Peyton Manning is sidelined for the foreseeable future with his third neck surgery in 19 months, and Indianapolis Colts fans are in agony. With a 34-7 beating from division rival Houston Texans, back-up veteran, Kerry Collins, did nothing to alleviate the pain.
At the beginning of the season, many would have chosen the Buffalo Bills or Cincinnati Bengals as locks for the worst record in the NFL. Then the Jacksonville Jaguars joined the mix. By dropped starting quarterback, David Garrard, the organization decided they no longer wanted to be a potential playoff team. After Week 1, all of these teams have logged surprising wins. This leaves the Manning-less Colts in the lead for the worst record and officially announced their entry into the race for next year’s #1 draft pick.
Missing Manning for potentially the rest of the season, may seem like dark times, especially in a win-now league. However, all is not lost Colts’ fans, and there’s even reasons to rejoice.
1. Andrew Luck
With every mishandled snap from center, Collins brings the Colts one step closer to the 2012 #1 pick. Heisman candidate, Andrew Luck, widely regarded as the best quarterback prospect to enter the draft in decades, is figured to be grabbed at that spot. Luck showed tremedous progress under former head coach Jim Harbaugh, who has a track record of developing NFL quality quarterback. While Harbaugh has departed to the NFL, Luck has shown the maturity to further hone is skills at the collegiate level and to possibly lead Stanford to a national title.
2. Rest for Manning
He could sure use it. Since being taken #1 over all, Manning has started every game for the Colts until last week. (Ironically, Harbaugh was the last quarterback to start for the Colts.) With 208 consectutive starts, Manning has been nothing short of an ironman. Sitting this year out would help him fully recover from his neck surgery and any other nagging injuries he may have, adding years to his career. Also, spending time away from the game will make Manning stronger and more determined than ever when he returns. We’ve seen similar stories in Michael Vick and Plaxico Burress, Manning will be no different.
3. Grooming of Luck
The added years to Manning’s career only means that the best quarterback prospect in years will be able to learn from the best quarterback in the history of the game. Although years behind Manning doesn’t seemed to have improved Curtis Painter much as a NFL QB, Luck is a far greater talent. Any time Luck spends with Manning can only benefit his development as the future Colts play caller. Fans should expect to see the building of a dynasty similar to the 49ers with Joe Montanna and Steve Young.
Even at this moment, there are rumors swirling around potential suitors for Luck, and the Colts organization acknowledge they have begun scouting the incredible talent.
Source:
Peyton Manning’s Neck Surgery from ABC News