 3 RUNS OF OVER 50 YARDS IN ONE SEASON. HE'S A 4.6 GUY AND THERE'S A LOT OF TIMES WHEN WE HAVE A 3RD AND 2 OR EVEN A 3RD AND 4 AND HE SEEMS TO FORCE THE BALL INTO COVERAGE OR THROW IT AWAY RATHER THAN TAKE OFF. THANKS

Bowen: In the three years of Andrew Luck at quarterback, the Colts have hardly called any designed runs for No. 12. Luck's football mind has the Colts trust in deciding when the quarterback feels the right time is to tuck and run. In Luck's continued development, I think you will see more of him taking his medicine and either getting what he can on the ground or finding backs/tight ends to dump the ball off to and surviving to the next down.

K W (Massachusetts)

Kevin,

Another question regarding the most inquired about position on the roster: What type of passing offense can we expect this year with the receivers we have? Hilton, Moncrief, and Dorsett are known for their speed and ability to get behind coverage. It can be assumed that Johnson will take over Wayne's role with short/intermediate routes, throw Allen in there too. Is that going to be enough balance the passing game? We certainly won't have a dink and dunk short game, but is it possible Pep will shoot long range too much?

Bowen: How the Colts utilize the individuals in their group of pass catchers isn't a worry of mine heading into 2015. I'm not sure there's a team in the NFL that has a more complete group of wide receiver/tight end targets than the Colts. K H, I think you were pretty accurate in how you break down what Pep Hamilton will be working with in 2015. When the Colts had their full allotment of skill guys last year, Hamilton had everyone involved in one of the league's top offenses. What I will be watching for in the passing game this season is what the Colts do with that third wide receiver position and how many two tight end sets we see in 2015.

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