Who do you like? Luck will be likely gone, but who do you want then? I think it’s clearly Barkley, but RGIII gets a lot of press, and might sneak in there. Who are you drooling over?
I really don’t keep up with college football so I don’t know. What I do know is that everyone is giving RG3 the “yeah, right, another one of those athlete QBs” but he’s actually apparently really smart, motivated, and a good guy, so I have to say he’s intriguing.
I’m not really sure who’s saying that. The guy has been VERY accurate this year. There was a string of games when he had more TDs than incompletions, which is damned hard, even at the college level.
He can run the ball pretty well. He’s not as pure a runner as Cam Newton (who’s been turning in a good rookie season), but he’s a better passer.
Whatever you think of him, he definitely deserved to be in consideration for the Heisman. I happen to think he earned the trophy outright this year. I don’t think he’s a spoiler for Luck, but he’s a reasonable first round QB gamble. Even worth a top 10 pick.
Besides Barkley, there’s also Landry Jones.
So what’s the tiebreaker scenario if Indianapolis wins another game? They have the Texans on Thursday (unlikely, but the Texans are down a QB and their top WR, and have a playoff spot - but are fighting for a bye), then Jacksonville (quite likely).
They’re pretty far ahead in SoS so they’re unlikely to drop below the top pick unless they win two games. I think.
And they’ll probably throw those games before that happens.
The Texans are down two QBs, but they don’t need Andre Johnson or Schaub to beat the Colts. They’ll put up 28 points on the strength of their running game, and Indy won’t score 28.
ahem
That’s been confirmed by ESPN. They need to win both remaining games to lose the top pick.
And, as bad as the Jaguars have also been this year, even if the Colts get past the Texans, I’m thinking Jacksonville is still a favorite.
Well, Barkley stayed at USC. Whether the (warranted) fear of Cleveland influenced the decision we’ll never know.
I’ve now got USC as my pre-season #1 for next year.
You know they’re going to lose scholarships, right (three? five?)?
They’ll be returning 20 starters, though. 10-2 team that finished strong and took Stanford to OT. They’ve still been recruiting well.
You know they’re also not in the SEC, right?
So…nobody look now, but the Colts are on a winning streak! Suddenly the last two weeks have become meaningful for a few teams who have been out of it a long time.
I keep hoping games like that will stop people from thinking that any NFL team would tank a game to get a higher draft choice.
The final game will be the true test of that. They may not have purposefully thrown the game because they didn’t expect to beat Houston, but now their draft pick is really on the line with the final game. I wouldn’t be surprised if they just fold.
And to be honest it’s just good strategy. Feel good end of season wins for bad teams aren’t really meaningful. They don’t carry over into next year. But winning that game would hurt the Colts franchise immensely. Either they don’t get Luck, or if they keep Manning and pass on luck, they don’t get the boatload of draft picks for someone trading up. It’s pretty clearly massively in the Colts’ favor to throw the final game.
I’m curious to see if they actually do.
I’m certainly hoping they win though. Fuck them. Plus, way better chance St. Louis or Minnesota is willing to listen to offers on Luck.
See, I hate that kind of thinking. The Colts had the exact same reason to “fold” last night. But they didn’t. They went out there and played hard, and beat a playoff team. Even if you’re cynical and don’t accept “they’re professionals” as a reason, the players and coaches have every reason to play their best every damn game. A vast majority of these players could give a shit if the Colts get the #1 or the #5 draft pick, they just aren’t that invested in the long term success of the team. If they play poorly, they could easily be cut. Most of them are on short term contracts and fighting to be a starter/make money in the NFL. They aren’t going to throw that away to help a team in such a coin flip as the draft. These games are taped, and broken down, and if another team takes a look at them on tape and sees they aren’t trying their best, how are they going to explain that? “Well, I tanked because I wanted the team, to which I have only a short term contract with, to draft higher on a guy who is as hit or miss as the guy they could have taken later”? And the coaches? Caldwell and all his assistants ares fighting not just for their current job, but another job down the road too.
It’s baloney. And yet every year it gets trotted out with very little evidence to support it.
Maybe for the owners, but not so much for the people who actually coach/play the game.
No it’s not. I’m a huge Luck supporter, but he’s still a huge question mark, one who couldn’t even win the Heisman. Pretending that he is a sure thing, or that all the coaches and players think he’s a sure thing enough to sabotage their careers, is, to me, nothing more than a myopic view from the eyes of a fan.
They won’t. They may lose, but it won’t be on purpose.
Hamlet: to your point, if the Colts (or any other team) were really tanking on purpose, then presumably it comes from the top. The owner decides to tank for a draft pick, and tells the coaches, who tells the players, and everyone know that they are to take it down a notch and lose the game. No one is reviewing tape and yelling at them. And if a player decided to buck those orders and play for the win, that’s what would get them in trouble, not the other way around.
That said, I don’t believe it either. But the reason you gave is invalid.
Have you ever heard a reputable source report that NFL players have been told to tank on purpose by their owners? Ever? That would be roughly 53 players and 10 coaches who would have to be in on it, all agreeing, and all keeping their mouth shut. And the tape isn’t just used by one team, and these players aren’t evaluated simply by one team, each game is essentially a tryout for every other team in the league also.
I think you overestimate the players loyalty to an individual owner or a team. As I pointed out, these guys are, and see themselves, cattle for the owners, easily used and just as easily replaced. A majority of them are on short term contracts, hell maybe dozens of them won’t even be on the team next year. And they’re supposed to not just tank, but also keep their mouth shut about it? Not seeing it.
I agree with Hamlet. Perhaps, as JSexton said, it comes from the top to not go all out for winning, but I think that would be more toward strategy. “Run the ball more than usual, even on 3rd and 6.” “Let’s make them beat us with the pass, and they won’t get yards on the ground. Cover 1 Defense.” (Of course, running and stopping the run are the traditional keys to winning, but only if you’ve got the players to do it right.) Having not seen any of the game, the only thing I saw was the picture on ESPN.com of Reggie Wayne looking happy, and in the background, the Colts sideline was celebrating by coming onto the field. They were excited to win. Yes, getting Luck would be great. But if Manning comes back healthy and they get an upgrade on the O-line with the #2 or #3 pick, that’s not the worst situation to be in.
But, let’s assume a player was ordered to play poorly in order to help the team tank. It makes the player look worse, but helps the team long-term. This player does what they’re told and intentionally underperforms.
If a coach/GM is looking for a player to give an offer to, isn’t that exactly the kind of player they want*? One disciplined enough to sacrifice their personal glory for the good of the team? If it’s a GM/coach for a different team, the player may have to convince them that they were indeed ordered to tank, of course, but if they can, I think it’s a big plus for a rational GM.
- Sometimes organizations may of course feel differently (cough hiring Brett Favre/hiring post-Pats Randy Moss cough), but I think most teams would agree in theory.