Indianapolis Colts Nearly Drafted Both Andrew Luck And Russell Wilson In 2012 NFL Draft, Which Would’ve Been Something, Man

Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay says team nearly drafted both Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson during the 2012 NFL Draft

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The Indianapolis Colts have had a wealth of good luck at the quarterback position in the past 20-plus years. In 1998, the team selected some guy named Peyton Manning with the No. 1 overall pick — a wise decision considering the No. 2 pick, Ryan Leaf, completely flamed out — and, then in 2012, replaced Manning by choosing the signal-caller dubbed the second-coming of the guy, Andrew Luck, with the top pick overall.

As teams like the Cleveland Browns continue to cycle through guys at, arguably, the most important position in sports, the Indianapolis Colts are out here making it look easy AF by hitting on every single top pick. Whether that’s luck, skill or some higher power, fans of the team really have no reason to complain about who’s under center each Sunday during the fall and winter.

While the Colts have had a MVP-caliber quarterbacks over the past couple decades — other than this past season when Luck abruptly retired at age 29 — the team’s fortunes could have been even crazier had they caught a couple breaks during the 2012 NFL Draft.

According to Jim Ayello of the Indy Star, the Colts had another quarterback on their minds in 2012 after choosing Luck first overall — an undersized guy out of Wisconsin named Russell Wilson. Ayello, while talking to Colts owner Jim Irsay, said that the team targeted Wilson in the fourth round of the draft that year, but that the Seahawks beat them to the punch and chose the dynamic Wilson in the third round (No. 75 overall).

This would’ve been absolutely insane, guys. Obviously, Luck would’ve had the upper hand in starting over Wilson during their rookie campaign in 2012 because of his pedigree as the top pick, but imagine having two of the smartest, hardest working and most talented quarterbacks in the same locker room, and the insurance policy the Indianapolis Colts would’ve had had something happened to Luck. It’s just wild, and could’ve eventually brought a king’s ransom in a trade at some point for one of these guys.

Before you go off and think the Colts missed out, though, consider this: Instead of Wilson, the team traded its fourth-round pick to sneak into the third round (No. 92 overall) to choose wide receiver T.Y. Hilton. All the wideout has done has earned four Pro Bowl appearances, and led the league in receiving yards during the 2016 season with 1,448. Uh, yeah, it’s safe to say the Colts got things right after being beat to Wilson by the Seahawks.

There are only a handful of elite passers in the NFL, and, had the chips fallen in the right place for the Indianapolis Colts during the 2012 NFL Draft, the team would’ve been absolutely loaded with two of the best in this era. Even so, the team still ended up with two Pro Bowl players in Luck and Hilton, who helped guide the team to the playoffs together in four of their seven season together. Some franchises just seem to have all the good juju, don’t they?

(H/T Bleacher Report)