Report: Colts Will Use The No. 1 Overall Pick in 2012 NFL Draft On Andrew Luck

For those of you Colts fans out there that think Jim Irsay and his new G.M. are going to trade the No. 1 overall pick in 2012 for a bounty of picks so they can rebuild the roster around a 36-year-old Peyton Manning, your hopes were just dashed to tiny bits today.

ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported earlier today that the Colts will indeed draft Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck with the No. 1 overall pick. Mortensen's partner at ESPN, Adam Schefter, reaffirmed the report:

As @mortreport reported on Sat edition of NFL Countdown, Colts plan to use the No. 1 pick on Stanford QB Andrew Luck.

Luck is the consensus best player entering the draft this year.

Mortensen reporting on this story is interesting in that the man has a close friendship with the former vice chairman of the Colts, Bill Polian. It's believed Mortensen was always the person Polian went to to leak stories, including the Manning injury story early in the season. Mortensen was also the first to confirm Polian's firing earlier this week.

Mortensen also might have strong ties to Irsay. So, this report could be from Irsay lips. Or, it could be from Polian, who is now telling Mortensen what Irsay told Polian before Polian was let go.

[UPDATE]:

Mortensen on ESPN.com:

Sources say Irsay sees symmetry in the franchise history of draft picks and will not pass on the opportunity to complete it. In 1983, the Colts took John Elway with the No. 1 pick, only to see Irsay's father, Bob, trade the Hall of Famer.

Fifteen years later, the Colts took Manning.

Now 14 years after that, Jim Irsay wants to draft his quarterback for the next 12 to 15 years.

That the Colts plan to use the pick on Luck really should be no surprise. What will be interesting is to see what the Colts do with Peyton Manning. Manning and Luck cannot coexist on the same Colts roster. It makes no sense, especially now that the team is "rebuilding."

This report also seems to suggest that whoever the Colts hire as their new G.M., that G.M. will come in knowing exactly what Irsay expects him to do with the No. 1 pick.

This mean no trades. No wavering between Luck and Baylor's Robert Griffin III. No sentimentality when it comes to Manning.

Andrew Luck is the Colts quarterback next season, whether you like it or not.