Depth is key to any team’s success in the NFL and in any sport for that matter, especially at quarterback position. Just ask the 2011 Indianapolis Colts, who went 2-14 without their number one guy. The Colts had three different quarterbacks that took snaps for them, and they didn’t  get a win until the third quarterback in week 15 against the Tennessee Titans.

Undoubtedly the Indianapolis Colts will draft Andrew Luck with the first pick, strengthening their quarterback position, but who will back him up? The Colts must sign a whole new quarterback crew this off-season either through free agency or using their draft picks.

There are many veteran players available in free agency, and the Indiapolis colts will need at least one veteran to go with the two rookies. I would predict that the Colts will draft Luck and another guy in the 5-6 round mark. There have been some great quarterbacks to come out of the draft in the 5th and 6th rounds, most notably Tom Brady.

Regardless of who they draft after Luck or pick up in the free agent market, they will need solid players to ensure that what happened in 2011 doesn’t happen in 2012.

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1. Wide receiver – The Colts have serious contract expiration issues all over the board, and none more numerous than at the wide out position. Reggie Wayne, Pierre Garcon, Anthony Gonzalez, and Austin Collie all have contracts up for review or due to expire. No matter who the quarterback may be, he will not do well without reliable receivers.

Oklahoma State wide receiver Justin Blackmon is a two-time Biletnikoff Award winner, and is only the second player in history to win that honor more than once. In 2011, he finished his college career with 121 catches for 1,522 yards, and scored 18 touchdowns. In the 2012 Fiesta Bowl, Blackmon caught eight passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns.

2. Center – Jeff Saturday is in the Sunday afternoon of his career. His contract is up, and he’s already stated publicly that he’s contemplating retirement. If his retirement does occur, Indianapolis has also already offered up the option for Saturday to take an office role in-house with the team. Even if he does play, Saturday does not have much time left. At age 36, he won’t be around much longer to snap the ball for Manning or Luck.

Peter Konz comes from a long line of prominent Wisconsin linemen, including Cleveland Browns Pro Bowler, Joe Thomas. At 6’5” and 315 pounds, Konz will be a massive asset to any team’s offensive line. In 2011, he was named as an AFCA, CBS, and PFW first team All American.

3. Defensive tackle – The Indianapolis Colts have never been known as a stout run-stopping team. Their defense has not ranked in the league’s top 20 against the rush since 2007, when Indianapolis ranked 15th in the league. The Colts ranked 29th in the league against the run in 2011, giving up nearly 150 yards on the ground per game.

Penn State All-American, Devon Still, was the 2011 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, becoming only the second defensive tackle ever to win that award. The 6’5”, 310- pound senior could flourish if new head coach Chuck Pagano tries to implement a re-vamped 3-4 defensive scheme.

4. Offensive tackle – Yes, the Colts drafted tackle Anthony Castonzo with their first round pick last year. Castonzo started 12 games in 2011, but battled injury, and often looked confused on an beleaguered offensive line. It didn’t help that the Colts had more starting quarterbacks last season than they’ve had in the last decade. Still, the Indianapolis offensive line was beaten up all year, and could use as much help as they can get.

USC offensive tackle, Matt Kalil, is the consensus top prospect for that position in the 2012 NFL Draft. In 2011, Kalil did not give up a sack, while his offensive line only allowed eight sacks on the season. Matt’s brother, Ryan, is the center for the Carolina Panthers.

5. Cornerback – Due to injuries and poor performance, the Colts have been forced to shuffle cornerbacks consistently over the last several seasons. The Tampa 2 defense was predicated on speed over size, which left the Colts open to be burned and beaten by taller wide outs. In 2011, Indianapolis gave up 25 touchdowns through the air.

Dre Kirkpatrick, at 6’2”, would be taller than any cornerback currently on the Colts starting roster. He was on two BCS National Championship teams with the Alabama Crimson Tide. On January 9th, Alabama defeated the LSU Tigers 21-0, becoming the first team to win the BCS Championship via a shutout.

With a new head coach, new coordinators, and a new general manager, it seems obvious that the Colts are preparing for the future. What better way to start off a new regime than with the number one pick in the draft? No matter who the Colts take in the first round, they will still have more holes to fill before returning to NFL prominence. Still, after last season, there is almost nowhere to go but up.

Every year players choose not to throw at the NFL combine, but it’s usually so they don’t hurt their draft status. For example, Tim Tebow a few years back did not throw either for completely different reasons. Tebow needed to hide his throwing motion because it was very weak.

With Andrew Luck, not throwing it seems like they are trying to hide something from the rest of the NFL. But then again does Luck have anything else to prove? He is an elite passer and is still going to compete in other things like the 40, because that is so important for luck right?

I think it comes down to head games at this point for the Indianapolis Colts. Luck will throw at his pro date to show off his arms strength and accuracy.

Luck is not the only quarterback that won’t be throwing. Robert Griffin III and Texas A&M’s Ryan Tannehil are also choosing not to throw.

With the NFL combine just a week away, I am sure this is just the first of many stories that will come up leading into it.

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A New York Daily News columnist suggests ESPN could hire Peyton Monday as the third member of the Monday Night Football booth: “Yet if a certain thing happens, the third chair, once occupied by (Ron) Jaworski, might not be cold for long. For if Peyton Manning decides to call it quits, not return to football for the 2012 season, ESPN has positioned itself perfectly to lure the Indy legend to Bristol. If Manning wants to do TV next season, ESPN is our odds-on favorite to get him. Teams clear cap space. ESPN has cleared booth space.”

This latest news is just another turn in the never-ending Peyton Manning drama. This is another reason why Jim Irsay and Peyton need to come to an agreement, so the little stories like this can end.

