Last week, Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz broke this news on Twitter:

Andrew Luck was willing to throw for teams (Colts) at the combine, but was told by teams (Colts) just to throw at pro day March 22.

— BobKravitz (@bkravitz) February 18, 2012

Today, Andrew Luck's people are saying the de facto No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft might indeed throw. Luck is training in California with quarterback guru George Whitfield, the guy who got Cam Newton ready for last year's Scouting Combine. Whitfield spoke to ESPN's Joe Schad recently:

"There are things he wants to work on, but this is refinement not an installation or a surgery," Whitfield said. "It's about getting reps and he's really a marvel to watch. Very sound. Very consistent. Physically impressive. A power guy. A strong guy which people underestimate. One thing we've been doing is working the throws out on the perimeter -- those throws outside the hash marks."

Whether Luck will throw at the combine is uncertain, but Whitfield said Luck is prepared to throw in Indianapolis and would perform well if he did throw.

If Luck throws at the Combine, that will be some pretty serious egg on Kravitz's beard.

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One of the lone bright spots for the 2011 Colts was the emergence of MLB Pat Angerer, who at one time was leading the NFL in tackles. The former 2nd round pick had been playing admirably on the outside, but he wasn't nearly as good as he was inside. Now in new Head Coach Chuck Pagano's defense, we're going to start seeing him more in a role like Ray Lewis and Patrick Willis than that of Brian Urlacher. It's one of the few spots on the Colts roster that looks very promising into the future.

With a 3-4 Defense looking inevitable, the sheer number of LBs needs to go up, and that'll be both from getting a couple guys in the draft or through Free Agency, and some of the DEs converting to more of a stand-up role. Several guys, including the much-maligned Jerry Hughes, may see new life in a slightly different role. We may also see Dwight Freeney play a little bit of OLB, and my guess is the Colts will use their Franchise Tag on Robert Mathis until he's signed long term. Just a hunch.

This looks like a position we'll see at least one guy drafted, if not multiples, but it's tough to tell now where they'll go in free agency, so we'll need to look at both inside and outside guys. I've left out three guys that will assuredly not be there at pick #34 in Melvin Ingram, Dont'a Hightower, Courtney Upshaw, and Luke Kuechly, so no need to profile those guys. There are a whole bunch of others though.

After the jump I'll show you the entire group of Linebackers, and give you my favorites in the group.

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Well, the verdict is in. Sorta, kinda, maybe.

In an excellent, and I mean excellent article from Jason Cole detailing everything Andrew Luck (yes, even his infamous neck beard), there was one small statistic that rings home with what we've heard for months and months.

In a survey of 15 scouts, dating back to the Senior Bowl, 14 of them said that Luck would be their pick at number one overall. And that gasp you hear is from RG3's agent/camp. Not really, but is anyone surprised? To be perfectly honest, while RG3 has certainly made the "battle" for the numbered golden boy status interesting, the race was never really that close.

And no, it's not about the color of his skin or the simple fact that he's very mobile. If anyone makes a judgement from the color of one's skin, I'll be very blunt about my feelings towards them: They're an idiot, a bigot, and simply don't deserve to be considered. I hate to even bring it up, but there is just absolutely no room for any of this. I've seen some despicable comments on a variety of forums and until those go away, it will always be questioned.

When you look past the hype/garbage and get down to brass tacks, it's always about talent evaluation. We've seen what a prototypical "scramble first" quarterback (Cam Newton) can do in this league in the pocket and on the run. RG3 has the ability, the arm, and the brains---graduated with an impressive 3.65 GPA in political science---to be very successful. Maybe even more successful than Newton, Luck, or both combined. So, without trying to steal too much thunder from Matt's upcoming Luck draft profile, let's vaguely break down some of the elements of why he's ultimately preferred:

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Well, it looks as if the defensive coordinator of the Washington Redskins might just have let the cat out of that bag.

From NFL.com:

Meet Rod Denny, who earlier this month was in Hampton Roads, Va., for his 16-year-old daughter's volleyball tournament. During a stay at a local hotel, Denny spotted [Redskins defensive coordinator Jim] Haslett during breakfast. As a lifelong Redskins fan, Denny couldn't let such an opportunity pass without at least saying hello.

