Many people say that the quarterback is the important position in football, and after that is the backup quarterback. The Indianapolis Colts don’t seem to understand that and they are now being punished for their lack of depth at the quarterback position. Their quarterback, Peyton Manning, has started 227 consecutive games (including the playoffs) and every year he’s expected to be in the huddle at the beginning of the game.
No problem — if you had Peyton Manning on your team you would expect the same.
However, age and injuries are catching up with Manning. The Colts’ future hall of fame QB is recovering from a neck injury that required surgery and he happens to be 35 years old. That’s fine, everyone gets old and acquires injuries. My issue with the Colts is that they’ve never taken the backup QB position seriously. This has never been more evident then with the impromptu signing of Kerry Collins.
Collins retired in early July and the Colts just now signed him with 18 days left in the preseason. I am under the impression that Indianapolis felt that Manning would be ready for the season opener against Houston. It also stands to reason they had to know that there was a slight chance Manning would not be ready to suit up. Regardless, they decided to wait and play it cool with Curtis Painter and Dan Orlovsky.
Curtis Painter is well …. Curtis Painter and Dan Orlovsky quarterbacked the Detroit Lions to their sparkling 0-16 record in 2008. In a worst case scenario, the Colts do have undrafted rookie Mike Hartline from Kentucky. Is this who your trusting with your franchise should Peyton miss some games in the 2011 season and beyond?
I’m not saying that the Colts should be making Andrew Luck preparations in 2012. However, it is becoming more important that the Colts must begin to make better plans at the backup quarterback position. The Jim Sorgis and the Curtis Painters of the world will definitely not cut it.