Biography Andrew Luck Quarterback #12 Stanford Junior Redshirt
Pros
Arm Strength: Andrew Luck displays great arm strength and throwing power when throwing the football.
Quick Release: Andrew Luck has a great quick release that displays a laser like throwing motion. Luck doesn’t hesitate when you watch him on film. The guy makes split second decisions.
Durability: Andrew Luck has never missed a start during his career as a starting quarterback at Stanford.
Tough and Tenacious: Andrew Luck is very tough and tenacious. In a game against the USC Trojans last year when one of his teammates fumbled the football. Andrew Luck delivered a Troy Polamalu bone crushing type hit to prevent a USC touchdown. Quarterbacks are not supposed to tackle that effectively. It makes me wonder if Luck will become the first quarterback in the NFL to get fined for a hard hit.
Size: Andrew Luck has great size and upside for a signal caller. He is 6 foot 4 235 pounds. Luck has a great frame.
Learning Rate: Learns new plays at a very proficient and efficient rate.
Football IQ: Luck is a tremendous leader on and off the field. He is a mad scientist with architect projects in the classroom and a gym rat when watching film off the field. Luck is a very smart and instinctive quarterback with good leadership qualities that you look for in an NFL quarterback.
Awareness: Andrew Luck has great play recognition skills when it comes to comprehending defensive plays. Another great quality with Andrew Luck is his outstanding field vision which allows Luck to read the play or make the proper progressions when looking for his receiving targets.
Intangibles: Andrew Luck’s intangibles as a quarterback are off the charts. There are so many things Luck can do effectively. I have to go in depth to list those pros one by one.
Pinpoint Accuracy: Andrew Luck displays pinpoint accuracy when releasing a short, medium, or long pass.
Pocket Passer: Luck is a humble pocket passer who is poise, humble, and composed when in the pocket.
Play Action Passer: Andrew Luck is a very effective play action passer. His play action passes keep your defense second guessing.
Scrambler: Andrew Luck has the scrambling ability to take off at any second even though he is mainly used as a pocket passer.
Throws on the Run Well: Andrew Luck throws on the run well which is something else that defenses have to take into account.
Field General: Andrew Luck can play in any offensive philosophy. He can be used in a balanced conservative run oriented offense, he can play the west coast offense, Luck has the arm to play the vertical offense, and he can play in the shotgun spread no huddle offense. Plus Luck can scramble. Unlike Cam Newton who played in a gimmick no huddle offense, Luck played in a complex NFL type offense with complex formations. Newton struggled to comprehend the most basic play sets at Auburn.
1 Step Drop: Andrew Luck knows how to execute a one step drop in case one of his offensive lineman misses a blocking assignment.
Makes Proper Progression Reads with the 1 Step Drop: A lot of first round prospects entering the NFL can make a progression with a 1 Step Drop. Andrew Luck is no different.
3 Step Drop: Andrew Luck knows how to execute a 3 step drop allowing him enough time for his receivers to get open. Luck uses the 3 step drop to throw short passes, but he has the arm to fire medium or deep passes off a 3 step drop as well.
Makes Proper Progression Reads with the 3 Step Drop: Andrew Luck like many first round quarterbacks in the past makes proper progressions when looking at short passing plays off the 3 Step Drop.
5 Step Drop: Andrew Luck has the ability to take a 5 step drop and fire to one of his open targets. Plus since Luck can scramble efficiently on any play it keeps defenses second guessing when Luck decides to fire a medium pass. He has the arm to fire deep passes with the 5 step drop. Another thing to consider is Luck has the quick release to fire a short pass while dropping back in the 5 step drop.
Makes Proper Progression Reads with the 5 Step Drop: Most quarterbacks aren’t good enough to make proper progressions when hiking the football while dropping back to take a 5 Step Drop before they go to the NFL. Andrew Luck is that good which is why its so easy for Andrew Luck to have success with the short and medium passing game. Plus when you take a five step drop you make the offensive line pass block for a long period of time which gives the defense a higher success rate of inflicting pressure on your quarterback. Luck can still make smart instinctive progressions even when he executes a 5 step drop.
7 Step Drop: Andrew Luck knows the 7 step drop where he can fire a deep pass. He has the quick release to create a short pass off a 7 step drop. Plus he has the touch and nice zip to put enough velocity on the football to make that quick release a medium pass.
Short Passing Game Mechanics: Andrew Luck has elite NFL type mechanics when releasing the football. His passing mechanics with the short passing game are very consistent and productive.
Medium Passing Game Mechanics: Andrew Luck has good passing mechanics with the medium passing game.
High Character: Players with high character and moral often succeed in the NFL. Luck has that high character that you look for in a leader. He is very selfless and structured. Luck is a player who puts the teams needs before his own.
Tireless Work Ethic: Andrew Luck has a tireless work ethic when it comes to playing football.
5 Star Recruit Coming Out of High School: Andrew Luck was a 5 Star Recruit coming out of High School in 2008.
Fiery Motivator: Andrew Luck is a fiery motivator who knows how to encourage his offensive lineman to block for him when he is dropping back making passes in the pocket.