The innocuous greeting eventually turned into a meeting of two football minds, during which Haslett apparently divulged the team's offseason philosophy. It just happens that Denny has his own fan blog devoted to the Redskins under the nom de plume of "Rodskins" and later wrote a fan post detailing his conversation with Haslett.

The "fan blog" referenced in the article is SB Nation's Hogs Haven. Exactly two weeks ago today, Mr. Denny wrote a FanPost on that site detailing the long conversation he had with Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett. Lord only knows what Haslett was thinking, but he apparently told Denny some serious insider information on what the Redskins plan to do, and are already doing, to upgrade their quarterback position this offseason.

This is from Denny's FanPost:

According to Haslett, [Redskins general manager Bruce] Allen has some connections with some people in Indianapolis and mentioned discussions surrounding Peyton in a Redskins uniform have already begun behind the scenes.

That, my good friends, is what we call tampering if it is indeed true. It's a big no-no in the NFL, even though, apparently, everyone does it. Denny's story was so believable that, according to NFL.com, it caught the attention of Redskins beat writers.

The Washington Post also called, and Haslett again rejected the notion that he had inside knowledge of the team's plans at quarterback.

"I don't know what our plans are," Haslett said. "I worry about the D."

This all came as a surprise to Denny, who insisted he wasn't trying to play "gotcha journalism."

"When I saw it was getting this much publicity I felt bad, and my wife got on me about it too," Denny told WLZL-FM last week, via The Post. "I had no intention of going undercover or getting him in trouble or anything like that."

Denny, a pastor from Charlotte, N.C., added that he wasn't bothered by Haslett's denial.

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To say it's been a really long time since we've done a meet and greet would be an understatement, as I think it's been at least three years. With the Combine being in town this weekend, we felt it was time to get together, have a drink or two, and chat football.

It just so happens that Sports Illustrated's Peter King will be doing a tweet-up that night, so we're just going to piggy-back off of that. Here's what he said in Monday Morning QB today:

I'll be at the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis this weekend, and will be having a Tweetup Friday at 6 p.m. at the Sun King Brewery in Indy. Look forward to seeing you all with your draft and free-agency questions.

For those of you who haven't tasted the sweet nectar of Sun King beer, this will be a good way to try the whole lot of them.

Both myself (Matt) and Stew (@stewblake22) will be there, as we'll both need a few refreshments after our second straight long day covering the Combine. Because it is a Brewery, I think you have to be 21 to get in, so I apologize to our younger readers. I'll put on my Notre Dame hat so I'm a little more recognizable, and if you search around SB Nation a little bit, you'll find my mugshot.

We look forward to meeting some of you there!

Where: Sun King Brewery, 135 North College Avenue

When: Friday at 6 pm.

Andrew Luck v. RG3 continues... Peyton Manning should join Gang Green... Bruce Arians is "back in blue"... and who will remain a Colt in 2012...?

FROM THE SADDLE (official team news)

• Bruce Arians is "back in blue" and ready to work.
• Colts.com continues its most memorable playoff games series with the 2010 AFC Championship Game.
  

GREEN APPLES AND ROAD APPLES (media analysis)

• John Clayton thinks it would be best for Peyton Manning to stay with the Colts.
• Peter King gives us an excellent, in-depth look at two franchise savior hopefuls, Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III.
• Here's a detailed recap of Mike Mayock's thoughts from the NFL Combine media conference call.
• If it was up to Ron Jaworski, Manning would be a New York Jet in 2012.

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After Wide Receiver, the next biggest need on Offense for the Colts are Interior Offensive Linemen. Currently the Colts have a bunch of young guys who are very inconsistent, and a complete overhaul of both Guard positions is certainly possible, and the starting center, Jeff Saturday, is most likely not coming back next year. Even if he does, it'll only be for two years tops, so getting a guy now might be a good idea.

For the sake of this story, I'm going to say that Guard and Center are interchangeable, even though in reality it isn't really the case. I only have two Centers in the list, and even though both guys are four year starters at Center, they could kick inside to Guard for a year or two if needed. There are also several guys who were Tackles in college, but they are being projected as Guards in the NFL. There's only three or four guys who were actually Guards in college.

I don't see the need here for the Colts super high, but just in need of some bodies, so I'm not expecting a high pick. A good number of these guys are lower-round prospects, which is where I expect the Colts to be looking for a lineman or two.

After the jump I'll show you the entire group of Linemen, and give you my favorites in the group.

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