Colts Team MVP

[Lucky Colts Fan]

Now that it's been a full week since the Colts season ended, let's discuss who should be our team MVP.

 

I don't believe the Colts have announced a team MVP, and I don't know if they will vote for one.  That might be a good thing.  I think Juju Smith-Schuster being voted team MVP in Pittsburgh might have precipitated the Antonio Brown meltdown.  I hope that wouldn't happen with our current locker room culture, and it might be better for the team to not single out one player as being more valuable than everyone else.

 

But we're just fans, and we can do exactly that without disrupting the culture of the locker room. 

 

I think the most obvious candidate for team MVP would be Andrew Luck.  But there are many candidates for team MVP and for many reasons.  The Colts Mailbag by Andrew Walker had a neat take on 3 different types of MVP:

 

» Individual Contributions MVP

» Team Motivation/Inspiration MVP

» Clutch MVP

 

So please choose our team MVP and explain why you picked that player.

 

[Lucky Colts Fan]

I chose Andrew Luck.

 

I think he fits all three of those types of MVP.

[Smonroe]

Almost not fair to include Andrew.  Hands down MVP.

[luckyBatistuta]

I chose Luck, because he’s been outstanding, considering this is him coming back from a long period away from the game. He’s just slipped straight back in, almost as if he hasn’t been away. If you take Luck out of this team, we would never have been close to the playoffs, can’t say that about the others. That said, there really has been some outstanding performances this season. The whole team deserves all the praise they have been getting. Hopefully they will all make that next step up next season.

[KB]

I chose Leonard. Luck was non existent at times this season. Some losses and wins. Leonard (as the leader on defense) kept us in a lot of game.

 

In short there were quite a few times where we would get a turnover, then not get any points out of it. Might not all be on Luck but he is the QB so he gets a good chunk of the blame for that.

 

Saying that, this team goes no where without Luck. We wouldnt get that much further without Darius on defence though.

[Yoshinator]

Went with Darius Leonard. Although we had Andrew Luck on the offense, Darius Leonard changed our identity on defense. He gave a pulse every game and was the best player on a defense that was no1 during our 9-1 streak at the end of the season. He led by example. Always near the ball, a consistent playmaker, high motor, and was calling the plays on defense his rookie year. He is only going to get better as well. Biggest steal in the draft last year and one of the best players by far.

[dew5150]

The offensive line

[Finball]

Andrew Luck. No player at position other than QB can be as valuable as QB that is playing at very high level. 

[GoColts8818]

It came down to Luck or Leonard for me.  I went with Leonard but had it been a different time of day it might have been Luck for me.

[2006Coltsbestever]

I voted Luck. Most important position on the field is the QB and he threw for 39 TD's and over 4500 Yards. Led us to a 10-6 record and a Playoff win after missing a whole year. If I had a 2nd vote, it would've been Nelson. We had one of the worse O.Line's last season, he comes in and now it is arguably the best. He brought a nastiness to that Line we have never seen here in Indy. That Line is also a big reason Luck had the year he had.

[pacolts56]

I voted for Luck.... but I betcha Luck would vote for Nelson. 

[Jaredfor3]

An honorable mention for Colts MVP was Coach Frank Reich.

 

With That weasel from New England we don’t even make the playoffs. 

[DaveA1102]

I always find "MVP" hard to vote for anyone expect the QB as they, definition, have to be the most valuable player in a team.

 

To be fair, even if it was "player of the year" I would still probably vote for Luck.

[LockeDown]

I voted for Leonard but realize Luck really is. 

[CurBeatElite]

Luck.  I don't think there is a player in the league who makes others around him better than same way Luck does (maybe a few years ago, I'd say Brady or Peyton).  

 

Ebron had a heck of a year and so did TY, though TY was not 100% and missed a little bit of time.  Inman came in and stepped up, but he's an NFL/CFL journey man, who Luck helped make look good.  We lost Doyle early in the season and basically had a carousel of TEs and WRs for the rest of the season.  Several games throughout the season we were plagued by dropped balls or mistakes from our skill positions (e.g., Luck was on the way to leading a game winning drive in the final minute against Cincy when Doyle fumbled, and we were 3rd worst in the league with 28 dropped passes: http://hosted.stats.com/fb/tmleaders.asp?type=Receiving&range=NFL&rank=232).  Without those drops, Luck's completion percentage would've been 72.9 %.  

 

Through it all, Luck takes all the blame on himself when things go bad (unlike other top-tier QBs such as Big Ben) and deflects the credit to those around him when things go well.  While other QBs put up bigger numbers (not many, as Luck was 2nd in NFL in TDs, 5th in yards, 6th in QBR, etc..), very few of the QBs who are putting up numbers similar to Luck are doing it with as little to work with as Luck has (and he's done it that way throughout his career).  

[throwing BBZ]

Nelson. He was our best player and i believe he motivated and raised the level of play and the Toughness of our offense and defense. 

 

[Myles]

I voted Nelson.   He came in and brought the good attitude.     He ran down the field to congratulate and help up any RB or WR who just made a play. 

[kcccolts]

I voted for Leonard, after the soft centre defence was getting the blame last season, he has come in and often given Luck the time required to do his thing.

Also, defenders never get picked for anything in any sport, it is always the flashy offensive players that get the glory (Can you guess my position when I played soccer)