Sorry, Charlie! Johnson has left town.

The Colts won’t have Charlie Johnson to kick around any more.   The veteran offensive tackle, who was one of many bodies that the Colts tried at left tackle since Tarik Glenn retired in 2007, signed a free agent contract with the Minnesota Vikings today, according to the Washington Post.   After plummeting to near the bottom of the league in rushing last season, the Colts have focused on the offensive line this spring and summer, but the lockout and contract talks have delayed the development of draft picks Ben Ijalana and Anthony Castonzo.   The general sentiment over the last week was that Indy would find a way to keep Johnson while jettisoning Ryan Diem, but after Diem re-signed yesterday, Johnson walked today.     With Johnson, the Colts at least had a still-prime player with experience at multiple positions, even if LT wasn’t his forte.  Now, the team will field a line full of inexperienced and misplaced players, with little time left  to fix the holes.

Oh, Peyton’s aching neck!

Buffalo Bills: 1-1
Leading Passer: Trent Edwards, 122 yards
Leading Rusher: Xavier Omon, 60 yards
Leading Receiver: Roscoe Parrish, 69 yards
Leading Tackler: Ashton Youboty & John Wendling, 13 tackls

Indianapolis Colts: 1-2
Leading Passer: Quinn Gray, 367 yards
Leading Rusher: Mike Hart, 92 yards
Leading Receiver: Jacob Tamme, 121 yards
Leading Tackler: Jordan Senn, 20 tackles

3 Colts Players To Watch

Dwight Freeney: He’s back and hopefully better than ever.  It feels like forever since we’ve seen Freeney play.  Now his Lis Franc injury is healed and hopefully has no chance of reinjuring.  Now we need to see if he has lost a step or not.  For a speedy defensive end, injuring a foot can be the worst possible kind of injury.  If he still has his spin move, he will be able to dominate again.  If he doesn’t, I think we lost a lot of money with his contract.

Bob Sanders: He’s back and hopefully better than ever.  Bob Sanders hasn’t crushed someone for a while, and I’m sure he is dying to do so.  I feel sorry for the Bills running backs.  They are going to be demolished by Sanders tonight.  I’m never concerned about Sanders’ offseason surgeries.  As long as he is playing, the Colts have one of the three best defenses in the league.  Bob Sanders’ importance is unfathomable.  This team needs him on the field, so hopefully he will be 100% healthy.  Tonight we can see if he is back.

Charlie Johnson: Mike Pollak is hurt, so that means Charlie Johnson is the starting right guard.  Charlie Johnson was awful last year, and we need some protection for Manning if he is still frail against the Bears.  Johnson has to look good tonight or else I am all for giving Jamey Richard his starting job.

Bills Players To Watch

JP Losman: Trent Edwards is injured, so that means JP Losman will be starting this game.  Losman was terrible when he was a starter, and the injury-depleted Colts defensive line needs to get some pressure on him if they want to stop the offense.

Xavier Omon: You may not care about him.  I don’t really care about him.  However, he is really good on NFL Head Coach 09, so I will be paying attention to him.

Leodis McKelvin: McKelvin is one of the best rookies this season and a favorite for Defensive Rookie of the Year.  He’s been returning kicks and already has a touchdown.  On defense, he has five tackles.  McKelvin is good, and it will be a good test for Sorgi, Gray, and/or Lorenzen.

Lineup For Tonight

QB
Jim Sorgi
Quinn Gray
Jared Lorenzen

RB
Joseph Addai
Dominic Rhodes
Mike Hart
Clifton Dawson
Chad Simpson
Kenton Keith

H-B
Gijon Robinson

WR
Reggie Wayne
Marvin Harrison
Anthony Gonzalez
Devin Aromashodu
Pierre Garcon
Onrea Jones
Courtney Roby
Sam Giguere

