Andrew Luck Or Peyton Manning?

Back in September I wrote a piece on how if the Colts
are in a position to draft first in the 2012 draft
and select Andrew Luck, they should pass. I said
trade the pick, get Manning a new weapon, and win now.
Now comes news that the Colts are in a bit of a bind,
in that they have to choose to either trade or release
Peyton by pre agreed to date March, or the Colts will
be on the hook for over 30 million dollars, and
Mannings health is not really getting much better.
It's possible that he may get a snap or two in December,
but is that really a good idea?

I stil think that sticking with Manning is the way to go,
if he's as healthy as he needs to be, but to play him in
order to make sure is a bad idea as far as I'm concerned.
He could get further injured, and just as bad, the Colts
might win a game or two. Why risk losing the top spot?
Whether you decide to pick Andrew Luck or not is pretty
much irrelevant here, what matters is that your season
stinks, and your fans deserve a reward. Choose Luck,
and he either gets to be an understudy to one of the
NFL's greatest or he has the same type of first season
Manning did his fist season, a stinker. Don't choose
Luck and trade down, get value, you have to go far,
team s like the Dolphins, and Broncos will be chomping
at the bit to get a shot at colleges golden boy,
either way you can take a team that wasn't so bad just
a year ago and put your team in a spot to compete again.

It's not an easy situation it's true, but there is a sea
of can't miss qb's in the NFL's past that missed, and
Missed pretty bad. Akili Smith, Tim Couch, David Carr,
JaMarcus Russell, Alex Smith, heck Ryan Leaf almost got
chosen ahead of Peyton Manning, do I need to go on?
You can draft a qb later in the first or second round,
pay less, and still wind up with a franchise qb.
Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Brett Farve, when were
those guys drafted? Not number 1! I say let Manning
heal, put him on IR , and don' t go out of your way to
win. I'm not saying lose, but why jeapordize a spot
at truy stregthening your team for a long time?
"Don't SUCK for Luck", make your own luck!


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Who Could "Suck For Luck" And Go Winless?

DenverPost.Com

For the purpose of this article, and the fact
that this is only the end of week seven of the
2011 NFL season, I will answer that question,
but, only including the Colts and Dolphins as
real suitors to get the number one overall pick
in the 2012 NFL Draft. Keep in mind that this
could all be for nothing, in that Andrew Luck,
the "Luck" in the "Suck for Luck" campaign, is
a Junior at Stanford and could, won't, but could
go back to school for another year if he chooses
to do so. Also keep in mind that the Vikings and
Rams knocked themselves back by winning today,
but they should have won weeks ago, so that was
no surprise.

I peeked ahead and looked and the remaining nine
games for both teams, and no they do not play
each other. Keep in mind that going 0-16 is just
about as tough as going 16-0, only one team has
done it on either side, the 0-16 Detroit Lions,
and the 16-0 New England Patriots. Detroit has
Matthew Stafford to show for it, and the Patriots
nothing, so it may very well be true that going
0-16 is more profitable. Keeping that in mind,
I believe that both the Colts and the Dolphins
are better than that winless Lions team, and are
more likely of winning at least one game.
Winning a game won't knock you out of contention
to draft Luck, but it will hurt your chances,
because bottom is bottom, and the only thing that
could be worse than 0-16 and not getting a chance
to draft Luck, especially in this new rookie cap
friendly era that is the NFL, but tying for it,
and losing the tiebreaker for worst, Ouch !

The Dolphins best chance at winning a game will
be one of their next three matches. The Chiefs
will be fly to Miami, coming off a short week after
playing on Monday night, and are not really that
good, they just aren't. Washington is really a
shell of the team that was 3-1, but is now 3-4,
and believe it or not were doing better with "Sexy"
Rex Grossman at QB, double Ouch! Finally comes
Buffalo, a good team, and best of the three, but
division games are always tough, and in Miami
anything can happen, after that their schedule is
too tough, but could win their last game at home
vs the Jets if NY doesn't need the game, but they
will, oh yeah, they will.

Next up is Indy, and the Colts are in a spot where
they could actually have Peyton Manning back for a
game or two, I doubt it, but they could. Problem is
that unlike Miami who has played hard, and lost close
ones, as well as "only" being outscored by 59 points,
or 8.375 points per game, the Colts have looked
miserable at times and have been outscored by 131
points, or 18.73 points per game, WOW. To me, the
Colts only shot at winning a game barring the return
of Manning is going to be in two weeks, when they are
home to the Jaguars, and honestly I had to use my
imagination for that one after seeing the type of
effort the Jags are putting forth these days.
They could get lucky, no pun intended, in week 16
against Houston if the Texans don't need the game,
but I doubt that too, Houston won't put it away that
early. No other match up they have leads me to
believe that they could secure a victory, let alone
two, not without Manning, and not unless he is so well
rested that he wants to pull a little Arena Football
double duty and play defense as well.

I'm sure we will revisit the Andrew Luck sweepstakes
once again, the further we get to the finish line,
but right now Miami and Indy are your top ranked
contenders so they are the teams to beat so to speak.

