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December 23, 2011

With latest win, Colts provide suspense for 2012 draft position

Tom James Tribune-Star Correspondent

INDIANAPOLIS — Now that the Indianapolis Colts have posted two straight wins in their last two games, including Thursday night’s 19-16 victory over AFC South champion Houston, many of the team’s fans find themselves in quite a quandary.

The Colts will take a 2-13 record into next week’s New Year’s Day regular-season finale at Jacksonville.

As things stand now, Indianapolis is a half-game ahead of the Minnesota Vikings (2-12) and St. Louis Rams (2-12) in the pursuit of the No. 1 pick in the 2012 National Football League Draft.

NFL officials have confirmed that if the Colts were to lose their final game, they would retain the No. 1 overall draft selection due to the tiebreaker, which is their weaker schedule. A win, though, could give the Vikings or Rams first dibs at the Stanford junior quarterback Andrew Luck, who is widely considered to be the best player available for the draft.

While Luck has yet to officially file the paper work with the league office that would signify his status in the draft, he has announced publicly his intention to move on to the professional level once his current season ends.

So what should Indianapolis do? Have a token effort against Jacksonville and lose, essentially tanking the final game and allowing the Colts to clinch their draft position? Or go for the win and take their chances at how things shake out with Minnesota and St. Louis?

Running back Joseph Addai says that the Colts’ players can’t worry about next spring’s draft. For Addai and the rest of the players on the Indianapolis roster, the future is now.

“That’s not for the players to worry about. I don’t worry about that. I just go out and keep playing ball," Addai said after the team’s wild 19-16 win over Houston Thursday night.

And team owner Jim Irsay says that he isn’t concerned either. Prior to the Houston game, during an interview with NFL Network, Irsay talked about a possible future with injured quarterback Peyton Manning in the mix.

“I think if the situation is where he’s back and he’s healthy, then I see him come back and playing here,” he said.

“I think that there is a lot of speculation about the draft pick and all those sort of things, but I think what people have to realize is this: Is the likes of Peyton Manning to be seen again? It is not coming, if ever, for a very, very long time. You’re not going to go in this draft or the next draft and get another Peyton Manning.”

And concerning the draft, what will the Colts do?

“The draft will be what the draft is. There are a lot of situations that can unfold from here. If there is a great, young quarterback there, then we wouldn’t hesitate to take him,” Irsay said.

• Happy for Reggie — On Wednesday, a day before the Colts and Texans game, wide receiver Reggie Wayne was asked how he would honor the team’s fans at Lucas Oil Stadium. After all, with his current contract ending at the conclusion of the season, there is a chance that Wayne could have played his final home game in an Indianapolis uniform.

The Pro Bowl receiver promised “something special.” After hauling in eight passes for 106 yards and a touchdown, he certainly delivered in a big way. His 1-yard reception of a Dan Orlovsky pass with 19 seconds remaining in the game proved to be the difference in the win over Houston.

“He walks by my locker every time and says, ‘throw left.’ He ran by me in pre-game and said, ‘throw left.’ Sounds stupid, [but] it has kind of has sat in me. I was sitting in my hotel room thinking [Thursday night’s game is] the last home game for the season here. And there is question marks about what can happen in [Wayne’s] future,” Orlovsky said after the Houston win.

“I was just thinking to myself if it ever got to the point in the game where someone needed to make a play, it wasn’t probably going to go anywhere but him. I think he deserved that opportunity and obviously he continues to show that he comes up in the clutch.”

Tight end Jacob Tamme agreed.

“Reg [is phenomenal. I love playing with Reg. He made several great plays. He deserves it,” Tamme said. “He deserves to have a moment of raising both hands in celebration. The guy is an all time great and he showed it [against the Texans].”

• Injury list — Offensive guard Joe Reitz and linebacker A.J. Edds both suffered ankle injuries in the Houston game.

Edds had been nursing a sore ankle for several weeks and apparently re-injured it Thursday night. He did not return to the game. Reitz was replaced by veteran Mike Pollak in the lineup.

There won’t be any updates on their injuries, or the statuses of tight end Dallas Clark (neck burner) or linebacker Philip Wheeler (foot) until sometime next week. Clark and Wheeler did not play in the Houston game.

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