TE
Dallas Clark
Jacob Tamme
Zac Herold

LT
Tony Ugoh
Dan Federkiel
Darren Marquez

LG
Jamey Richard
Tala Esera

C
Jeff Saturday
Steve Justice

RG
Charlie Johnson

RT
Ryan Diem
Michael Toudouze
Corey Hilliard

LE
Jeff Charleston
Ben Ishola

RE
Dwight Freeney
Josh Thomas

NT
Ed Johnson
Colin Ferrell
Joe Bradley

UT
Keyunta Dawson
Eric Foster
Darrell Reid

SAM
Clint Session
Ramon Guzman
Kyle Shotwell
Marcus Richardson

MIKE
Gary Brackett
Victor Worsley

WILL
Freddie Keiaho
Jordan Senn

CB
Marlin Jackson
Kelvin Hayden
Dante Hughes
Tim Jennings
TJ Rushing
Keiwan Ratliff
Brandon Foster

FS
Antoine Bethea
Jamie Silva
Melvin Bullitt
Antonio Smith

SS
Bob Sanders
Matt Giordano
Brannon Condren

K
Adam Vinatieri
Adam Crossett

P
Hunter Smith

LS
Justin Snow

The Colts, when healthy, have one of the premier offensive lines in the NFL.  This season, they are suffering a tough loss with Jake Scott, the right guard, leaving to Tennessee to join his former teammates (I think there are around 20 former Colts on the Titans now).  The Colts have two players who have a serious shot at getting this job: Third year player Charlie Johnson and rookie Mike Pollak.  Most of you may already know who I like, but if you don’t know or disagree with me, here is my opinion on this race.

Mike Pollak was taken by the Colts in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft.  Still left on the board were Jamaal Charles, Kevin Smith, Earl Bennett, and Early Doucet, all of whom seemed to cover a bigger need for the Colts.  At first, Mike Pollak seemed like an odd pick.  A center from an offensive line that was pathetic in 2007?  However, the more I looked at scouting reports, the more I liked Pollak and this pick.  Looking at rare but valuable offensive linemen stats, I saw that he could be a force at right guard.  He had an 82% blocking consistency and had 15 touchdown-leading blocks.  If the Colts are to have a strong running game in the second half of the season unlike last season, they will need consistent blocking so Addai won’t be getting first contact in the backfield.  He was only penalized four times, so stupid errors, a pet peeve of Peyton Manning, will be rare coming from Pollak.  Pollak has good size for a guard at 6-4, 301, six pounds heavier than Scott, and he also had 29 reps in the bench press.  Looking at his NFL Draft Countdown scouting report, I see the same thing every great Colts lineman gets.  He’s mobile, a good leader, and he’s dependable.  However, he also is unathletic and won’t dominate the opponent.  The Colts offensive line scheme is built for smaller linemen who are mobile and don’t give up sacks on a regular basis.  Pollak may never be Larry Allen, but you won’t see him giving up many sacks.  Pollak fits the Colts scheme perfectly, and he was a great pick at 59.

Photo from Colts.com

Charlie Johnson, on the other hand, is not my type of lineman.  To be fair, his Super Bowl performance in place of Ryan Diem was nothing short of phenomenal.  Last season was a completely different story.  When Charlie Johnson was filling in for Tony Ugoh and Ryan Diem last season, he looked completely lost.  Johnson is inexperienced at offensive line.  He only played it for one year in college.  He needed to be helped by Ryan Lilja and Jake Scott on multiple occasions.  I do not like the prospect of him being a starter for the Colts.  Teams know that he is not very mobile and a bad pass blocker, and he would be targeted all game long.  The Colts need a guard who will not be dominated by stronger defensive lineman and look foolish when trying to pass block.

Photo by Donald Miralle, Getty Images

As you probably can tell, I give the job to Mike Pollak.  Last year, Johnson lost out on the left tackle job to Tony Ugoh, a second round pick.  It will be deja vu all over again for Johnson.  Pollak is a more consistent blocker and a better pass blocker.  In my opinion, this is a no brainer.  Mike Pollak should be the starting right guard for the 2008 season.