Everyone loves power rankings! ESPN does it, SI does it and NFL.com does it. And of course we have our own. But here at This Given Sunday, we like to give the little guys something to root for. Welcome to the Andrew Luck Power Rankings.
The Andrew Luck sweepstakes has taken over the nation. While Tebow has caused a bit of a distraction, the QB that is on everybody’s mind is Stanford’s stud QB. Luck is the best prospect to come out of Stanford since a guy named John Elway. (For his part, Elway calls Luck “the best player in the draft, without a doubt.”)
This week Sunday Night football even put a little highlight reel together to make sure the nation knows just how good this kid is. Cris Collinsworth even said “I don’t care who your quarterback is, I would draft Andrew Luck.”
That being said, let’s discuss which teams have the greatest chances of landing this savior.
1) Miami Dolphins (0-6)
The Dolphins have been searching for a quarterback for 12 years since Dan Marino retired. Chad Henne hasn’t been the answer. Neither has Chad Pennington, AJ Feeley, Jay Fiedler, Gus Frerotte, Joey Harrington or Cleo Lemon. This year the Dolphins have been nothing but awful. The Dolphins’ poor play might have hit its climax this week with a 15 point blown lead to Tim Tebow’s Broncos.
If you look at Miami’s schedule, the only game that could possibly be a win for the Phins would be week 10 at home vs the Redskins. That being said, the Dolphins have won only one home game in almost two years.
Some might say that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has been planning this “Suck For Luck” campaign for quite some time, as he refuses to let go Tony Sparano who is debatably the worst coach in the NFL. Miami Herald beat writers have also suggested that Ross limited the amount of money was spent this off-season.
Going back to the 2010 offseason, Ross said “Money doesn’t buy victories. I think we have the right personnel to make the right decisions. And you do what you need to do.” Could this have been a hint that the Dolphins might have been targeting Luck for quite some time?
The Dolphins QB position is quite bleak with Matt Moore leading the way, a QB who has experience in getting his team the first pick. Combine that with recently signed backup JP Loser man! The Dolphins are the team to beat, literally and in these rankings.
2) Indianapolis Colts (0-7)
The Colts, coming off a 62-7 beatdown from the Saints, actually showed some sign of life early in the year. But that loss might have knocked the fight out of them. Like Miami, the Colts have a terrible head coach-quarterback duo.
Most people thought when Peyton went down that this would be a 4-5 win team but right now that would appear to be a stretch. This team is struggling in every aspect of the game — running passing, and trying to defend either. It’s very hard to imagine where this team’s next win is going to come from.
However, reports this week from Peter King stated that Manning might come back this year at some point. That would put a huge hole in their hopes for Luck.
3) St Louis Rams (0-6)
With injuries to the entire secondary and Sam Bradford, this team certainly might have what it takes to land Andrew Luck. However a very weak division and teams like Arizona and Seattle still on the schedule for two games apiece makes you think this team will still win a few games.
The Rams also traded for Brandon Lloyd which indicates that management is not on board for Mr. Luck’s services. Or, at the very least, that they feel the need to win something now to save their jobs. New owner Stan Kroenke has not exactly been forthcoming with good things to say about this coach-GM combo.
4) Arizona Cardinals (1-5)
Kevin Kolb has disappointed BIG time, but with that huge contract he just received you have to think that the Cardinals are stuck at QB.
This team has the potential to win a couple of games with its soft schedule, though. They and the Rams might knock each other out of the running.
5) Seattle Seahawks (2-4)
Watch their QB’s play and it makes you think they just might be in this hunt too. However, Pete Carroll might want his boy from USC, Matt Barkely. Seattle has not been shy in dealing picks for players and vice versa, and openly acknowledge that they’re in full rebuilding mode, so anything’s possible.
On the Bubble: Minnesota Vikings (1-6), Jacksonville Jaguars (2-5)
