Andrew Luck: Skip Bayless Says Indy Is Making a Mistake (and He Might Be Right)

Skip Bayless says crazy things. It's sort of his job.

In other news, the sun shined, the earth rotated on its axis and water continued possessing wetness in large quantities.

He's paid to agitate, annoy and stir up the passions of fans.

When I heard he had declared that the Indianapolis Colts were making a mistake by taking Andrew Luck over Robert Griffin III, I immediately jumped to the conclusion that Bayless was talking nonsense.

I prepared a whole litany of great Bayless insults and jokes to use in my column tonight. I've already taken a stand on Luck, and I firmly believe that Skip Bayless is wrong. I see Andrew Luck, and I see a guy around whom you can build a team, an identity, a franchise. I came loaded for bear, ready to take Bayless down Fire Joe Morgan style.

Then a funny thing happened: I stopped to listen to what he said.

His argument hinged on the following concepts:

1. Luck is the better quick fix because, "He's the closest to Peyton."

2. Griffin will be better than Luck in 3-5 years because he has "a bigger arm" and is just as "intuitive and intelligent" as Luck.

3. RG3 also has, "the 'it' factor, the star power that Luck doesn't have."

4. Players will follow Griffin more readily than Luck. He thinks Luck is "nerdy" and might not be able to take over a locker room.

Obviously, I can't disagree with his first point. You'd have to kidnap Archie and Olivia Manning to produce another player that close to Peyton.

His second point is hardly controversial. Many others have said the same thing. Honestly, we have no idea if it's true, but pointing it out doesn't qualify as edgy at this point. Heck, he may well be right. Griffin might have superior skills, and he might turn out to be the better pro. I wouldn't bet on it, but he's a great, great player. It's not ridiculous to foresee a Hall of Fame career for him.

I find his third point irrelevant and his fourth point to be pure speculation, but neither one would fall into the, "OMG! I can't believe he said that!" category.

Jemele Hill actually served as a voice of reason in the debate, pointing out that the way Bayless was talking, it was like hitting a triple versus hitting a home run.

She's right. If Andrew Luck is good, then there's nothing to criticize. I suppose if Luck turns out to be Drew Bledsoe and RG3 is the next Steve Young, then maybe Bayless will be vindicated, but somehow I doubt the Colts will care much. Even if Bayless is right, he will still be a little wrong.

It seems the only great sin of Skip in this clip is slightly overstating his point by calling it a "huge mistake" when he really means "a minor miscalculation." Most days, modest hyperbole is as close as he comes to accuracy. We should all applaud him for toning it down for once.

Andrew Luck won't be a bust. He won't be a huge mistake.

The only mistake here is spending too much time worrying about the likes of Skip Bayless.

Oh come on. You couldn't expect me to shelve all my snide remarks.