The Indianapolis Colts are in the best position they could have dreamed of as they near the end of the Manning era. Go ahead and let that sink in. Yes, Peyton Manning’s inability to play a down this season was the best thing that could have happened to the Indianapolis Colts for more than one reason.
Let’s start with the obvious; the Colts will get the opportunity to draft the best quarterback prospect since… Peyton Manning. That’s right, the Colts may have lost an entire season to terrible football and the inability of a coaching staff, but the prospect of a quick turnaround skyrocket when you can immediately draft a franchise quarterback.
Why else would the Colts actually want to have gone through a 2-14 campaign? They avoid the death pit of drafting that falls between picks 11-20. These are the teams that do not have elite talent, but they have enough players to stay competitive most of the time. This is the teams like the Raiders, Chiefs, Dolphins, Jaguars, Jets, etc.
The problem with drafting in that 11-20 range is that there are rarely huge, game changing players by the eleventh pick of the draft. I realize that you can still find them there, but they seldom have the immediate effect that a top 5 pick has such as Cam Newton or A.J. Green. That type of “elite” talent is usually pretty much dried up by the eleventh pick of the draft. Why else do you think the Jaguars moved up to the tenth pick to draft Blaine Gabbert? They felt that he had elite talent, so they pulled the trigger. While it’s unclear whether the gamble will pay off, it allowed them to pick a guy they believed in instead of going after a guy they had little confidence in.
Simply put, mediocre teams don’t get better quickly, and they don’t get worse quickly. They find themselves in that same 6-10 to 9-7 range year in and year out.
The Colts, with the help of Manning’s neck, have successfully avoided that pitfall. They get to draft at the top of the order, and they don’t have to worry about what other teams are planning to do during the opening round of the 2012 NFL draft. In playoff terms, they control their own destiny.
That very simple fact is why teams that pick very early in the draft often show tremendous progress in just a couple of years. Take a look at the Detroit Lions. They picked bust after bust until they hired a competent GM in Martin Mayhew. Just a few years later, they have one of the best offenses in the game, and their defense is starting to shape into a formidable unit. What changed? It’s simple, they cashed in high picks for great talent, and they’re beginning to reap the rewards.
Am I saying that the Colts will immediately turn back into the great offensive juggernaut that has defined the Manning era? No. The Colts have hired a defensive head coach, and it appears they’ll be looking to run their team in a more balanced way moving forward, which includes bringing in talented defensive players. No, this Colts team is taking a different mentality as they move into the Andrew Luck era, but they will be back. That you can be assured of.
The Colts have evaded a major pitfall of moving on from a great quarterback. Other teams such as the 49ers, Broncos, and Cowboys struggled after their greats (Young, Elway, Aikman) moved on. That doesn’t appear to be the case in Indianapolis where the future is already looking bright.
