The Indianapolis Colts failed Andrew Luck

The Indianapolis Colts and their fan base are reeling after the shocking retirement of Andrew Luck. The team failed their prized franchise QB.

Andrew Luck is hardly the first quarterback to ever have a poor cast around him spoil an otherwise stellar career, and the Indianapolis Colts are hardly the first organization to fail to surround their superstar quarterback with the appropriate talent.

With that said, the Indianapolis Colts failed Andrew Luck, they failed him miserably.

The Colts are under new management right now with general manager Chris Ballard and head coach Frank Reich. When Luck was drafted in 2012, the Colts had just made the tough decision to release future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning and general manager Ryan Grigson along with head coach Chuck Pagano had just about the easiest decision of all time to draft Luck.

At the time, for those who don’t remember, Luck was considered the best quarterback prospect to come out of college since John Elway in 1983.

The term ‘generational talent’ gets thrown around way too loosely these days, but Luck was that. Many people dubbed him the best quarterback prospect they had ever scouted. Luck was certainly worthy of all the hype and praise he received, and he proved it immediately in his NFL career with seven game-winning drives his rookie year, leading the Colts from the top pick in the draft and into the playoffs.

It was meant to be merely a stepping stone for the Colts en route to a dynasty led by Luck and whoever else the team would add to join with him.

But Ryan Grigson and the Colts’ front office were borderline incompetent for the next few seasons, failing to surround Luck with an offensive line that could protect him, and much like with Peyton Manning, failing to surround Luck with a strong offensive line and failing to put the pieces around him to make him successful.

Two years ago, I wrote an article about what a terrible football decision it was for Luck to sign a long-term deal with the Colts

The Colts, like a number of teams, completely bombed the 2013 NFL Draft. They then bombed the 2014 NFL Draft when Ryan Grigson traded their first-round draft pick for Cleveland Browns running back Trent Richardson in what will go down as perhaps the most short-sighted move he ever made.

For the most part, the Colts stunk it up in the NFL Draft every year after Luck was drafted leading up to 2018.

The same was generally true for free agency from 2012-16, and Luck was sacked a whopping 174 times in six NFL seasons. The offensive line was a revolving door of guys who simply are not even NFL roster caliber.

By the way — doesn’t it blow your mind that Luck only played six NFL seasons?

Whether the Colts tried bringing players in through the draft, free agency, or trade, it didn’t seem to matter. They could not put the right kind of talent around Luck and specifically on the offensive line.

After winning NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 2018, it seemed like Luck was finally back on the upswing and that things could possibly just keep getting better and better.

The Colts’ roster looks better now than it has in any year after Peyton Manning. Ironically, the offensive line appears not only stable but a true strength of the team. Unfortunately, it’s too little too late for the Colts.

It wasn’t just the offensive line that let Luck down, either. More often than not, actually, Luck was able to overcome the poor play of his offensive line. He finished his career with a record of 53-33 as the starter, but 70 percent of those losses (23) came in games where the Colts’ defense allowed 29 or more points.

Consider the fact that the Colts had a top 10 defense in 2018, and that figure becomes even more staggering.

The Colts took for granted the fact that Luck was a talent elevator and they let their franchise quarterback trot out every week into a literal danger zone. Luck has always been known for his toughness on the field, but even a 6-foot-4, 240-pound beast at the quarterback position can only take so many hits.

This is a guy who finished a game after lacerating his kidney.

Luck’s injuries became so tough to deal with both physically and mentally that he literally couldn’t take it anymore, and the Colts have no one but themselves to blame.

It’s not like great players grow on trees. To the Colts’ credit, it wasn’t that they weren’t trying, it was that they were doing such a poor job of it.

Now, Luck is done. He’s literally done. The best quarterback prospect of this generation, at least right now, will end his football playing career with six seasons under his belt, a seventh lost to injury.

The failure to invest top assets in players that could actually help Andrew Luck, in the end, is what failed Andrew Luck. The Colts didn’t do enough to protect their most valuable player since Peyton Manning was drafted in 1998.

The Colts failed Andrew Luck miserably.