The Great Debate

After every college football season between the months of January and April, there is always more than enough speculation about who the first pick in the upcoming National Football League (NFL) draft will be. More often than not, the team who needs that first draft pick is in dire need of a franchise player, someone that can be the face of the team right away. Last year, the Carolina Panthers rested the future of their franchise solely on the shoulders of their number one draft pick, Auburn Tigers quarterback, Cam Newton.

This year, the number one belongs to the Indianapolis Colts, an embattled franchise in need of new hope. After winning at least ten games a year for almost a decade, the Colts meteoric drop from the top can be credited mainly to the absence of sure Hall of Famer Peyton Manning, who is widely considered by many to be the best quarterback in the league. And, if this season for the Colts is any indication, he is probably the most valuable as well.

Manning has been battling a chronic neck injury the entire year and has undergone multiple surgeries throughout the last ten months. With his health in question, Manning's future with the Colts is uncertain. Many believe that the Colts will begin to move forward without Manning, choosing to draft a quarterback in the draft and start anew. Who the Colts will choose come April is a popular topic leading up to the draft.

The easy choice by many would be Stanford Cardinal quarterback Andrew Luck, who has been called a "once in a generation" type of talent. Physically, he is the prototypical NFL gunslinger. Luck stands six feet four inches tall and weighs an impressive 235 pounds. He can make quite literally every throw a pro needs to be able to make, and his understanding and command of a complicated pro-style offense is superb. He also may be one of the smartest players in the draft; he did spend four years at Stanford after all. Luck also spent all but one year at Stanford learning under former NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh, who is now the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.

But not everyone is convinced that Luck is the man for the job in Indianappolis. Those people would say the argument for "the other guy" is quite good in itself, and they may be right. Robert Griffin III spent three years at Baylor, making a name for himself in the Big-12 conference with dazzling speed and an uncanny ability to make highlight plays.

He was a wildly recruited track and field athlete, breaking state records in Texas during his high school career. He is no slouch in the classroom either, graduating with a degree in political science after only three years. This last year though, after much speculation about his ability to throw, Griffin, who won the Heisman Trophy as the nation's best college football player, showed he is much more than just a runner.

In all reality, I believe the Colts cannot go wrong either way. Both guys are high talent, high character and extremely smart. Both individuals can handle the pressure of being the face of an entire franchise. They have been the faces of their respected teams since their enrollment. Although I still think the Andrew Luck will be the guy in Indianapolis at the start of the next season, the fact remains that whoever the Colts decide to choose, they have chosen correctly.