Over the last two seasons, young quarterbacks have taken the league by storm. From RGIII to Russell Wilson and Colin Kaepernick, the recent quarterback classes have excelled early in their careers. However, there is one quarterback who has done the unthinkable: He made a city whose football team let go a future hall of famer, forget about him. Andrew Luck of the Indianapolis Colts has been great, plain and simple.
The sophomore Stanford grad came into the NFL in 2012 with a Colts team many had ridden off. Indianapolis was at the bottom of the power rankings entering the preseason, and, after the Colts’ season opening loss of 41-21 at Chicago, it was safe to say that Luck, like many number one overall draft picks before him, would struggle. However, Luck did bounce back from that loss and won his NFL home opener against the Vikings. Luck did have turnover troubles in his first year. He threw 18 interceptions and had several fumbles, but the Colts’ quarterback also broke Cam Newton’s record for most passing yards in a single season for a rookie with 4,374 passing yards.
Luck then did the one thing no one expected from a quarterback drafter number one overall: He had a winning record. To turn back the pages of yesterday, in Peyton Manning’s first year, the former Colt threw 24 touchdowns and 25 interceptions, and his record was 3-13. Luck’s record for his first year was 11-5, and he became the first quarterback drafter number one overall to make the playoffs. This year, the trend continues. Luck has the Colts standing at 7-3, seeded third in the AFC and number one in the AFC South. What is another impressive statistic for this quarterback? He has yet to lose back to back games in his NFL career. Every time his team loses a game, Luck finds a way to produce a win the very next week.
Improvement is also an important thing to mention for the sophomore star. His interception numbers are down from last season, though he has not needed to pass as often thanks to Offensive Coordinator Pep Hamilton’s “no-coast” offense. Luck did have a game this year where his youth showed, throwing three interceptions against the Rams, but, once again, he came back the next week and won the game for Indianapolis. Luck has brought his team back from significant deficits this season. He won the game for Indianapolis at the Texans after being down 21-3 at halftime then coming back to win 27-24. The Thursday night game this week was another testament to that statement when his team was down 17-6 at half but won the game 30-27. Let’s not forget that Luck has done these things under difficult circumstances, poor defense in his first year and drop-happy receiving core this year and last.
After only a season and a half into his NFL career, Andrew Luck has played like a six-year veteran and could be on his way to successful years wearing the horseshoe. His first playoff game ended in a road loss at Baltimore, but let’s see what Luck can do if he get’s a home game or two this post season.
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