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The decision of 2012, if Peyton Manning will stay or go may be found on Jim Irsay’s twitter account. So no surprise his latest tweet got some attention, it read.

“BREAKING! A brand new BMW car will be given away to the one who can predict all 32 1st round draft picks correctly! NO GUESSES ACCEPTED YET.”

It got some people to raise their eyebrows at the first words “Breaking”  But, it wasn’t the breaking news that everyone expected. He is simply giving a car away if you can correctly guess the first 32 picks of this April’s NFL Draft.

This is just an example of the games that the Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay likes to play, because he knew we are all waiting for the news about Peyton Manning.

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In 1983 the Baltimore Colts had the first overall pick. There was another great quarterback from Stanford at that time, John Elway. The Baltimore Colts were coming off an  0-8-1 season.

After a remarkable college career, in which he set nearly every Stanford and Pacific-10 career record for passing and total offense, and finished second in Heisman Trophy balloting as a senior, Elway was regarded as the top prospect in the 1983 NFL draft.

The Baltimore Colts at the time had the top pick and looked poised to land a quarterback capable of building on the remarkable legacy set by John Unitas, but Elway had different ideas. Elway publicly came out to say he won’t play for the Colts, which in turn upset many players that have came before him. Terry Bradshaw publicly criticized Elway for his comments about refusing to play and that he will demand for a trade the moment he is drafted. Elway also threatened to refuse to sign a contract and instead going to the baseball field instead.

Interestingly enough, his leverage came from his ability to play baseball. Elway batted .361 at Stanford and had been drafted by the New York Yankees back in 1981. By the time the football draft rolled around, he had spent two summers with the organization, and threatened to devote himself to baseball full-time.

Eventually, Colts owner Robert Irsay gave in. The Colts traded Elway to the Broncos, and the rest is history.

Fast forward 29 years later, the Indianapolis Colts now have the first pick overall in the 2012 NFL draft. They will be drafting a quarterback to replace the legacy of Peyton Manning. All signs point to drafting a Standford standout, who broke John Elway’s records in college. There are many similarities between the situations, except one. Andrew Luck has not threatened to demand a trade, or to leave for the game of baseball.

Current owner of the Indianapolis Colts Jim Irsay (son of Robert Irsay) will not have the same issues with Andrew Luck as they did with Elway. The facts are Luck can’t be anymore excited to play for the Colts, playing either after Peyton Manning or behind Manning.

John Elway finished his career in  Denver and won two Super Bowl titles. Just imagine what would have happened if he were to stay in Baltimore. Would those championships have been won in Baltimore/Indianapolis?

Hard to say, but one thing is certain the Indianapolis Colts will draft Andrew Luck and if they are lucky they will have a great quarterback for the future.

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“It’s a difficult thing, because sometimes circumstances are thrown at you. You take your hands out of the deck that you’re dealt and you deal with them.”

“We both know everyone has great interest in it, and we’ll just keep talking,” Irsay said. “I think we both understand each other’s issues.”

Irsay, calling his friendship with Manning a “lifelong relationship,” joked about the back-and-forth comments he and Manning have shared recently with the media.

“If I call him a politician, he asks for one stroke back on the golf course,” Irsay said. “And I said, no, he’s giving me one more because I thought he was acting like a jerk before.

“We have that type of relationship. We’re both very competitive, but I have a lot of close friends and they’ve said a lot worse things to me, and I’ve said a lot worse things to them than him, and I have.”

“Him and I will always continue to be great friends, and I hope it’s with him still being in a Colts uniform,” Irsay said. “But we’ll see as we go forward the next few weeks.”

After reading these comments from Jim Irsay, you get the feeling that he has come to terms with releasing Peyton Manning, but not excited about it. In a business you have to make difficult decisions and you have to live with them and Irsay is facing one right now.

If he is being honest with his words, then you have to believe that it will take awhile for him to release Manning, if it gets to that point. Every day you get a different view of the situation in Indianapolis but you are starting to see how truly good friends Jim Irsay and Manning are.

You know what they always say, don’t hire someone you can’t fire.

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The Peyton Manning decision has not only affected the quarterback and all the fans, but the front office and more specifically the GM Ryan Grigson. For the Indianapolis Colts to move on from this past season, and for them to be able to sign free agents they need to know what is going on with Manning.

At the end of every season the front office and coaching staff goes through each position one at a time. They make decisions either to keep or let certain players go. After they do that, they discuss what type of players they want on this team and check out what is available on the free agent market. When that is done they turn their attention to the NFL Draft in April.

With only two wins this past season the Indianapolis Colts have a lot of holes to fill, which they will do via free agency and the draft. For that to happen the Colts must figure out what they are going to do with their veteran, beat up, experienced quarterback, Peyton Manning.

General manager Ryan Grigson said the Indianapolis Colts are in a holding pattern with their pursuit of free agents because of the situation involving Peyton Manning. Grigson said, “That is obviously going to have a major effect on things in how that all plays out. But until that is resolved, we are going to go about business as usual planning position-by-position to see what we can do and looking at the money that we have to do those things and who is available.”

If the Colts let the decision linger into March, after free agency is underway, they will miss out on some players that can and will contribute to their team right away.

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This is great news for everyone involved with the talk through Twitter by Jim Irsay getting out of hand.

Now the two can iron out their differences, see eye to eye, and come to a deal to bring the 4-time MVP back to the team that he was drafted by rather than release him.

Jim Irsay’s comment on the news said that the two parties “understand each other”, therefore a deal should be made soon.

The Indianapolis Colts owe Manning $28 million on March 8, and they have said they were meeting soon, so it should happen sooner rather than later. So this news comes as no surprise.

More news to follow later.

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