Ever since his pro-day workout last week, there has been even more hoopla surrounding Baylor's Robert Griffin III than there was immediately following his stellar showing at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis last month. In fact, the Heisman Trophy winner has generated so much buzz over the last week that many folks are starting to believe that the Indianapolis Colts might abandon their plans to select Stanford's Andrew Luck with the first overall pick in April's NFL Draft and take Griffin instead. I never bought that argument because there seems to be such universal agreement that Luck will be something special, and Colts owner Jim Irsay probably would not have let Peyton Manning walk away for anything less than a once-in-a-generation talent. For all the flash that Griffin has displayed this winter and spring, Luck is still the guy that projects most consistently as a franchise quarterback. As if to underline that point, the Colts announced on March 26 that Luck will soon visit the Circle City to workout for the team. Tellingly, Griffin will not be afforded the same opportunity,and I think these circumstance point clearly to Luck having locked down that first slot in the draft.
As the holders of the first pick, the Colts are in the unique position among NFL teams of having a legitimate opportunity to negotiate with their first choice before the draft ever happens. No other franchise has the same luxury simply because the pool of talent truly available to any of them depends entirely on what the Colts do. The Washington Redskins cannot talk contract terms with Griffin, for example, because they don't know for certain whether he will be there with the second pick. Maybe the Colts will nab him at number one, or maybe they'll wreck the Minnesota Vikings' plans and select Matt Kalil at the top of the draft. Maybe, but I wouldn't count on it.
The protestations of Irsay and general manager Ryan Grigson aside, the Colts likely made up their mind on Luck way back in January after the Colts finished a disastrous 2011 season. Manning's fate in Indy was probably sealed then, too, but Irsay rightly chose to keep his options open, however so slightly, by not telling us definitively what was in store. He's doing the same thing here by bringing in Luck before the draft.
The only thing that's likely to get a workout, though, is the hand Luck uses to sign his contract.
Adam Hughes was raised, and still lives, in rural Indiana. He has been a Colts fans since the team arrived in Indianapolis on a snowy morning in 1984. The Blue and White eventually replaced the Chicago Bears as his #1 team, and Super Bowl XLI was a dream come true.
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