RADIO
Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano said recently that he plans to stick with Andrew Luck as his starting quarterback as soon as the former No. 1 overall draft pick is healthy. Well, it sounds like Luck won’t be out of action for too much longer.
Luck said on Wednesday that he has been throwing quite a bit and is pain free. That’s great news considering it has only been three weeks since he suffered a lacerated kidney.
I’m one of those people who believe Pagano should stick with the savvy veteran Matt Hasselbeck, but he obviously doesn’t agree with me. Luck has only completed 55.3 percent of his passes thus far this season, including 15 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Meanwhile, Hasselbeck has completed 64.7 percent of his passes and thrown seven touchdowns and just two interceptions.
However, Hasselbeck is 40 years old and Luck is only 26. Obviously Pagano is hoping Luck has a long-term future as his quarterback.
Chicago Bears tight end Martellus Bennett sounds like he’ll be healthy and ready to help his fantasy football owners in Week 13 and beyond. Bennett missed Week 12’s Thanksgiving game with a rib injury, but participated in a full practice on Wednesday and sounds good to go for Week 13 against the San Francisco 49ers.
Bennett is one of QB Jay Cutler’s favorite targets and should be considered a TE1 each and every week. Through 10 games this season he has 50 receptions for 425 yards and three touchdowns.
Although backup tight end Zach Miller does well in Bennett’s absence, he is not worth starting and can be released back into free agency. Miller, who has 15 receptions for 222 yards and four touchdowns, should only be held as a handcuff. And with the playoffs right around the corner, is it really worth holding onto handcuffs anymore? It sounds like Bennett is good to go, which means Miller doesn’t have much value.
In other news, Philadelphia Eagles running back Ryan Mathews remained sidelined at Wednesday’s practice due to suffering a concussion back in Week 10. It doesn’t sound like Mathews chances of playing on Sunday against the New England Patriots are very good at all. Even if he does play, he’d be a far too risky option for me to recommend.
Without Mathews, the Eagles will rely heavily on DeMarco Murray and Darren Sproles. Murray can be considered a low-end RB2 and Sproles can be considered a high-end RB4 in my opinion.
