NFL Draft 2012: Is Peyton Manning Willing to Hand Off Colts to Andrew Luck?

The Indianapolis Colts aren't guaranteed the No. 1 pick in the 2012 NFL draft... yet.

The Colts currently hold a 2.5-game lead for the NFL's worst record and would need to lose only five of their last seven games to guarantee themselves the No. 1 pick.

This week they will not add another loss to that total because they'll be on their bye week.

Come Week 12, at worst, they'll still be two games up on the second-worst team in the league.

Winning isn't coming easy in Indianapolis, and thinking the Colts will win two games, let alone one, is wishful thinking right now.

So, what does long-time starter Peyton Manning think of the Colts using their potential No. 1 pick on a quarterback?

According to Colts vice chairman Bill Polian, Manning is "OK" with it.

An NFL.com report quotes Polian on Indianapolis radio saying:

"

The bottom line is that if the right person is there, and it has to be the right person, then now is the time to make that choice. Peyton and I have spoken about that, and he's OK with that.

"

The "right person" will likely be Andrew Luck of Stanford.

The red-shirt junior quarterback has been considered the No. 1 prospect in the country for two years running, and the race really hasn't been close.

Typically when a player comes into a season with such high expectations, the only place for him to go is down. However, the vast majority of personnel evaluators, scouts, coaches, analysts and fans unanimously agree that Luck is still the No. 1 prospect in the draft.

If Luck isn't the "right" player for the Colts at No. 1 overall, then I don't know who is.

There certainly are a lot of problems on a team that is currently 0-10, but success in the NFL is directly tied to elite quarterback play. In fact, four of the last five Super Bowl MVPs have been quarterbacks. One of them was Peyton Manning.

The Colts may never get another opportunity like this.

Even if they find a way to keep Peyton for another year (assuming he regains health), the future of this franchise rests with someone else under center.

Peyton knows that and has now acknowledged it.

It will be a real shame if Peyton's last hand-off is handing the Colts to Andrew Luck, but it is a distinct possibility.