The Indianapolis Colts have confirmed they will select Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck with the first pick in this year's NFL draft.
Colts new head coach Pagano full of praise for 'football junkie'
The Indianapolis Colts have confirmed they will select Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck with the first pick in this year's NFL draft.
Luck had been widely expected to be taken by the Colts, who are beginning a major rebuilding process after finishing last season with a league-worst 2-14 record.
The franchise are looking for a new quarterback after deciding to release Peyton Manning in March after the 14-year veteran missed all of last season with a neck injury.
Manning - a four-time MVP who led Indianapolis to glory in Super Bowl XLI against the Chicago Bears - has since signed for the Denver Broncos.
"In fairness to Andrew Luck and in fairness to the whole process - the media gauntlet he's going to be enduring the next couple days - I thought it was the right thing to do to announce that we are going to take him," Colts general manager Ryan Grigson said in video posted on the team's official website.
Luck threw for 3,517 yards and 37 touchdowns in his final season at Stanford University, having opted not to enter the draft last year in favour of continuing his education.
Due diligence
His first head coach in the NFL will be Chuck Pagano, himself a rookie in the job.
"We did our due diligence, we studied him like heck and everybody thought this was the foregone conclusion," Pagano, who was Baltimore Ravens' defensive coordinator last season, said.
"The intangibles are off the chart. You know the skill set, you've seen the body of work. He's a gym rat, he's a football junkie, he's big, he's strong, he's physical. He can make every throw out there and he's a great leader in his own way."
"We've got a great one for years to come and it's another piece of the puzzle that we feel really good about, obviously."
With Luck off the board, the Washington Redskins seem set to take Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III with the second selection in the opening round.
The draft takes place at Radio City Music Hall in New York in from April 26-28.
