2012 NFL Mock Draft: Colts Must Draft Andrew Luck with Jim Caldwell Likely Gone
Apparently, one win was not enough for Jim Caldwell. Adam Schein is reporting via Twitter that Caldwell will not be retained and that the Colts will take Andrew Luck with the No. 1 pick in April's draft.
The Colts are in line to earn the top pick in the draft. If fans of the Colts are looking for a good omen, the last time they had that pick was 1998, the year they drafted Peyton Manning.
There's no doubt that Luck is the right move for the Colts. The salary cap will dictate that both Manning and Luck can't be kept on the roster, and this team clearly needs a quarterback.
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.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
As great as he's been and as much as Manning has meant to the franchise, it's clear that his career is on its last legs. Coming off of a serious injury that cost him an entire season is not going to help Manning's future.
As the Colts learned with Manning after their 3-13 1997 season, a team can be built around an elite quarterback. From 1999-2010, Indianapolis only failed to win 10 games and make the playoffs once.
As Luck is the top QB prospect to come out since Manning, they would be foolish to not take the Stanford QB.
As far as replacing Caldwell goes, it's hard to give a full list of who they should hire until we know who's out there. One thing that the Colts did with Manning was keep incredible continuity. He had to deal with only three head coaches (Jim Mora, Tony Dungy and Caldwell) and had Tom Moore as the offensive coordinator through the 2009 campaign. That's something they must do with Luck when he comes to town.
At this point, there is only one reason for the Colts to not take Luck with the top pick. With two games remaining, Indianapolis is now in a spot where they may not even get the pick.
They have two games remaining on the schedule. One is against a beaten up Texans team with very little to play for, the other is against the Jaguars. The Vikings and Rams are each only one game worse.
Still, the Colts have the inside track to Luck. When they do get the top pick, bringing him in is the only option, even if it means saying goodbye to Peyton Manning.
*Draft order determined by combination of current record and projected finish.
| 1. | Indianapolis Colts (1-13) | Andrew Luck, QB |
| 2. | St. Louis Rams (2-12) | Justin Blackmon, WR |
| 3. | Minnesota Vikings (2-12) | Matt Kalil, OT |
| 4. | Jacksonville Jaguars (4-10) | Morris Claiborne, CB |
| 5. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-10) | Dre Kirkpatrick, CB |
| 6. | Cleveland Browns (4-10) | Trent Richardson, RB |
| 7. | Buffalo Bills (5-9) | Riley Reiff, OT |
| 8. | Miami Dolphins (5-9) | Matt Barkley, QB |
| 9. | Washington Redskins (5-9) | Robert Griffin III, QB |
| 10. | Carolina Panthers (5-9) | Quinton Coples, DE |
| 11. | Philadelphia Eagles (6-8) | Michael Floyd, WR |
| 12. | Kansas City Chiefs (6-8) | Jonathan Martin, OT |
| 13. | Seattle Seahawks (7-7) | Landry Jones, QB |
| 14. | San Diego Chargers (7-7) | Alfonzo Dennard, CB |
| 15. | Arizona Cardinals (7-7) | Devon Still, DT |
| 16. | Tennessee Titans (7-7) | Vontaze Burfict, LB |
| 17. | Cincinnati Bengals (via OAK) (7-7) | Lamar Miller, RB |
| 18. | Chicago Bears (7-7) | Peter Konz, C |
| 19. | Cincinnati Bengals (8-6) | Janoris Jenkins, CB |
| 20. | Dallas Cowboys (8-6) | Luke Kuechly, LB |
| 21. | Detroit Lions (9-5) | Melvin Ingram, DE |
| 22. | New York Jets (8-6) | David DeCastro, OG |
| 23. | Denver Broncos (8-6) | Fletcher Cox, DT |
| 24. | New York Giants (7-7) | Zach Brown, LB |
| 25. | Houston Texans (10-4) | Mark Barron, S |
| 26. | Baltimore Ravens (10-4) | Dont'a Hightower, LB |
| 27. | Cleveland Browns (via ATL) (9-5) | Alshon Jeffery, WR |
| 28. | New England (via NO 11-3) | Courtney Upshaw, DE |
| 29. | Pittsburgh Steelers (10-4) | Cordy Glenn, OG |
| 30. | San Francisco 49ers (11-3) | Kendall Wright, WR |
| 31. | New England Patriots (11-3) | Mohamed Sanu, WR |
| 32. | Green Bay Packers (13-1) | Nick Perry, DE/OLB |
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.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
