Taking a Look at the Andrew Luck Sweepstakes

You can come to a lot of conclusions about an NFL team after six games. It’s more than enough time to get a read on a team’s talent, strategy and coaching, and start drawing conclusions about their potential. After six weeks, here are the frontrunners in the Andrew Luck Sweepstakes.

The Miami Dolphins

Chad Henne showed improvement this year, but not enough to get the Dolphins a single win before getting knocked out for the season. He is unlikely to return to Miami and with no legitimate starter currently on the roster, the 0-6 Dolphins are likely to be the big winners of the “Suck for Luck” contest.

The Kansas City Chiefs

With former offensive coordinator Charlie Weis gone, it will be up to Todd Haley to manufacture wins for the Chiefs this year. However, in a season plagued with poor coaching decisions, injuries to top playmakers and a major regression in Matt Cassel’s play; there are few reasons to stay confident. With few easy games left on their schedule, they have a great shot at getting Luck.

The Washington Redskins

It took six games for head coach Mike Shanahan to bench Rex Grossman in favor of John Beck. The former Miami Dolphin has only played in six career games (started four) and has managed zero wins, 1 TD, 3 interceptions and only a 56% completion rate. It would take a colossal collapse for this team to lose enough to get the first overall pick, but Beck has done next to nothing to show that he is impervious to such failure. They may very well end up with the first overall pick, and if they did it would make passing on Blaine Gabbert in last year’s draft understandable.

The Cleveland Browns

This team is on the way up, but whether or not Colt McCoy is ready win at NFL level, let alone in the AFC North, is still a question. So far they have only beat the winless Dolphins and Colts, and their schedule gets tougher going forward with games against the Ravens and Steelers. With their running game on the mends and their rush defense getting worse each week, this team has a shot at finding themselves drafting first overall.

The Cincinnati Bengals

A surprising name to find on this list considering that they are 4-2. But with wins over the Browns, Colts, Jaguars and a close one over the Bills; this team is far from a finished product. Looking at their schedule, they have a great shot at going at least .500 this season. But of all the teams in the league, Cincinnati is the only team with the trade ammunition (potentially 3 first round draft picks) to trade up in the draft for Luck. Should the Rams or Colts end up with the first overall pick, the Bengals could end up being the perfect trade partner.

There are several other teams that could end up with a shot at Luck, but most can be ruled out by their potential to win and the little known fact that Luck actually gets to decide where he plays. As the highest touted quarterback prospect since Eli Manning, you should expect Luck to consider all of his suitors and pick the team he trusts the most. He probably won’t want to sit behind an incumbent and will want a team with a decent supporting cast. And since he is only a junior right now, he has all of the leverage in negotiations should the draft order fall unfavorably.