The second week of the 2011 NFL season rapidly coming to a close with only Monday Night Football remaining on the schedule. As week two comes to an end, the Andrew Luck sweepstakes are starting to feature a little bit of separation. There is a lot of time before the field fully comes into focus, but for now the number one pick of the 2012 NFL Draft features some stiff competition.
Indianapolis Colts: Could we see Tim Duncan to the Spurs all over again? The Spurs ended up winning the NBA Draft lottery thanks to a David Robinson season-ending injury that sent them into a tailspin. I think we'd call it a productive tailspin. Two weeks into the NFL season and Peyton Manning's absence could not be felt any stronger in Indianapolis. The Colts were a one point underdog to the Browns and proceeded to lose 27-19, showing little sign of life in the process. It doesn't get any easier for the Colts as they host Pittsburgh and travel to Tampa Bay before a Suck For Luck showdown with this next team.
Kansas City Chiefs: The Chiefs entered 2011 coming off an unexpected strong season in 2010. Some regression was expected, but the injury insanity of the first two weeks likely was not. The Chiefs have lost Tony Moeaki, Eric Berry and Jamaal Charles to season-ending ACL injuries and are looking fairly abysmal at this point. After getting blown out by the Buffalo Bills at home, they were ravaged 48-3 by the Detroit Lions on the road.
What is interesting about Kansas City though is how they would use a potential number one pick. If they like Matt Cassel as a long term QB option, they could find themselves in a position to make a Herschel Walker type of trade with the number one pick and potentially load up on picks in return. The amount of depth they might add would be pretty spectacular, assuming they don't screw up the picks. If they don't like Cassel enough, they could still take Luck, but they would have some options. And if the right Godfather offer came along, it could get very interesting.
Seattle Seahawks: The Seahawks struggled against the 49ers but had a chance to win prior to Ted Ginn's two return touchdowns. Against the Pittsburgh Steelers they had almost zero chance to win. The Steelers handled their business and the Seahawks stumbled to 0-2. Tarvaris Jackson wasn't particularly awful, but he's not providing much of a spark for the Seahawks offense. Like the two teams above, until they win a game, who's to know if they ever will. At least Indy and KC get to face each other guaranteeing a tie or one of them a win.
Minnesota Vikings: The Vikings brought in Donovan McNabb hoping to get the last of whatever magic he might have. He had absolutely nothing against the Chargers and ran out of gas against the Bucs and now the Vikings are 0-2. A concern for the Vikings would be McNabb being just good enough to drag them kicking and screaming up to five or six win mediocrity, which likely will be out of the range of the top pick of the 2012 NFL Draft.
Once November and December get here, it's possible one or more of this teams will have moved off the Andrew Luck Watch List and replaced by some other no-luck team. Or we could have this group settle in for the long haul. It will be an "interesting" trip to follow this path to the number one pick.