In a move that it’s safe to say no one expected, center Phil Costa has decided to retire just weeks after signing with the Colts.
26 year-old Colts center Phil Costa retires. So rare to see a player actually retire before the team "retires" him first.
— Andrew Brandt (@adbrandt) April 21, 2014
If the Colts were lacking at the center position before, it’s become a vulnerability now. In the post-Manning era, the position has yielded little turnover since Jeff Saturday left following the 2011 season. The Colts do have options as to how they want to tackle the weakness they have at Center. Is it Khaled’s time? Indianapolis drafted Khaled Holmes out of USC in the 2013 draft and he has since made little impact. At the time Grigson called Holmes the “center of the future”. 
Perhaps the future has arrived for the young Holmes, who appeared in only three games last season. Holmes was expected to compete with Costa this offseason. Instead, he is in a similar situation to Trent Richardson. The summer months leading up to the regular season will be huge for Holmes. He seems pretty confident in the early going
Khaled Holmes eager to prove he's #Colts' center. Video http://t.co/9KM7HifJjp via @indystar — Phillip B Wilson (@pwilson24) April 24, 2014
The payoff could be enormous should Holmes live up to the expectations. At only 24 years of age, he has the opportunity to become the next Jeff Saturday to Luck’s Manning: another fruitful partnership between a quarterback and his center for the Colts.
A new focus for the draft
The center positions was on the short list of the Colts’ priorities as the Draft gets closer.
Now it’s arguably their top priority.
The Colts don’t pick their first player until late in the second round, but only nine centers have been taken in the first round this century, so it’s a pretty safe bet that the Manziels, Bortles, and Clowneys of this year’s draft will be taken before the centers run out.
Should that come to be, there are two names the Colts would do well to look into, the first of which is Marcus Martin from USC.
Martin is rated by many as the No. 1 center in this year’s crop. He’s met with a number of teams already, including Detroit and Philadelphia, but it’s hard to think that any of them would value Martin more than Indianapolis with Costa riding off into the sunset.
At 6-foot-3 and 310 pounds, Martin certainly fits the bill in the size department to be under center, and he is also a versatile athlete. In his first two seasons for the Trojans, he played at the guard position, but center is where he belongs.
Should another team take Martin before Indy can snag him, there’s also Weston Richburg out of Colorado State.
[caption id="attachment_570" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Richburg would be a steal if the Colts can pick him up with their first pick."]
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In a league where injuries are becoming more and more common, Richburg provides reason to be optimistic, as he started all 50 games of his college career. He is also quick on his feet, an attribute essential to the center position, as well as a great leader with his calls on the line.
The best news out there about Richburg is the comparison some are drawing between him and Alex Mack – a free-agent center Grigson tried to reel in before Cleveland snagged him up once again.
Maybe that was a sign.
In any case, this draft presents several opportunities for the Colts, should they decide to go that route instead of developing the inexperienced Khaled Holmes.
