Can a team really go wrong with Andrew Luck or Robert Griffin? Of course they can, history shows that top quarterback prospects bomb year after year. Do I think they can go wrong with either one? Not unless something horrific happens.
Trent Richardson, Luck and Griffin are a great trio at the top of this draft class and arguably its three best players. While hard to predict whether Richardson will burst onto the scene like Adrian Peterson or Luck or Griffin will match Cam Newton’s first season, all three are within the same hemisphere of talent and potential. Here’s hoping they fulfill that promise.
Here’s the link to my thoughts on Griffin as published by the New York Times Fifth Down blog. Here’s some of my thoughts on luck with a link to the rest of the piece at the bottom.
1. Andrew Luck, Stanford (6-3, 234)
I have no problem with anyone ranking Robert Griffin III of Baylor as the top prospect in this quarterback class. (See my scouting report here.) Griffin has great athleticism, intelligence and charisma to pair with good technique at the position. I wouldn’t be surprised, for example, if he has a better fantasy season as a rookie than Andrew Luck. But for the long haul, I still give the edge to Luck.
Luck has one of the most refined, polished games I have seen from a college quarterback entering the N.F.L.
It begins with his strong internal clock for pressure. He consistently does a good job of adjusting his location in the pocket at the right time so he can avoid the rush, keep his eyes down the field and get rid of the ball. Because he’s adept at using his eyes to manipulate coverage and displays an understanding of how to adjust his formations to get a mismatch before the snap, he’s well ahead of the game as an N.F.L. prospect. The fact that he does this in a pro-style offense is a bonus.
The ability to manipulate a defense extends to his play fakes, ball fakes and bootlegs to create open windows, and he does all of it with fantastic rhythm and timing for a young player. He’s smooth and controlled, and he throws off a defense before delivering the football on time and with great location to his receivers. He has a highly nuanced underneath game, and when defenses try to stop it, he can throw the deep ball as the counterpunch. [Read the rest here]
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