KRAVITZ: One year from now, Luck will have a 30th birthday wish: Some help for his Colts
KRAVITZ: One year from now, Luck will have a 30th birthday wish: Some help for his Colts
Today is Andrew Luck's birthday. Unless you read this Thursday, in which case it was yesterday and yes, you missed his birthday.
Here is what strikes me, though: Luck turned 29 today. That doesn't make him a geezer, by any stretch, especially in a league where the ageless Tom Brady is still at the top of his game. But it does mean he should be entering his prime years as a quarterback, and currently, he is surrounded by one of the youngest and least accomplished rosters in the entire league.
At age 29, he is at least two years and maybe more from leading a contending football team.
And that's dispiriting.
Could he win a Super Bowl years down the line? Absolutely. John Elway won Super Bowl in each of his last two years while in his late 30's. Peyton Manning, however diminished, won a title in his last go-round. It's not like any kind of window has closed, but wouldn't you like for your quarterback to be surrounded by more talent when he's entering his prime years?
It's always easy to drop it all on former general manager Ryan Grigson, and heaven knows, he made his mistakes. But it must be said that he always tried to build around Luck, and for three years, all of them 11-5 and all of them resulting in a playoff berth, he was building toward something special. He drafted and signed offensive linemen. He drafted and signed players at every position, adding established pros like Frank Gore, Andre Johnson and others in an attempt to take the next big step after the Patriots browbeat the Colts in the AFC title game.
The problem was, very few of those guys – outside of Gore – made any impact.
Johnson, one of the best receivers in history, lasted one unproductive year in Indy. Gosder Cherilus, the right tackle, was besieged by injuries. Donald Thomas, another offensive lineman, also saw several seasons end due to injury before they ever started. Arthur Jones, the defensive lineman, couldn't stay healthy. LaRon Landry, formerly a Pro Bowl safety, was more concerned with his physique than his play on the field and became a complete bust.
The draft? Pretty ugly picture there. After hitting the jackpot in the 2012 draft, they took Bjoern Werner, Hugh Thornton and Khaled Holmes – the latter pair were both offensive linemen – and none of them made an impact. In 2014, Grigson again attempted to bolster the O-line, grabbing Jack Mewhort in the second round, then tried to give Luck receiver help in Donte Moncrief (third round). Mewhort, of course, had to retire due to injuries and Moncrief, an underachiever here, was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars. In 2015, Grigson tried to get receiver help for Luck and T.Y. Hilton, taking Phillip Dorsett in the first round (bust). He grabbed cornerback D'Joun Smith in the second (complete bust).
There are four players on the current Colts' roster who were drafted between 2012-2015 (Luck, Hilton, Clayton Geathers and Denzelle Good).
What that tells you is that Grigson and his staff tried to do the right thing, tried to bring along offensive linemen and weapons at the skill positions, but fell short in the talent-evaluation portion of the program. (And yes, some of it was bad, dumb luck with injuries having an impact).
I'm always amused at the national narrative that states that the Colts foolishly wasted the early portion of Luck's early career, when he was still on a rookie contract and there was plenty of cap room for free agents. Look, again, it wasn't for a lack of trying. They just got the wrong guys, or the right guys were beset by significant injuries. All of it left the new man in charge, Chris Ballard, with an empty cupboard.
This, though, is where it got a little weird for me.
Why did the Colts waste a year by holding onto a lame-duck head coach in Chuck Pagano? Why did they sign free agents Jonathan Hankins and John Simon so they could play in a defense that was going to be eliminated one year later? When I asked Ballard the Pagano question in the preseason, he said that Pagano had won a lot of games and he wanted to see if he could make it work with that staff.
What I strongly suspect is that Jim Irsay had no interest in paying two coaching staffs – the old Pagano staff and a new staff. Plus, remember, the Colts reportedly took a run at Jon Gruden that offseason – the team denied that -- so it's entirely possible they figured they'd swing for the fences and either hit a tape-measure homerun and strike out swinging.
Then Luck missed the entire 2017 season and nothing really mattered – except draft position.
Then, this year, Ballard stuck to his plan of fiscal discipline, and brought in some middle-class free agents like defensive tackle Denico Autry, wide receiver Ryan Grant, guard Matt Slauson and linebacker Najee Goode. As the Colts GM has explained several times, he first wants to populate his locker room with home-grown guys, establish a new culture, and then turn to free agency later when the Colts believe they are just a player or three away.
Again, puzzling.
It seems to me that any time you have a healthy Luck, you have a chance to reach the playoffs. How good were those rosters in 2012, 2013 and 2014? Not great, to be sure. And yet Luck put those teams on his shoulders and willed them to the post-season.
I fully understand that it's far easier for a team like the Rams to go the free-agent route; they've got a young quarterback, Jared Goff, who is still on his rookie contract. The Colts, conversely, gave Luck a $140 million deal, which makes it more difficult to navigate those financial waters.
But the money was there.
And the money -- $117 million, the most cap space in the league – will be available next offseason.
If I'm Luck and I'm turning 30, I know exactly what I want for my birthday:
I want help.
Want more Kravitz? Subscribe to The Bob Kravitz Podcast on iTunes,Google Play, Stitcher or TuneIn. If you have a good story idea that's worth writing, feel free to send it to .
