Fantasy Football Week 7: Don't Get Down on Andrew Luck Just Yet

Fantasy owners of Indianapolis Colts rookie quarterback Andrew Luck are pretty unhappy after his Week 6 debacle against the New York Jets. My advice to them: Do not overreact.

Luck's stat line from the 35-9 loss is painful to look at. He completed 22 of 44 pass attempts with two interceptions, one fumble and a 51.3 quarterback rating.

Prior to the game, the Colts ranked sixth in the NFL with 286.3 yards per game. A drop-off was to be expected in Week 6 against one of the best defenses in the league against the pass. This was Luck's first experience against an elite passing defense. His previous games were against the Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, Jacksonville Jaguars and Green Bay Packers.

It's important to look past the statistics in this instance. Luck's teammates put him in a terrible situation, in which there was nothing he could do. He was hit or pressured on almost every passing play, while none of his receivers were able to get separation against the Jets defensive backs.

The Jets defense racked up four sacks, six quarterback hits and seven pass deflections.

When you put a quarterback—especially a rookie quarterback—in a situation in which he has to throw on almost every play, you are putting him in a situation in which he is going to lose.

The Colts ran 48 passing plays and only 17 running plays. That is an unacceptable offensive game plan when the Jets defense is blitzing recklessly.

Luck is going to have more great starts this year, and the first one is likely to come this week when the Colts host the 1-5 Cleveland Browns. The Browns gave up more than 280 passing yards per game in their five-game losing streak to open the season.

When judging fantasy players, do not judge based on last week. Judge based on body of work. Andrew Luck has enough of a body of work so far this year to demonstrate that he will have a quality start against the lowly Browns defense this week.

Adam Waksman is a featured columnist for the Bleacher Report New York Jets community. Be sure to follow Adam on Twitter to receive updates right away.

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