Taking a pre-draft look at the Colts’ quarterback position

Leading up to the draft, we’ll be taking a look at each position on the Colts roster. The focus will be simple: to look at where each position stands after free agency and where the Colts might still need to add players, particularly through the draft.

We begin today with one that’s both easy and interesting at the same time, the quarterbacks.

It’s easy because there’s absolutely zero question about who the Colts’ starting quarterback will be. Zero. It’s Andrew Luck, who was terrific a season ago and has established himself as a legitimate franchise quarterback in the NFL. He’ll be the Colts’ starter for years to come, and rightfully so.

The only question with Luck right now is about his shoulder injury. He had surgery early this offseason to fix a shoulder injury that happened in 2015 (and therefore that he played on in 2016), and he’s expected to miss most (and perhaps all) of the offseason workouts and perhaps some time in training camp too. The Colts haven’t put a timetable on his return, though Jim Irsay has made it clear that Luck will be ready for the regular season. So we assume Luck will be back at some point before the season starts, but we don’t know when exactly that will be.

The position is also interesting, however, because we know for sure that the Colts will still add a quarterback - because Chris Ballard has said so. “Everywhere I’ve been, we’ve always taken four [into training camp] and that will be our plan going forward,” Ballard recently said at the NFL owners meetings, according to Colts.com. With Luck’s injury situation is especially makes sense to add a quarterback, since the team might need someone to take some extra reps in offseason workouts and/or in training camp if Luck is limited or misses time while recovering. But it also sounds like this is just something that Ballard does; he’s always operated with four quarterbacks in camp and he plans to keep doing that. It’s just as simple as that.

So here’s what we know: 1) Andrew Luck is the unquestioned franchise quarterback in Indianapolis and will be for years to come; and 2) the Colts will be looking to add a quarterback this offseason.

That latter part makes for an interesting discussion, however, as it remains to be seen how the Colts will address it. It’s possible that they could use a late-round pick on a quarterback in the draft, so if the Colts really like a quarterback with a later pick that shouldn’t be ruled out. Probably more likely, however, would be the team adding either an undrafted rookie or another free agent to add to the competition for the backup spot along with Scott Tolzien and Stephen Morris.

This is a low need for the Colts because of Andrew Luck, but we know it’s a position that the Colts will still be looking to add competition to.