Miami Dolphins are Winning “Suck for Luck, but What if Luck Pulls an Eli Manning/John Elway

Earlier this week profootballtalk.com relayed a report from league insiders that there is growing concern that  Andrew Luck could make the same kind of power play that Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning made in 2004.

“Absolutely.  I’ve heard that for the last two years,” an unnamed scout told Breer.  “There’s no question that it could be a Manning thing all over again.”

There are two ways that Luck could accomplish “power play”. The first, and probably less appealing, option for Luck is simply to remain in college for another year because he still has eligibility. The second optoin, and more likely (assuming he’s going to make a Power Play) is to say he won’t play for a team and would rather sit out the entire year thus forcing a trade (like Eli Manning).

What does this mean for the contenders of “Suck for Luck”? Who is in the lead, and which teams might Luck (based entirely on my own speculative reasoning) not want to play on? What I’m saying is this…would Luck pull a power play? I don’t know, but I’ll give reasons for each team why someone might consider it and why they shouldn’t.

Miami Dolphins-

The Dolphins are the team that in my opinion is most likely to end up with the first pick in the 2012 N.F.L. draft. In a sport that is as violent as football, it is near impossible for a lame duck coach to motivate his players, this is the case with Miami. It doesn’t help that Matt Moore will start the remainder of the season.

Unfortunately for Dolphins fans, I can see this being one of the teams that Luck could not want to lay for. It’s a good enough franchise, but the ownership seems a bit crazy and perhaps what the team tried to do with Tony Sparano is a turn off. Also what could be off-putting for Luck could be the ownerships insistence on Star Owners, it almost makes a spectacle of the team. “Hey come see us play because Jennifer Lopez owns part of the team”. I would like to see Luck in aqua. Who else to take down the over-confident Jets and the never loss the division Patriots? But maybe it’s not meant to be.

Minnesota Vikings

This is the team I think is second most likely to win Suck for Luck. I think Ponder is a decent enough quarterback prospect, but I don’t expect him to win many games this year. The Vikings have issues outside of Ponder (like no weapons to throw to and an offensive line that is getting worse by the years). Ponder, and the Vikings could be in for a very long season.

I’m not sure if Luck would make a power play here. It seems like a stable enough franchise and the thought of playing in a place where he can hand the ball to Adrian Peterson many times has to be appealing. The Vikings have the young Kyle Rudolph who is also a nice weapon and Percy Harvin. Sure, there are issues on the roster, but any team picking high in the draft is going to have issues on their roster.

The only reason Luck might not want to play in the N.F.C. North is if he’s afraid of the competition with the Packers and Lions looking to be really good for the foreseeable future. But players that are as good as Luck, don’t usually get there by being scared of the competition.

Indianapolis Colts

With Curtis Painter starting, and this being a veteran team that has had a lot of success I can see them eventually turning it in and finishing out the season poorly. The Colts already know they are not making the playoffs and they’re going to have to regroup for next year. I think they’ll play hard until they win a game or two because I’m sure they don’t want to be attached to 0-16, but after that, what’s the use?  If Caldwell feels good about his job security he will also eventually lean on young players like Jerry Hughes to give the front office a look at what they do or don’t have.

In fact the Colts might hope Luck pulls a power play, that eases the pressure of the front office passing on Luck, and allows them to stock pile picks for one more go around with Peyton Manning. Luck could want to force a power play here (if he inclined) because he might not want to sit behind Manning for the next few years.

Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals are not going to be very good this year because A) they can’t block for Kolb to throw the ball. B) they can’t rush the passer. That’s a recipe for disaster in the N.F.L.

If The Cardinals got the first pick overall it’d be hard to pass on Luck, but as a general manager who just traded away a lot for Kolb it’d be hard to justify drafting him to the owner.

If I’m a person considering making a power play, the Cardinals are exactly the kind of team you don’t want to go (no offense Cardinals fan), but you just assume that the Cardinals have been so bad during the duration of their franchise for a reason, with the exception of their Superbowl Loss.

On the field it’d make a lot of sense to go to the Cardinals. Beanie Wells is really coming on strong, and Larry Fitzgerald is a stud. They also had a nice draft this past year and a capable coach in Ken Wisenhunt. Playing in a down division doesn’t hurt either.

St. Louis Rams/Carolina Panthers

I don’t think Luck would have to make a power play. Bradford looks like he’s going to be pretty good. The Rams would love to be able to ransom the Luck pick for a host of draft picks which they could rebuild their offensive line, their receiving options (Brandon Lloyd helps) and their secondary.

The Panthers have Cam Newton whom is going to be a star, they would do the same thing the Rams would do.

The Denver Broncos

Now is this a perfect match made in heaven or what? John Elway went to Stanford and is influential (that’s an understatement) with the Broncos now. They also have a history of success (even recently they were in the playoffs a lot), it’s still on the West Coast in a weaker division.

They don’t have the Weapons you’d desire and they have a run first head-coach, but it’d be  a great fit. Now the issue is Tim Tebow. The Broncos have stripped Tebow of his best offensive weapon in Brandon Lloyd and then told him to go out there and save his job, it seems like they almost want Tebow to fail. If the Broncos are picking first, they’ll take Luck. They might even be the team to give up a slew of picks to land Luck, if a team like the Panthers is picking first.

What is the value of Luck?

The other question all of this talk brings about is what is the value of Andrew Luck in a trade. My guess. Three first round draft picks. What? Seems crazy.

I don’t think so. Luck is already a rock-star and going to sell a ton of tickets. On top of that the Bengals just got two first round draft picks for a guy that is in his thirties and a guy they had NO intention of playing Luck has his whole career ahead of him. The Giants gave up two first round draft picks a third and a fifth to “move up” (technically didn’t move into the slot) and that was when their was no rookie wage scale.

Ultimately, I don’t think Luck will make a power play, but it is an intriguing possibility to ponder.  This much is sure, there hasn’t been  this much anticipation for a first overall pick in a long time.

Thoughts?

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