And by the way, I wrote a few weeks ago that the Colts
should trade away the pick if they get it and get a
shiny brand new toy for Peyton if it's determined that
he will be able to play and be healthy once again.
Just Sayin'

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Ryan Leaf & Jerome Harrison: What's Wrong Here?

As I wrote in an earlier piece, Jerome Harrison was lucky
enough to find out by accident that he has a brain tumor.
Ryan Leaf happens to share this very same fate right now,
and whether or not you think he was an awful waste of
talent or just simply a douche bag, that doesn't matter.
What matters is that we should all hope he makes it ok.
I was one of those idiots that thought he should have
been picked ahead of Peyton Manning, Doh!, and as dumb
as that seems today, I still believe that had Ryan Leaf
applied himself, I wouldn't look like such a huge dummy
today, wrong maybe, but not like huge dummy. It isn't
always just about football, and I'm happy to be wrong
about his life on the field so long as I don't have to
write about this 35 year old guy who lost an even bigger
battle, one to brain cancer. Let's hope both he and
Jerome he make it, I know I do.

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Colts Painter & Buccaneers Blount, All The Difference

Tim Heitman/US Presswire

Last nights game between the Colts and Bucs
wasn't nearly the blowout people expected,
and Reggie Wayne may have had a point when
he called for Curtis Painter to start over
Kerry Collins all along. Wayne argued that
Painter had a much better knowledge of the
system and wasn't doubting whether or not
Collins was more talented but that there
was no way Collins could pick up the Colts
system in just three short weeks. Painter
had a reasonable night with 2 TD's and no
picks while amassing 283 yards. His 13
for 30 at 43% left much to be desired, but
let's face it, he didn't lose this game, the
Colts defense did, or perhaps it was just a
huge dose of Josh Freeman and LeGarrette
Blount that won it. Either way, Curtis
Painter starting another game is not the end
of the world for the Colts, and they look
better now than they did in weeks one and
two. Even though Painter had a slight edge
in QB rating, Freeman did a great job for
the Bucs and he is clearly their future, as
is Blount who racked up 127 yards on 5.1
yards per carry and closed the game out for
Tampa Bay by chewing up yardage by the bushel
down the stretch. Look for Indy and Painter
to win their first game vs KC this week, but
don't count on Tampa to have an easy time
with the 49er's as San Fran comes to town on
a huge high after an impressive and gutsy
victory over the "Dream Team" Eagles on the
road in Philly last Sunday. Perhaps back to
back west coast to east coast flights for the
49er's will give the Bucs just enough of an
edge to eeck out a victory on this short week.

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NFL Stone Cold Locks 2011 Week 3

Last weeks "Locks" turned out to be just that,
"LOCKS", and yet I still feel the need for
perfection once again even after going a perfect
3-0 and raising my record to a mediocre 5-1.
It's time to start making this more of a habit
than it has been and this week I feel real good.
Ladies and Gentleman, here are your winners:

1. Pittsburgh (Indy is addicted to Manning)
2. San Diego (Todd Haley may not make it out of 2011)
3. Carolina (Can't believe I just wrote that)


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Forget Andrew Luck, How About..............

Offensive Lineman Matt Kalil, Running Back Trent
Richardson, or maybe even a nice Wide Receiver
like Justin Blackmon. You see these are just a
few names I plucked off the board that may still
be available when the Colts make their pick in
the 2012 NFL Draft, and since it's become more
and more likely that Indy will be in no real
position to compete for anything if Manning comes
back at any point this year, why rush him back?
Heck, the Colts offered him $20Mil per year and
he insisted on 18Mil, so they are already ahead
of the game there. A year off could totally do
a guy like Peyton a ton of could and probably even
rejuvenate him. So why not give him a nice shiny
new stud offensive weapon to use to win you another
Championship. It's why he took less to begin with,
he wanted the Colts to stay competitive.

Let's face it, Manning has four more years left on
his deal after this, and unless things go radically
wrong with his health and he can't return, Peyton
will finish out this deal. So do you want Andrew
Luck to sit on the bench for FOUR years? I mean
One, Two, maybe, but Four? And don't give me the
Aaron Rodgers scenario either, that wasn't planned.
If he falls in your lap, trade the pick for a gold
mine. If he's off the board, get Payton a toy,
and watch him bring Indy another trophy, because
there have been plenty of can't miss players like
Luck that miss, and at least you know what you have
in Manning.



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NFL Stone Cold Locks 2011 Week 1

ANDY LYONS/Getty Images

Just so we are clear, I'm picking easy ones,
that's why they are supposed to be "STONE
COLD LOCKS" and yet inevitably some lose,
which just goes to show, there are no easy
ones, and today that may be truer than ever.
Enjoy............

1. Tennessee Titans(I'm Desperate)
2. New England Patriots(Might Be The Only LOCK)
3. Houston Texans(I'm Really Desperate)

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AFC South: Setup Just Right For Schaub

With Manning OUT, and Garrard gone, it's
fair to say that it would take a bit of an
upset for the Titans to win this division
this year. So this is how I believe it's
will look in the end:

1. Houston Texans (Pretty Much By Default)
2. Tennessee Titans (Too Much Chris Johnson)
3. Indianapolis Colts (Still Got Talent)
4. Jacksonville Jaguars (What's Next For Del Rio?)

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