Well, that thins the herd a little.

Matt Barkley opting to stay at USC means one less quality quarterback available in 2012, which would seem to mean the Colts might want to re-think that strong finish their performance Sunday hinted at. And if Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III decides to stay in school .... well, you're basically down to Andrew Luck, maybe-he'll-be-the-next-Drew-Brees-Kellen Moore and not many sure things at quarterback elsewhere in the upcoming draft.

So, I'd love to be in the Colts locker room tonight should owner Jim Irsay decide to make a surprise visit and deliver a lose-one-for-the-Gipper speech ...

IRSAY: Men, I'd like to wish you good luck tonight against the Texans. And by that I mean, the kind of luck where none of you gets hurt, but not the kind of luck where Donald Brown over there suddenly develops a force field and runs for 635 yards and five touchdowns. And not the kind of luck where Orlovsky over there channels Aaron Rodgers and throws for nine gazillion yards, completing 30-of-29 passes and banking the winning touchdown off Bill Brooks' name up there on the Colts ring of honor. And not the kind of luck where Reggie Wayne over there -- yeah, I see you, Reggie -- suddenly gets hit with the I Give A Hoot stick and catches a dozen balls and then flies around the stadium like Peter Pan or something.

What I mean is, I'm all for good luck, but let's not get carried away. So go out there and kick some tail. Not a lot of tail, understand, not vast quantities of tail, but some tail. Like a tail-ette, or something.

Got it, men?

Then let's go out there and, ah, you know, go out there. Sort of.