The Indianapolis Colts finally decided that it was time to invest in the offensive line after watching Andrew Luck, Matt Hasselbeck and Charlie Whitehurst get bludgeoned all year long. The Colts had to sign two guys off the street (Josh Freeman and Ryan Lindley) to play in their last game of the season! The Colts didn’t waste any time in the 2016 NFL Draft. They wanted an offensive tackle in the first round, but all of the elite ones were gone. So they took the best center (Ryan Kelly) in the first round of the draft. Then they took OT Le’Raven Clark (3rd round), OT Joe Haeg (5th round) and center Austin Blythe (7th round) in the 2016 NFL Draft.
There is no Matt Hasselbeck to save the day if Andrew Luck gets hurt again in 2016, as Scott Tolzien is his new backup. It is imperative that the Colts block better to give 26-year old QB Andrew Luck the time needed to do his thing. He played in 7 games (all starts) for the Colts last year and he completed 162 of 293 passes (55.3%) for 1,881 yards with 15 TD passes and 12 INTs (74.9 QB Rating). Luck also carried the ball 33 times for 196 yards (5.9 ypc) last year for the Colts. The Colts were only 2-5 when Luck started, as he was playing hurt in all of those games. Luck has played in 55 games (all starts) in his first four years with the Colts and he has completed 1,224 of 2,106 passes (58.1%) for 14,838 yards with 101 TD passes and 55 INTs (85.0 QB Rating). He has also carried the ball 222 times for 1,101 yards (5.0 ypc) with 12 TD runs for the Colts. Luck is 35-20 (63.6%) as the Colts’ starting QB so far in his career. Luck is already #4 in passing yards (14,838) in Colts’ history, behind only Peyton Manning, Johnny Unitas and Bert Jones. He is also #4 in TD passes (101), #25 in rushing yards (1,101) and he’s tied for 21st with Norm Bulaich in TD runs (12) in Colts’ history.
Luck has been a Pro Bowler three times and he has gotten the Colts to the playoffs three times in his first four years with the team. So you can see the importance of keeping him in one piece. Luck has played in 6 games (all starts) in the playoffs so far in his career and he has completed 147 of 260 passes (56.5%) for 1,829 yards with 9 TD passes and 12 INTs (70.8 QB Rating). He also has carried the ball 20 times for 142 yards (7.1 ypc) so far in the playoffs. The Colts are 3-3 in Luck’s playoff starts.
Kudos are in order for the Colts’ front office for finally seeing the light and drafting some offensive linemen to protect their franchise QB.
