I can't help and look back at that and feel like we fucked up. Not that anyone here could have done anything about it. But the organization as a whole, that they messed it up.

Luck
 

I miss Luck also but wish him and his family all the best. Living the good life on Eagle Creek. I think its impressive that he stayed here especially since he's not from here originally. Irsay went on the cheap and didn't provide Andrew with an adequate offensive line and he took a beating.

The way we were rolling his last season I really thought we were gonna go in there and kick KCs ass, and to look back now they way he left the field and stood in the tunnel his mind was already made up

His last interview “It was a very fulfilling and rewarding season “

I remember a few weeks before the draft there were a handful of Colts fans suggesting they trade the Luck pick and draft Ryan Tannehill, not sure how much they could have gotten for that pick, but in hindsight this may have been a wise decision! I was a huge Luck fan, but the way he left this team was very damaging to the franchise....the Colts are still trying to recover from it!

That's why they got Wentz. He's the Dollar General version of Andrew Luck.

o


I don't believe that Luck's sudden departure ruined this franchise beyond the solitary season of 2019, when they had to muddle by with Jacoby Brisset at quarterback to the tune of a 7-9 record. Last year, the Colts went 11-5 with a 39 year-old Philip Rivers at quarterback. This year, as exasperating as the Colts' 3-5 record is, really isn't that much different than last year's 11-5 team. Carson Wentz missed the end of the Rams game, and subsequently a chance to pull out the victory. He was also severely hobbled in the following week's loss to the Titans. Our kicker (Rodrigo Blankenship) being injured ultimately cost us the game against the Ravens when punter Rigoberto Sanchez' 47-yard attempt sailed just a bit wide-left on the final play of regulation.

I believe that Luck was a great quarterback, but he wasn't Peyton Manning. Luck could take a below-average team and make them an average team with a record of 8-8. Manning could take a below-average team and make them a playoff team with a record of 11-5 or 12-4. Luck could take an average team and make them a playoff team with a record of 10-6 or 11-5. Manning could take an average team and make them a bona-fide Super Bowl contender.


Again, I really believe that Luck's sudden departure screwed the Colts for the 2019 season, and the 2019 season only.

o

Andrew Luck was a monumental talent who lacked the one thing that all great players bring to the field…an insatiable need to compete. Peyton had it, Brady has it, and so did every player whose bust resides in Canton.

I understand his need for a break from the constant rehabbing and his reluctance to play behind a third rate OL. But, the 2021 Colts have the best OL on the planet, along with elite talent at the skill positions. Any QB, with even a sliver of competitiveness would have leaped at the chance to stage a comeback when Irsay approached him during the offseason.

So, I wish Luck well in his retirement. He got his money, and that, apparently, was what was important to him.

If Irsay is at fault it is only because he rode with Grigson/Pagano for way too long. Unfortunately that's what post season appearances do. They delay what needs to be done and even worse getting rid of a cancer survivor in Pagano would have been frowned upon greatly, including by Colts fans. Being cheap wasn't the fault that lies with Irsay.

I don't miss him at all. I hope he and his neck beard are healthy and happy, but I'll take Carson Wentz and ride with him now.

I was about to disagree...

My thought was trading that pick would have meant keeping Manning, and restocking the team with fresh defensive players and o-line.
Kuechly or someone like that in the first round.

That would mean saving the QB pick to a future year (and likely whoever would make that trade would have to cough up a few future 1st rounders).

But then I looked at the QB classes over the next few years...

2013:
EJ Manuel, Geno Smith (wow what a shit year for QBs)
2014: Blake Bortles, Johnny Manziel, Teddy Bridgewater, Derek Carr, Garoppolo (combo of shit players and just OK players, no true franchise QBs)
2015: Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota (I guess Winston has been OK but its unlikely we would have had the #1 pick that year...but maybe... either way I'm kinda glad he's not a colt)
2016: Goff, Wentz, Paxton Lynch (funny we might have ended up terrible in the immediate post-Manning years and ended up with Wentz anyway)

But seriously after Luck there was a 3 year run with virtually no good QBs. Derek Carr or Winston would have been the best out of that crew prior to 2016. That's just terrible.