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NFL Draft 2012: Andrew Luck Needs Playmakers With Colts To Be Successful

Obvious title is obvious, but it's true: Andrew Luck is not going to be successful with the Indianapolis Colts unless he gets some playmakers around him. A quarterback can only do so much on the field, and while Indy has needs at just about every position on the field, there has been talk in recent days that the Colts may focus on the offensive side of the ball next week at the 2012 NFL Draft.

Mel Kiper of ESPN did an extensive Q&A with football writers from all over the nation. He talked about Luck and his future team extensively, and while he agrees that the former Stanford standout will need some help, it really doesn't matter where the Colts go this year.

Obviously they have a pick in the top of the second, and you also have to think about the defense. You can't forget about the defense. The defense has a lot of holes, too, and if you're going with this scheme you need players who can play it. They brought in a couple guys from the Ravens, Redding and Zbikowski, to help out there in terms of just understanding what Chuck Pagano wants.

But will Fleener be there in the second round? Possibly. I've been going one pick ahead, and obviously if you have Andrew Luck, you bring in Coby Fleener, there's nothing wrong with that. (Peyton) Manning relied on the tight ends heavily and certainly Fleener did it at Stanford, was a key guy. Fleener was the go to guy for Andrew Luck. Andrew Luck also had two other tight ends that were heavily in the mix.

The bottom line is, yeah, that could be, but you have so many need areas. You could go wide receiver at some point early, offensive line early. You could go defensive line early. This team has got so many holes where they can just basically set up their board and just pick accordingly.

There is no doubt that Fleener would be a huge pickup for Luck's development, but most mock drafts have the talented TE going late in the first round. Should he not be available and the projected first round receivers all get selected as planned, it'll likely be a defensive player taken in the second round. This may not be ideal for Luck, but the rebuilding project in Indianapolis is going to take a long way one way or another.

For more on Stanford Cardinal, check out Rule of Tree. Colts fans should visit Stampede Blue.