National Football League

Colts confirm they will take Luck

Published Apr. 24, 2012 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Do not expect any surprises with the first pick of the upcoming NFL Draft.

Indianapolis Colts general manger Ryan Grigson confirmed Tuesday what everybody in football already knew, telling reporters the team would use the top overall pick to select star quarterback Andrew Luck.

"In fairness to Andrew Luck and in fairness to the whole process — the media gantlet he's going to be enduring the next couple days — I thought it was the right thing to do to announce that we're going to take him," said Grigson.

"I didn't see the point in prolonging what the world already knows."

The Stanford signal caller will officially begin the task of filling the shoes of four-time MVP Peyton Manning when the Colts call his name Thursday at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

The Colts are confident Luck can carry the torch that burned brightly for over a decade under Manning, who the team selected first overall in the 1998 draft.

New Colts head coach Chuck Pagano said Tuesday he would sleep a little better knowing he had someone of Luck's caliber joining the team.

"We've got a great one for years to come," Pagano said. "It's another piece of the puzzle that we feel really good about, obviously."

Indianapolis landed the top pick following an abysmal 2-14 season, in which the 35-year-old Manning was absent due to a series of offseason neck surgeries.

Team owner Jim Irsay decided to clean house after the disappointing campaign, parting ways with longtime vice chairman Bill Polian, general manager Chris Polian and head coach Jim Caldwell.

Irsay then decided to roll the dice on drafting Luck as the team's quarterback of the future by opting out of Manning's contract and allowing the franchise's biggest star to eventually sign with the Denver Broncos.