Bill Polian finally might draft Peyton Manning's successor in April.
Breer's interview with Polian
Albert Breer visited with Bill Polian last week for the vice chairman's take on what has gone wrong (besides Peyton Manning's injury) for the Colts. **More...**
And, apparently, he has the four-time NFL MVP's approval.
Polian, the Indianapolis Colts' vice chairman, told radio listeners Monday night that he already has spoken with Manning about the possibility of using a high draft pick on a quarterback. But Polian isn't discussing specific names yet.
"The bottom line is that if the right person is there, and it has to be the right person, then now is the time to make that choice," Polian said on his weekly radio show. "Peyton and I have spoken about that, and he's OK with that."
Polian's comments echo what he told NFL Network's Albert Breer last week, when he said: "If it's the right guy, absolutely (we will draft a quarterback). If it's the right guy, it's appropriate now to choose the right guy. But it has to be the right guy."
At 0-10, the Colts are the NFL's only winless team, and they would own the No. 1 overall pick if the season ended today. Most expect that choice to be used on Stanford's Andrew Luck, whom some scouts believe is the most complete college quarterback since Indianapolis took Manning with the No. 1 overall choice in 1998.
But Polian has refused to discuss Luck because NFL rules prohibit team officials from talking about underclassmen before they declare for the draft. Luck has one year of college eligibility remaining.
The Colts already have some insight into the Cardinal quarterback.
One of Polian's sons, Brian, is Stanford's assistant special-teams coordinator. Manning's father, Archie, and Luck's father, Oliver, were Houston Oilers teammates in 1982 and 1983. Andrew Luck attended the Manning Passing Academy as both a camper and a counselor, and Archie Manning has acknowledged that the two second-generation quarterbacks spoke earlier this year after Luck decided to return to school.
Polian already has attended one Stanford game this season, too, and is scheduled to have a second look this weekend.
"I'm around the country scouting this week, and I will ironically finish up at Stanford, but it has nothing to do with any choice we've made," Polian said. "That's just how it worked out. We won't make (a decision) until April."
The Colts have a bye this week and won't play again until Nov. 27 when the Carolina Panthers visit Indianapolis.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
