On Jan. 6, 2011, Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck — with a No. 12 Panthers jersey at the ready — issued a statement declaring that he was "committed to earning [his] degree in architectural design from Stanford University … at the completion of the spring quarter of 2012."
Luck had passed up a chance to be the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft and immediately started the "Suck for Luck" campaign for the 2011-2012 season.
Never in the history of the modern draft have fanbases so openly clamored for their teams to lose football games in order to position themselves better to draft a collegiate athlete. The Stanford redshirt junior is possibly the most highly touted NFL quarterback prospect since John Elway, garnering the loftiest praise from every scout and draft expert under ESPN's sun.
While no team will ever openly admit to tanking games, there are crafty moves that front offices can make to bolster their chances for a high pick.
Without further ado, here are the most likely teams to land the No. 1 overall pick and a shot at the prized QB.
The Favorites:
Indianapolis Colts (0-5):
The current frontrunners for the first pick in April's draft, the Colts face a difficult schedule the rest of the season. Indy's best, and perhaps only, shots at victories come in Weeks 10 and 17, when they face the Jacksonville Jaguars. Owner Jim Irsay seems excited at the prospect of acquiring Luck, as he stated on Monday that the Colts could draft Luck and sit him for "three or four years" behind current quarterback Peyton Manning.
The Colts know how drastically a quarterback can change a franchise's fortunes, and there is no chance they would pass on Luck next spring. Generally, the largest roadblock to an owner wishing for his team to tank is a coach who is fighting to stay employed. However, head coach Jim Caldwell's job should be in no danger as the Colts' organization tempered their expectations for the season (see: the Kerry Collins signing) when Manning went out indefinitely after multiple neck surgeries.
Miami Dolphins (0-4):
Miami entered its bye week winless after suffering competitive defeats in each of the first four weeks. Coming out of the bye week, however, expect to see the Dolphins curb their winning aspirations. In a swift move, the front office placed starting quarterback Chad Henne on injured reserve five days after he suffered a separated non-throwing shoulder. The team then signed former New York Giants backup Sage Rosenfels to compete with Matt Moore for the starting quarterback job.
Miami has cooked up a winning formula for losing. The Dolphins rank second to last in passing defense, allowing 307 yards per game; Moore was not good enough to be the quarterback for a Panthers team that won only two games last year, and head coach Tony Sparano was brought back only after a failed attempt to hire Jim Harbaugh.
Securing Andrew Luck would give the Dolphins stability at the quarterback position for the first time since Dan Marino retired. For a fanbase that on Monday night will watch Matt Moore become Miami's 16th different starting signal caller since Marino's departure — joining the likes of Cleo Lemon, A.J. Feeley, Ray Lucas and Rosenfels — ownership is doing the right thing by trying to "Suck For Luck."
The Contenders:
Jacksonville Jaguars (1-4) and Arizona Cardinals (1-4):
The Jags and the Cards have similar obstacles facing their journey to Andrew Luckdom. Both teams play in weak divisions this year, as the Jaguars have two remaining games against the aforementioned Colts, and the Cardinals still reside in the lowly NFC West. Both teams also invested heavily this offseason to bring in new young quarterbacks. Jacksonville traded their first- and second-round picks during the draft to move up six places to select Blaine Gabbert and Arizona traded cornerback DominiquéRodgers-Cromartie along with a second- round pick to acquire Kevin Kolb from the Philadelphia Eagles.
This isn't to say that the front offices of the Jags and Cards would not hesitate to draft Luck if given the chance, but Gabbert and Kolb are out to prove their worth. Neither wants to fall victim to the Jimmy Clausen treatment — Clausen lost his starting job when the Panthers drafted Cam Newton No. 1 overall in April — and be relegated to the bench after just one season.
St. Louis Rams (0-4):
The Rams, a bandwagon sleeper pick this offseason to win the NFC West, have been an utter mess so far this season. They are dead last in run defense, allowing 180 yards per game — a full 35 yards worse than any other team. The offensive line has been porous as second-year quarterback Sam Bradford has already been sacked 18 times.
The outlook, though, is not that bleak. St. Louis could very well lose its next three games against the Packers, Cowboys and Saints to fall to 0-7, but then win eight out of nine games against a cupcake second-half schedule. However, if the Rams were to consistently falter and wind up with the top pick, they would likely be the only team on this list that would not select Andrew Luck. The Rams could trade the rights to Luck for multiple first- and second-round picks, filling in a talented roster led by Bradford.
The Dark Horse:
Denver Broncos (1-4):
Heading into their bye week, the Broncos announced that their starting quarterback for Week 7 will be Tim Tebow. Tebowmania peaked yet again in Denver as the former University of Florida standout's dynamic play nearly inspired the Broncos to an upset over the Chargers on Sunday. By installing Tebow at quarterback now, Vice President of Football Operations John Elway and head coach John Fox have completely changed the narrative of the Broncos' terrible season.
Fox and Elway by no means think that Tebow gives the Broncos the best chance to win football games — they initially put him third on their depth chart behind Brady Quinn — but he is all the fans and media can focus on. If they wanted to make a quarterback change strictly to add wins, Quinn would have been the call.
By injecting Tebow into the lineup, both the fans and the front office get what they want. If Tebow fails, Luck awaits and Elway can dip into his alma mater for the next face of his franchise. On the other hand, if Tebow succeeds, Denver has a quarterback who is already worshipped — by his fans.
