William Ricks | Contributing Writer
The Indianapolis Colts have had their share of QB drama this season.
Andrew Luck hasn’t played a down and the Colts have felt the impact of his absence, having a 3-6 record at this point in the season.
Luck’s rehab from offseason shoulder surgery has taken longer than the Colts would’ve hoped.
He was shut down from throwing a few weeks ago and received a cortisone shot.
This week, Luck was placed on IR by the Colts, ending his season before it even started.
Has the former Stanford quarterback’s career been mismanaged?
The Colts had early success with Luck. He lead them to three straight 11-5 seasons, and even an AFC championship game.
He was so good in fact, that he was able to disguise the Colts’ issues. The biggest problem was the offensive line. Brutal hits have plagued the rising star throughout his career. He has never had a stable o-line around him, which led to defenses being able to get immediate pressure on him.
In the 2015 season, Luck missed nine games due to the same shoulder injury he has currently.
Instead of sitting him out during last year’s season, his team gave him painkillers. This allowed Luck to be a tackling dummy, as he stood in the pocket behind a poor excuse of an offensive line.
It was no surprise that Luck needed shoulder surgery after playing through that kind of injury for two years.
The Colts’ lack of managing Luck’s injury better has caused them to throw away the 2017 season.
The organization had time to put pieces around Luck, as he was on a rookie contract until he signed a six-year $140 million contract in 2016.
Unfortunately for them, they didn’t take any steps to signing any impact players on the o-line or defense.
Now the Colts lack the cap space to sign any high-quality players.
This could be blamed on their former general manager Ryan Grigson, who made many questionable decisions during his time in Indianapolis.
Luck is 28 years old, so he still has many prime years left as a quarterback.
When he is healthy, he can tear apart a defense, throwing 132 touchdowns in his first five seasons.
The Colts haven’t wasted Luck’s career yet. The problems the Colts have on the offensive line, as well as the defensive side of the ball are so big, even Luck can’t cover them up like he did his first three seasons.
If the Colts don’t want to waste Andrew Luck’s career, they need to take this upcoming offseason to sign impact players on defense and solidify their offensive line.
Luck should be ready for the start of the 2018 season, and if he has the necessary pieces around him, his career will be reignited.
The Hampton Script 