Andrew Luck Needs To Be More Of A Game Manager In 2016
Even though Andrew Luck recently signed a contract extension to continue the face of the franchise, the Colts should really consider turning Luck into more of a game manager. This is because during last season the Indianapolis Colts continued to implement an offensive system that heavily relied on the passing game in an attempt to maximize the use of Andrew Luck's ability to push the ball down the field and TY Hilton's ability to get separation from defensive backs. Due to this, the Colts were 9th in the league in passing attempts per game as they averaged 38.4 per game according to team rankings. While the Colts offensive system showed flashes of brilliance during last season, it prevented them from achieving their goal of winning football games. Due to the fact that Luck likes to hold on to the ball for a long time to give TY and the other wide receivers a chance to get enough separation to catch the ball. But his offensive line isn’t strong and/or quick enough to hold their blocks to allow him to hold the ball for an extended period of time, which leaves him more susceptible to being hit or taking a sack. As a result, it increases the likelihood that the offense has shorter drivers which result in the defense having to go back on the field without the proper amount of rest. Which leads to the defense being more susceptible to giving up yards and points because they were not able to regain some energy between possessions to be able to stop the opposing offense.
Therefore, it would behoove the Colts to turn Andrew Luck into more of a game manager who is primarily in charge of handling the ball off or running the ball on his own in an effort to get the opposing defense to stack the box. Once the Colts made the opposing defense honor the running game by stacking the box it allowed them to run some play action passes. Where they would fake the handoff to the running backs making the opposing defense believe that they are going to run the ball. As a result, the opposing defense will keep the box stacked thus giving the Colts receivers more man to man coverage and Andrew Luck more open space on the field to lead his receivers to the ball which would have increased the likelihood of the pass being completed. This allowed the team to keep drives alive while forcing the opposing team to put more players in coverage to decrease the likelihood of the offense scoring a substantial amount of points in a short period of time thus giving The running backs room to run the ball again. The combination of these factors decreases the likelihood of Luck being hit or taking a sack while at the same time allowing the offense to stay on the field for a prolonged period of time. Which means that the defense received the proper rest between drives which enabled them to have enough energy to execute a properly tackle to a player when they are running with the ball or being able to keep up with wide receivers. If the Colts to turn Andrew Luck into more of a game manager, they will most likely win more than 8 games.
