Khaled Holmes is the Colts' starting center... we think

It was, by far, the shortest answer in Chuck Pagano's Monday press conference.

"Khaled is our starting center," the Colts coach said.

As in, Khaled Holmes has the job and Jon Harrison is not currently considered a challenger.

I asked the question not because I felt Harrison was a legitimate contender. Instead, the question was prompted by the fact that the Colts had been giving Harrison snaps with the first-team offense the past two games, suggesting this decision had not yet been made.

Alas, Pagano put any speculation to rest with his strong, concise statement.

And thank goodness for that.

The only thing worse than lacking a solid player at center is burning through three centers in one season. Who does that, you ask?

The Colts.

It happened last season, when A.Q. Shipley began the season as the starting center (while Holmes was out with a high ankle sprain), Harrison later grabbed the job then, finally, Holmes finished the season, taking over in Week 16 through the AFC Championship Game.

Quarterback Andrew Luck has been the victim of way too much transition at center, something that is detrimental to any quarterback's success. Continuity with the center was something that Peyton Manning enjoyed for so many years with Jeff Saturday, but Luck has had no such stability.

Holmes, so far, doesn't look like the next coming of Saturday. But at this point, that's not where the bar is.

Simply bringing an end to all the turnover at center would be an improvement for the Colts. Holmes' performance will mostly determine whether he can accomplish that.

Maybe Holmes is the guy. Or maybe we're kidding ourselves and he's just the first of three centers who will start games this season.

We don't know that answer yet. But we sure know Luck hopes it's the former, not the latter.