Composure: Andrew Luck has excellent composure and does not get rattled or flustered when under pressure.
Clutch Factor: Andrew Luck has that clutch ability to perform his best when his team is tied or trailing in the 4th quarter. If Stanford is up by 7 or 10 rather than getting a field goal to keep his team in the game he gets the touchdown to put his opponent away.
Franchise Player: A player with Andrew Luck’s skill only comes along once in a generation. A player with Luck’s talent enters the NFL about once every 15 years.
Production: Andrew Luck provides top notch production and is a leader who can be the face of your franchise for the next 15 years. Luck set a Stanford record for passing yards as a redshirt freshman in 2009 and really performed well in 2010 finishing as the Heisman runner up and crushing Virginia Tech in the 2011 Discover Orange Bowl.
Potential: Andrew Luck has the potential to be a quarterback giving a speech at Canton in the year 2030.
Cons
Skeptical About Andrew Luck’s Confidence: While I’m a firm believer in Andrew Luck succeeding in the NFL many people are skeptical about Luck’s decision to return to school wanting to question Luck’s confidence and ability as a leader because he was a lock to go #1 overall in the 2011 NFL Draft.
Looked Sloppy in Stanford’s Spring Scrimmage: This may be a warning sign, but its nothing you can really read into at this point. Its kind of foolish to even list this as a con, but I want to make sure I’m looking at every single aspect of Andrew Luck when evaluating him as a player.
Knees: Each athlete has a sensitive area when evaluating their durability. You examine an athletes head, arms, body, and legs. That athlete has to check out medically in all 4 fields. While Luck does check out medically in all 4 areas, one thing that worries me with Andrew Luck is he is trying to put protection gear on his knee which may be a weak spot.
New Coaching Staff: Jim Harbaugh is on the San Francisco 49ers as a head coach. With a new head coach at Stanford there is a chance Andrew Luck regresses.
Is Luck’s supporting Cast at Stanford making him look good?: I asked myself this last season. 3 of Luck’s offensive lineman along with wide receiver Ryan Whalen,tight end Konrad Reuland, and fullback Owen Marcenic are gone. Besides Jonathan Martin at left tackle who is also a top 5 pick in my mock draft and wide receiver Chris Owusu who does Luck have that he can turn to on offense? I couldn’t think of anyone either.
Needs to Improve Progressions on 7 Step Drop: Every rookie heading into the NFL struggles to get off a throw with a 7 step drop as a rookie with defenders staring you in the face. Luck is an elite quarterback prospect, but Luck’s not Superman. He’s going to need time to make proper progressions off the 7 step drop once he enters the NFL. Luck is good enough to get enough time to throw the football on a 7 step drop which is rare for a college quarterback, but its rare to find a quarterback get enough time to make a good throw when taking a 7 step drop in the pocket until they translate their game to the NFL. Luck is an exceptional talent, but he will need some time to adapt to the NFL by reading progressions on the 7 Step drop. This is probably one of the only things holding him back from a Pro Bowl appearance.
Deep Passing Game Mechanics: Sometimes Luck displays the proper throwing motion when firing a deep pass, but other times I’ve seen Luck fire deep passes similar to the mechanics Tim Tebow had when he fired passes at Florida at times when I’ve watched Andrew Luck on film. Luck’s mechanics are much better than Tim Tebow’s coming out of college. This is my question with Andrew Luck though. Will Andrew Luck’s deep passing game mechanics become more consistent over time? Luck has the talent and technique to throw a deep pass properly, but I have seen plays where Luck has displayed sloppy mechanics on film when firing a deep pass.
My thoughts on Andrew Luck
Andrew Luck has NFL type talent. Luck could have given the Panthers 11 wins had he decided to come out this season with the supporting cast Carolina assembled when he was first eligible to declare. Andrew Luck was a clear cut lock to be the #1 overall pick had he declared for the 2011 NFL Draft. In the end, Andrew Luck decided to return to Stanford for another year of college football.
Luck has some flaws that Mel Kiper hasn’t picked up on yet, but these are very minor flaws that I listed in the cons section of my scouting report. You can argue that 5 of the 7 cons I listed with Andrew Luck are so minor that the weaknesses are not worth reading into or acknowledging at this particular moment.
This is a quarterback who will excel in the short and medium passing game right away. He will do well in the deep passing game, but some of his throws on the deep passing game may be inconsistent at times. I believe this will be corrected near the end of his rookie campaign.
Andrew Luck is going to be the #1 overall pick in 2012 unless his performance regresses to a strong degree. Luck is currently the #1 overall player on my 2012 NFL Draft board. Honestly, I cannot see Andrew Luck regressing that badly since he has the best left tackle in the nation in Jonathan Martin as his blindside. Andrew Luck is a quarterback with Tom Brady’s intangibles and John Elway’s scrambling ability. This is a very scary thought if your an opposing defensive coordinator. Luck reminds me a lot of the former Stanford Cardinal John Elway.
