Eagles talk to Griffin at combine

INDIANAPOLIS - Figuratively and literally, Peyton Manning looms large over the NFL scouting combine.

His image, in a Colts No. 18 jersey, is affixed high on Lucas Oil Stadium, adorning the building where NFL executives, coaches, and scouts have arrived this week to sift through the league's next crop of stars.

His presence is also inescapable when discussing this year's most highly anticipated prospects: quarterbacks Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III, each projected as a top five pick, and each hoping to go first overall. Griffin, an athletic quarterback who has wowed scouts and reporters, is so intriguing the Eagles sat down with him Thursday.

Each quarterback will soon become the face of a struggling franchise, carrying the expectations that their play and personalities can lift bottom-tier teams to great heights, as Manning did here.

"As the quarterback of an organization you're going to be out there. You're going to have billboards as long as you're playing well," Griffin said. "And I plan on playing well."

But it's Luck who most NFL observers believe will replace Manning in Indianapolis.

"I'm not too caught up in that right now," Luck told reporters. "I understand that is a possibility. Peyton was my hero growing up. He was my football hero. That's who I modeled myself after in high school, middle school, whatever it was. You never truly replace a guy like that."

But that could still be the task for Luck, who would enter the NFL with the pressure of being the No. 1 pick and of taking the place of a legend who carried the Colts for more than a decade.

March 8 is the due date for a $28 million bonus owed by the Colts to Manning, and if it is not paid the four-time NFL MVP could become a free agent. Most doubt the Colts will pay that amount as Manning tries to return from neck surgery.

Luck, a Stanford product, has been touted as one of the best prospects in recent memory. He is a prototypical pocket passer, a smart decision maker with enough athleticism to keep plays alive and the arm to deliver the ball.

But first-round quarterbacks have to do more than just pass. They immediately become the faces of their franchises who set the tone for an entire organization.

Luck appears ready in that respect: polished, professional, ready for all questions.

Griffin is a dynamo, on and off the field, defying easy description. He exploded this season at Baylor to take a Heisman Trophy that most expected Luck to hoist. Smaller and not as experienced as Luck, he adds a dangerous running element to his own sharp passing.

Off the field, he blends a serious, professional side with charm, a sense of humor, and unusual charisma that was on full display Friday.

The first question he faced was about his socks - he wears colorful cartoon characters, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Friday - and he continued through a discussion about his upbringing, playing style, and the competition to be chosen No. 1 overall.

Griffin said he models his game after players such as Randall Cunningham, Steve Young, and Kenny Stabler, and sees himself not as a running quarterback but as a quarterback who can run.

"I'm throw first, then run if I need to," he said.

His parents were both in the military, so "discipline was something that was obviously huge. If you say you're going to do something, you do it. If you start it, you finish it. Yes, sir. No, ma'am."

He's seen as a top five pick, possibly second overall. The Eagles pick 15th, and while they have the ammunition to move up, they are committed to Michael Vick for 2012, and it seems unlikely they would spend heavily on another quarterback considering that coach Andy Reid needs to win now.

Griffin's meeting with the Eagles on Thursday was likely due diligence by the team.

Griffin hasn't conceded the No. 1 pick to Luck and said that if Manning somehow returned to the Colts, "I'd hold that clipboard with pride."

Luck said he felt the same way. Each is gunning for a return to Indianapolis, as the top pick in April's draft.

"As competitors, you both want to be the best," Griffin said. "I'd be a fool to say I don't want to go No. 1."