In the seventh of a series, Indy Football Report Editor John Oehser continues to break down the Colts’ roster entering the 2010 offseason . . .
PART SEVEN: THE CENTERS . . .
Analyzing the Indianapolis Colts’ center position has pretty much been the same story for a while now, a single-topic story if there ever was one.
And a reliable story as well.
Jeff Saturday, who will enter his 12th NFL season next season, has been starting plays in front of Peyton Manning for so long, and has been so durable and so consistent, that it was easy at times this past season to forget that he nearly didn’t re-sign with the team the previous off-season.
It was also easy to forget he was 34 years old.
Those elements are the best place to start an off-season look at the Colts’ center position, because those are the factors facing the team as the offseason begins:
Saturday was good this season. Very good. He was named a Pro Bowl starter for a fourth time in the last five seasons.
But he will be 35 next season, and while centers historically can play at a high level into their late 30s, and while Saturday clearly has continued to do, he also is entering the second year of a three-year contract.
At the very least, that could make center in the team’s long-term plans.
Saturday over the last half-decade has turned the Colts’ center position into more than just another important position in the offense, because the way he plays it, it’s more than snapping the ball and blocking the player in front of him.
