As October winds down and we hit the midpoint of the NFL season, teams have started to distinguish themselves as playoff contenders. These are not the teams I’m about to talk about.

There is another group of teams that are so far out of the playoff race that they’ve started a race of their own: one for a 0-16 season and the first pick in the NFL draft, which many believe should be used to take Stanford QB Andrew Luck. Many predicted that Luck would go first overall in last year’s NFL draft, but Luck took a look at the draft order and realized that meant going to Carolina, so he decided to stay at Stanford for his junior season. Carolina ended up with Cam Newton and everything seemed to work out for them, but here’s a look at some teams that are currently in contention for that coveted first pick.

Indianapolis Colts (0-7): Let’s face it, the Colts chances this year went down the tube when QB Peyton Manning went under the knife again this last August to fix his neck injury. They have failed to produce much on offense and the defense gave up 62 points to the New Orleans Saints last Sunday. This team is my favorite in the “Luck” sweepstakes and drafting a QB to replace the aging Manning makes a lot of sense. The only foreseeable problem is that Manning will probably still want to play next year and the Colts may want to move on.

Miami Dolphins (0-7): The Dolphins are an interesting team to keep your eye on because they don’t have the “problem” of an aging, future-Hall of Fame quarterback like the Colts do. They clearly need a QB and I don’t see Luck having a problem playing in Miami. It may come down to strength of schedule (or is it weakness of schedule) to determine whose 0-16 season is more pathetic and deserving of “dibs” on Luck.

St. Louis Rams (0-6): The Rams could wind up with the chance to take Andrew Luck, but it wouldn’t make much sense because they drafted their QB of the future two years ago in Sam Bradford. It would be interesting to see the asking price from the Colts or the Dolphins would be if they did wind up with pick number one. Regardless, if the Rams are on the clock in late April with Luck on the board, I would be shocked if they drafted him.

Minnesota Vikings (1-6) and Arizona Cardinals (1-5): Both these teams have probably ruined their chances by winning a game, so it looks like they won’t be getting a consolation prize. Ironically, these two teams played each other with the Vikings coming out on top in the “Who-Wants-Andrew-Luck-More-Bowl.” The Cardinals ruined their chance at Luck in week one by beating the Panthers, but they are making strides to get back in the race after losing five in a row. All kidding aside, I don’t think either of these teams would draft Luck because the Vikings drafted Christian Ponder this last year, and the Cardinals made a trade to acquire Kevin Kolb.

When it’s all said and done this year and the NFL draft starts next April, expect Andrew Luck to be walking to the center of the stage holding an Indianapolis Colts jersey.