2011 NFL Draft: Comparing Andrew Luck and His Skill Set To Past QBs Taken No. 1
Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck is going to be taken with the No. 1 overall pick as long as he enters the 2011 NFL Draft. The Carolina Panthers have already expressed their interest.
What is still uncertain, however, is just how good of an NFL quarterback he is going to be once he does get there.
People have gushed about nearly every aspect of his game, but they have shied away from calling him a sure-thing, due to the past uncertainty with a few sure-thing college players.
Luck is a bright young man with a high football IQ. He is big, he's mobile, he has a great arm, great eyes and is the emotional leader of a pro-style offense.
What's not to like?
Even with all of this, calling the guy a sure thing is dangerous, as we learned with Ryan Leaf back in 1998.
Here I'd like to break Luck apart bit by bit and liken him to quarterbacks picked No. 1 in the history of the NFL.
Arm
1 of 9Andrew Luck has an above average arm when it comes to quarterbacks across the nation.
He doesn't have the rocket attached to his body that John Elway had, but his arm is still better than that of many of his peers.
He can bomb a pass pretty easily 40-to-50 yards while on the run, and with a bit of mustard on it, can chuck it 60 or so. But he isn't a guy who is going to overthrow an uber-quick receiver.
If I were to compare his arm strength to any former No. 1 pick, it would be Carson Palmer.
He can throw it a good distance, but his arm isn't going to make you stop and say "wow" like John Elway or even Jay Cutler.
Mobility
2 of 9One of the most underrated aspects of Andrew Luck's game is his mobility.
People have seen him take off for a big run, but his lateral quickness and overall elusiveness is a big aspect of his game that is overlooked.
In 2009, Luck was sacked only six times. In 2010, he was sacked only six times.
That is a shining endorsement of his offensive line, but really they can only do so much and the fact that he has been sacked only 12 times in two seasons is quite remarkable.
If I were to compare him to any quarterback picked No. 1 in the NFL, it would have to be fellow Cardinal John Elway.
Elway was never that fast of a quarterback, but he was able to keep a play alive by stepping around rushing defenders and getting away from pursuers.
Mechanics
3 of 9
Andrew Luck has beautiful mechanics.
Other than a bit of a drag in the beginning of his windup, there are no flaws that can't easily be fixed in a training camp session.
His throwing motion is quicker than a hiccup and once he gets the ball cocked and throws it, it's gone in a blink of an eye.
David Carr is almost a mirror of what Luck has going for him right now.
He had people constantly criticizing a slight drop in his arm that created a windup, rather than just a cock-and-throw motion.
Carr was also heralded for his ultra-quick ball release, pretty much exactly as Andrew Luck has been.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Size
4 of 9
If you could write down the exact size you would want an ideal quarterback to be, you would probably be describing something in the neighborhood of exactly what Andrew Luck is.
Luck is an ideal 6'4'', which makes him big enough to see over the line and not have to worry about many passes being tipped by the big uglys, but he is not so big that he is clumsy or easily brought down.
He is also right around 230 pounds, making him big enough to break free from a tackle and small enough to scoot away from a quicker defensive lineman.
You don't have to go that far back to find a quarterback drafted No. 1 who had similar size to Luck.
Most recently, Eli Manning was 6'4'' and just around 230 pounds when he was drafted by San Diego in 2004.
Quarterback IQ
5 of 9
Andrew Luck was a valedictorian in high school and is one of the brightest quarterbacks in the nation.
He is a great decision maker and his ability to use his brain before acting could be his best quality.
If I were to compare his brain to any other No. 1 pick, it would be Terry Bradshaw...right? Sorry, just had to see if you were paying attention.
The only No. 1 pick in the past that was smarter than Andrew Luck was Peyton Manning, who is one of the brightest quarterbacks of all-time.
Speed
6 of 9In the history of fast, white NFL quarterbacks, we have had Scramblin' Fran Tarkenton and Roger "Dodger" Staubach, as far as high-profile guys go.
Andrew Luck's most recent 40 speed is around 4.7 seconds, which isn't very impressive, but he seems to run so much faster than that.
One thing that makes him seem so much faster is the fact that he can bust through defenders to get more yards, giving him the perception of a fast quarterback on the stat sheet.
His comparable quarterback speed-wise would be Alex Smith who ran a 4.7 40 in the 2005 combine.
I suspect that when the combine rolls around in a few months here, his 40 time will go down a tick or two, as he seems faster this season than a year ago.
He is not a guy who is going to have running plays called through him, but given the chance to take off, he can break a big one.
Accuracy
7 of 9
Andrew Luck's completion percentage is nearly 71 percent this season and the only quarterback in the nation with as many attempts and a better percentage is Kellen Moore of Boise State.
Luck may very well have a laser built into his helmet that helps him precisely target his wide reciever.
It hurts me to compare such a good player to Tim Couch, but really, in college Tim Couch was one of the most accurate No. 1 picks of all-time.
His third year starting for Kentucky he even had a more accurate year than Luck had this year, completing 72.3 percent of his passes.
Strength
8 of 9You already saw one of the many feats of strength by Luck in the slide about his speed. Another one is his devastating hit on USC's Shareece Wright.
When is the last time you saw a big-time quarterback take matters into his own hands and completely annihilate an opponent?
Luck is just a strong man and if he gets angry, he'll put you on the ground.
It's hard to compare Luck to any present day quarterback in terms of his toughness, because really, he is in a league of his own.
And if you compare him to a quarterback of the past, then he will look like a pansy, considering an everyday occurrence was throwing a touchdown and simultaneously receiving a concussion, as Terry Bradshaw did in Super Bowl X.
Overall Comparison
9 of 9
Andrew Luck is the closest thing to a sure thing quarterback since Peyton Manning was a sure thing in 1998.
Jim Harbaugh has compared him to Tom Brady from time to time, another ringing endorsement of what he is capable of.
Then, because he played football for Stanford, there have been obvious comparisons to Jim Plunkett and John Elway.
There are also those who have compared him at this point in his career to Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers.
While the closest player to compare him to would be Peyton Manning, because of his overwhelming intelligence, I still wouldn't do that.
Really, Luck is a hard quarterback to compare to anyone in the past. Andrew Luck is Andrew Luck and he is going to be his own man.
The only way to find out is to see him play the game on the professional level, and that is something that I just can't wait for.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
