On Saturday afternoon, the Indianapolis Colts will travel to battle the Washington Redskins, in one of the biggest preseason match-ups in NFL history. The top two picks of the 2012 NFL Draft will meet for the first time, as quarterbacks Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III will lead their offenses against one another.
The third preseason game of the year is usually when we will get to see the most playing time by a teams’ starting offense, so aside from the main event match between the two highly-touted rookies, this will also be the first time that the rest of the NFL gets to see almost three quarters-worth of what these two newly formed teams might look like. T-shirts hyping the game are already being sold for nearly $40.00 a piece.
Luck and Griffin will be tied at the hip in NFL history. Much like Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf, these two top picks are going to be compared to each other and analyzed by how their careers go, and where their skills and organizations take them while under their watch. Both quarterbacks have landed in places ready to welcome them. Although there is a certain contingent of Colts fans that will always fly their Peyton Manning flag, those voices will quiet down a bit when they see what this franchise could have on their hands for the next decade or more. Griffin is going to a place that hasn’t had a strong starting quarterback since Joe Theismann.
Saturday’s game won’t matter much in the grand scheme of things. Whichever team wins will not be any better as far as records go for this season, when it comes to games that matter in the long run. Still, this will be a big game for both teams, cities, and franchises, because it might just be the first opportunity for one of these organizations and fans to say ‘I told you so’ to the other team.