"Suck For Luck" Is On In NFL
MIAMI (CBSMiami.com) – The consensus number one NFL prospect for the 2012 draft is Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck. With the NFL season in full-swing, a few teams, including the Miami Dolphins have already been entered into the "Suck for Luck," race.
The term, "Suck for Luck," refers to the possibility of a quarterback needy NFL team to play poorly all season in order to secure the number one pick in the draft and pick Luck as the new quarterback.
The Dolphins are a mess on and off the field through three games this season. On the field, the Dolphins can't finish games and the defense has been a shell of its 2010-self. The Fins are currently 0-3 and with multiple games on the road against good teams, the season isn't looking promising.
It's been speculated amongst NFL writers that if the Dolphins lose this weekend to the San Diego Chargers that head coach Tony Sparano will be fired as the team heads into a bye week.
Firing a coach midseason isn't typically the best way to instill confidence in the team and could send the Dolphins further down the road in the "Suck for Luck" sweepstakes.
The problem the Dolphins may face is that quarterback hasn't been the main problem during the team's 0-3 start. Quarterback Chad Henne has been underwhelming, but he hasn't cost the team any games. He's completing around 54 percent of his passes and has a touchdown to interception ratio of 4-3 this season.
Still, in a quarterback driven league, Henne's numbers haven't been enough to make the Dolphins a contender. That's why the Dolphins are considered one of the leaders in the current "Suck for Luck" sweepstakes.
But the Dolphins are not alone in the race to the bottom of the NFL. The Indianapolis Colts are without Peyton Manning and the team is absolutely horrible. The Colts could bring in Luck to eventually replace Manning and let him study under him for a year, unless Manning's injury is a career-ender.
There's also the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs won 10 games last season, but have been abused by a couple of opponents, though they just narrowly lost to the Chargers last weekend. The Chiefs tied up a lot of money in quarterback Matt Cassel, so even if they have the number one pick, they may not go for Luck.
But the real question for these teams comes down to how much do you value the current season, or are they building for the future?
The Dolphins have a core of young talent, but the team hasn't gelled and there are still massive holes all over the field, namely in the defensive secondary.
One player can't make a team, unless he's Peyton Manning. But as the season wears on, several teams out of contention may begin to make plans to "Suck for Luck."
