Andrew Luck Will be the Colts First Round Draft Choice
So now, officially, the Colts will be drafting Andrew Luck first overall.
No great surprise, it's what most expected, but Colts have told Andrew Luck they will take him with the No. 1 overall pick, per NFL source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 19, 2012
With comments made earlier this week by Ryan Grigson that the decision had been made for a long time, this confirms the beliefs that everybody, their brother, and their brother's weird in-laws had ever since Peyton Manning was officially let go (and even before then).
Unless Grigson was lying, and I don't think he was, then the Colts had a plan. That plan was to rebuild with Andrew Luck as the quarterback of the future. They fully committed to the plan, which I respect and applaud them for. Whether it was the right move or not is not yet decided, but their actions in moving forward with the plan have been commendable.
If Luck is what people expect him to be, then prepare for another run of success, beginning in the next two or three years. It likely won't be as successful as the Manning-era Colts, but there would be no reason for the Colts to not field a winning team by 2014.
Slightly off topic, but is anyone on CA, reader or writer, around the Raleigh, NC area? I'm here on business and would love to catch the draft somewhere with a fellow Colts fan.
Can't wait to see our new guy in action. My dream is that the Broncos win the next two Super Bowls with Peyton, and then Luck gets the next one.
I know this is kind of a random comment, but is anybody else concerned about Ben Roethlisberger comments last season lobbying for the no-huddle offense. There is a school of thought that Bruce Arians resisted the no-huddle because it takes play-calling duties away from him. I ask this question because I was reading about the Broncos switching to the no-huddle offense and I like the idea of Luck running a no-huddle offense in the future to take advantage of his football brain.
Roethlisberger is known for a lot of things, but his intelligence is not one of them. I would prefer to play the Steelers with Big Ben trying to run a no-huddle offense.
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I'm excited the Colts are picking Luck. It is exciting that the Colts will have such an exciting player on their team who will be excited to learn a new playbook, and excited to work with other exciting players. I'm excited to watch Luck sport a Colts Jersey. The prospect of so many new young Colts personnel is exciting. This offseason where new systems will be implemented will be exciting to behold. I am looking forward to being excited on opening day when the exciting new Colts excite fans into a fervor of excitement.
Nobody is surprised, that´s for sure. I think the Colts brass had already decided without a doubt to draft Luck by February, regardless of what Peyton Manning did, and I´m pretty convinced it was already their preferred option by late December.
Naturally, after this news broke, Skip Blayless called it a "huge mistake" (I think he says that every time he's on the air), saying that RG3 will have the much better career, win more Super Bowls, blah blah blah. I don't know why people listen to that guy, or if people do, but you had to know it was coming.
Frankly, I'm glad the drama is done and that I don't have to worry about Irsay trolling everyone and picking RG3 over Luck. Time to focus even more on our 2nd round pick and if we can really get Coby Fleener or not.
Skip is a waste of a human being. He tries to sensationalize every story by taking the contrarian stance and stating it as belligerently as possible. He's racist, ignorant, and overall just a poor commentator who somehow has managed to find a niche pandering to dickheads.
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@TheGreatMisdirect The only "huge mistake" was Skip Bayless' parents choosing not to use protection.
@TheGreatMisdirect Honestly, why the hand-wringing about the Colts considering RG3? It's not like it cost them much to just evaluate him.
@squirrel @TheGreatMisdirect It was more the fact that Irsay could pull the strings himself at anytime and piss off just about every Colts fan by picking RG3 and not Luck. Evaluating him's fine, sure, but I think most everyone has already settled on Luck as the future face of the franchise.
I thought something was up... my "no shit" meter went crazy this morning. Good to know it wasn't an electrical surge or anything weird.
Thank god the charade is finally over. I don't think anyone was fooled by it, though there's always those that just love to voice a different opinion than the consensus. Those Luck jerseys are gonna start rolling out pretty soon.
It depends on what you qualify as success. The lack of postseason success will always be a knock against the Manning era Colts. They were not balanced teams, and more often than not that had sub par to bad defenses and special teams.
I'm so tired of the whole it's a QB league and skill players win SBs, it's true to a point. Maybe defense a running game and special teams don't win like they used to, but the can sure as hell lose you games. I look for the quality of Colts teams as a whole to improve with the new regime.
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@strandedincarolina It's not so much that defense, a running game, and special teams don't win like they used to. It's that the salary cap era means that you have to focus on the most efficient paths to winning. The numbers just don't show that those efficient areas are special teams or run offense or defense.
Pass defense on the other hand...
Given that very few teams had better quality teams than the Colts in the last decade, I think it would be a huge win if the next regime is as good as the last one. Being better seems highly optimistic.
@kasey_junk @strandedincarolina There's more than one way to skin a cat. The Steelers are the most balanced team in football despite the salary cap. I agree with strandedincarolina, there is also a big difference between regular season football and postseason football. I believe that the Colts relied too heavily on Peyton. It's hard to throw 3/4 straight gems against quality opposition in the postseason. The run offense and defense has lightened Big Ben's load in the postseason. The Patriots are an elite team, but they were winning Super Bowls in the early 2000's with a more balanced team.
@kasey_junk I don't disagree with what you said. However, while a lot of money does not need to be invested in those areas, having bad units is a problem. There is also a big difference between regular season football and postseason football. While the system we had worked well in the regular season, it did not do well in the postseason.
As far as the last regime being good, that's not as clear as it initially seems. Peyton Manning was out of this world incredible, and it covered up a lot of poor and downright bad decisions by Polian in recent years.
@Nathan Haza @Kyle Rodriguez @strandedincarolina @kasey_junk I agree that it's roulette once you get into the dance. This isn't the NBA, the best team doesn't always win because there are no best-of-seven series's. I think it's fair to say that Tom Brady isn't afraid to fail, but even the great ones have bad days. Sure, there is a lot of luck involved. The Ravens would have been playing in the Super Bowl if Lee Evans had just squeezed the ball. Besides excelling in pass offense and defense, the best way to increase your roulette odds is to qualify for the dance year in, year out.
@rebuild2012 RG III unquestionably has the better supporting cast, but the Redskins schedule looks brutal at first glance. I think the Texans will be very good for the forseeable future, but the Titans and Jaguars don't scare me. I can see Luck winning more games than RG III this year.
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@strandedincarolina @Nathan Haza @Kyle Rodriguez @kasey_junk I think it´s quite provable the playoffs haven´t been crowning the best team in football for a few years already. In 2010, the Packers needed help to make the playoffs. The Giants this year? They were 9-7. San Francisco lost to the Giants in the NFC title game because of two special teams plays, after fielding a top 5 ST unit throughout the season. In close contests, unique, highly unpredictable events often determine the result, and they have nothing to do with who is afraid or who wants it more.
@Nathan Haza @Kyle Rodriguez @kasey_junk I've never disagreed with anything more. There is an element of luck, but it is more of a magnifying glass than anything else. Weakness are exposed. You see who is afraid to fail and who is not. You see passion. Teams who can do different things when needed are more successful. Those that can't are not. The Colts losing early in the playoffs a lot of years was not an accident.
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@Kyle Rodriguez @strandedincarolina @kasey_junk Playoffs are simply random and nothing is more evident of this than the 2005 Colts. Ever since that year I've known that it simply doesn't matter how good the systems are or the players that run them. It's roulette once you get into the dance.
@strandedincarolina @kasey_junk The only difference in the post season is you're playing better competition more consistently. If a system can win a game against quality competition in the regular season, then there is no reason why that system shouldn't work in the postseason as well.
