"Suck for Luck" - Who Will Be the Big Winner?

As we approach the halfway point of the football season, now is a good time to mention probable draft position, with the top prize most likely going to be Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck in the upcoming draft. Not since another Stanford quarterback (John Elway) has any one individual player with such an excellent skills set come out and been sought by almost every single team in the NFL.

There has been rumors or suggestions (seriously or otherwise) that sub-.500 teams might “tank” or “lose on purpose” its remainder of its games to gain the first round draft status, and thereby be eligible to obtain Luck, otherwise known as “Suck for Luck.”

Here are some current bottom-dwellers of the NFL and if obtaining Luck may or may not benefit them.

1) Miami Dolphins (0-6) - Most probable candidate to win the “Suck for Luck” sweepstakes because they do not have a strong quarterback (Chad Henne) to a point where Miami was seriously considering entertaining a trade with Denver for Kyle Orton. The trade never happened and Orton was demoted in favor of Tim Tebow. Henne is out for the year and Luck will fit very well for the Dolphins. He is much better than Henne in all aspects and will definitely improve Miami’s position
in the AFC east, especially with weapons such as Brandon Marshall and Reggie
Bush at his disposal.

2) Indianapolis Colts (0-6) – The Colts lost Payton Manning this year, and as he goes, so does the team. Luck is similar to Manning, with excellent decision making and composure, and I give him the edge in mobility. With Manning’s health uncertain, Luck can make an impact immediately since the Colts do not have a true #2. (They signed Kerry Collins out of retirement, geez.) Should Manning return healthy, he would be a very good mentor for Luck, and success will become the Colts for many years to come.

3) St. Louis Rams (0-5) – While the Rams already have their quarterback of the
future, Andrew Luck is the kind of player who can make a mediocre team into an
above average team. If the Rams can stay healthy (especially Stephen Jackson and Danny Amendola, who was lost for the year in the first game) for the upcoming year they can even become a great team again. Having a 1-2 combination of Luck and Bradford is bound to bring the Rams back to the prominence they had in the mid-1990s to early 2000s.

4) Jacksonville Jaguars (1-5) - The Jaguars will seemingly bank on Blaine Gappart as evidenced by their abrupt move to release David Gerrard at the beginning of the season. Like many of the quarterbacks drafted this year, Gappart played in a spread system and will have to adjust to the Pro style. Luck already plays in this style at Stanford, and should be able to fit in immediately. But as I said before, it looks like management is set on Gappart.

Let the games begin!