8. Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts
That’s right, Luck makes my top 10, even with the still-fresh memory of his ugly and underachieving 2015 season, when he was both injured and ineffective for the Colts. I don’t absolve him of accountability in last year’s disappointment, when the Colts missed the playoffs for the first time in his four NFL seasons, but I’m taking the long view here and averaging out his performance from 2012 on. There’s no way to pretty up the seven games Luck managed to play last season, but he has the potential to live up to his No. 1 overall draft status and lead a team to the big confetti shower that awaits a Super Bowl winner. Perhaps 2015 will wind up being a positive in the long term, teaching him a lesson in perseverance and convincing him that success is not always ordained in steady, one-rung-at-a-time intervals.
