Ignorance is not bliss. Indianapolis needs a post-Manning plan before it’s too late

SCOTT JACOBS

If anyone deserves the benefit of the doubt in the NFL it’s Peyton Manning.  The legendary Tennessee quarterback has been the gold standard for his position along with Tom Brady from almost day one of a sure-fire Hall of Fame career.  Manning has won MVPs, leads the Colts to the playoffs every year, and he has started every meaningful game that the Colts have played since he was drafted first overall.

He is for all intensive purposes, one of the greatest players of his generation.

But that doesn’t excuse the fact that Manning is now 35, and struggling as he recovers from offseason neck surgery.  Manning has been in the league since 1998 and is not only the face of the Colts, but he is the Colts.  Without Manning the Colts are a meddling 3-13 or 4-12 team.  His brilliance is the great cover up for a very flawed band of blue horses.

As Manning has aged the Colts have had young backups behind him, but unlike the Eagles, they have had zero success grooming a quality backup or even someone of any significant value.  With Manning being as healthy as he has been, for as long as he has been, it’s been about winning and building around Peyton. Which is perfectly understandable: to a degree.

But as Manning gets closer and closer to the end of a glorious career it is clearer than ever that the Colts don’t seem to have any contingency plan for life after Manning.  And although Manning still very well could have 3 or 4 good years left, the Colts don’t seem to have any Plan B if he doesn’t.  Let’s call it the Dan Marino Plan, one the Dolphins are still ruing over a decade later.

The Dan Marino Plan goes like this: ride your all world QB till he has nothing left, while patching up your glaring weaknesses with aging veterans and scotch tape as you languish trying to stay above mediocrity. Worry about replacing your legend after he calls it quits.  It usually results in a free-fall and years of mediocrity as you spin round and round the quarterback carousel.  Ask the Dolphins, they’re still recovering from Marino’s exit.  They had no one groomed to be the next guy and after Damon Huard flopped in a QB battle with Jay Fiedler, they found themselves quarterback nomads and the epitome of dysfunctional.

The Dolphins traded picks, signed free agents, drafted guys in high rounds, and still to this day haven’t found anyone to fill Marino’s shoes.  It’s been so bad for QB’s in Miami that no one can even walk a straight line in Marino’s giant shadow without falling on their face.

The Colts are heading down that path.  Rather than sacrifice a high draft pick to groom for the future, the Colts have used stop-gap QBs throughout Manning’s tenure.  Only when the Colts have the playoffs locked up do these guys usually get any playing time.

But it pains me to think that the Colts are doing exactly what Miami did.  Maybe Manning has some more magic left and maybe the Colts still can be a significant player in the AFC.  Manning has started 208 straight games, which amounts to every game since he was drafted. Quarterback is the last thing the Colts have needed to worry about.

But that’s changing.  If the Colts are smart they’ll think long and hard about the Aaron Rodgers Plan: draft a quarterback with a high pick, let him sit behind a great for a few years, and then have him waiting in the wings ready to go when the inevitable finally comes to fruition.

If Manning can’t start the season opener in a few weeks the Colts are looking at either Curtis Painter or recently un-retired Kerry Collins.  That’s not a plan, it’s a lesson.  There’s not just a drop-off from Manning to everyone else.  There’s a gaping Grand Canyon size hole.

The Colts will likely suffer the consequences of failing to build depth behind #18, but it’s one thing to lose a few games as a result of that.  It’s another to lose an entire decade.

Indianapolis, learn from Miami. That could be you if you don’t play your cards right.

Photo: AP

Popularity: 6% [?]