2012 NFL Draft: What If Indianapolis Colts Drafted Andrew Suck?

With the first pick in the 2012 NFL draft, the Indianapolis Colts selected quarterback Andrew Luck from Stanford. That announcement came as a surprise to nobody.

That was expected to happen since the end of the regular season. That was even before a final decision on Peyton Manning was made. Sure, the Colts management did mention they may take Robert Griffin III, but everybody knew Luck was their man.

Luck is regarded as the best prospect to come out in about 20 years. Is it fair to Luck to be called that? If anything, that actually puts him under a lot of pressure. Combine that with the fact that his predecessor, Manning, was the face of that franchise for a decade and a half. He was and still is one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history.

Want to add even more pressure? Not only is Luck following Manning, but he is also following Cam Newton. Newton had statistically the best rookie season ever by a quarterback. Ironically, if Luck had gone pro last year the Carolina Panthers would have taken him ahead of Newton. So, needless to say, the pressure is on Luck.

It is the NFL, and pressure is part of it. If a player can't handle it, he doesn't belong. Having said that, I can't remember ever this much pressure on one prospect. I am very curious to see how this plays out. Whenever you hear all the hype about a player such as Luck, you make it a point to watch him play. So I watched more Stanford games last year than ever before in my life. I wanted to see what everybody was talking about.

Every time I was waiting for him to just blow me away. At the end of the game, I was always thinking, "Yeah! He is good." He never really blew me away, though. He had all day to throw and an excellent running game to rely on. The defense was also very solid.

I am not sure he will have all that with the Colts next year.

In all fairness, it is not his fault his team around him was solid. He did a really good job. It is just that I don't ever remember him escaping a great rush and completing an amazing pass with the game on the line. Again, that is not his fault he didn't have to, but it does leave unanswered questions.

The point is I consistently watched with the intention of seeing the best prospect in 20 years, and at the end of the day all I could say was, "Yeah! He is good." I am not saying he is not the prospect they say he is, just that there is a lot of things I expected to see but didn't. And I will say he never was able to lead his team to victory over Oregon, which has to be a mild concern.

Luck may be the best prospect in 20 years—I have not seen enough to say one way or the other. One thing I can say is this is possibly the biggest gamble in the past 20 years, if not biggest gamble ever.

The Colts let one of the best quarterbacks of all time go. In all fairness, he is older and is coming off a bad injury. Having said that, my gut says that Manning has a lot of good football left in him. I have no doubt the Denver Broncos will contend for a Super Bowl next year. If Manning wins even one Super Bowl with Denver, that will definitely leave Colt fans scratching their heads.

Now if Luck is what they say he is, what Manning does in Denver is irrelevant. However, what if he isn't? What if, at the end of the day, all the Colt fans can say is, "Yeah! He is good"? Is that good enough?

I don't think so—not when you are the best prospect in 20 years and following not only Manning, but also Newton.

Or what about this: What if he is not even good? What if he is a total bust? What if he is a bust and the Broncos win a Super Bowl?

That is a gamble. Gambling is part of the business. However, teams are supposed to assess risk and reward. In this case, it is hard to say which outweighs which.

If Luck is whom they say, then great, but what if he isn't? What if he is Andrew Suck?