Since the end of the 2010 college football season, Andrew Luck has been branded the second coming. Luck has drawn comparisons to Hall of Fame quarterbacks like John Elway and current NFL royalty Tom Brady. When the Indianapolis Colts were in the midst of their miserable, Peyton Manning-less 2011 season, the one thing that kept fans attending games was the future prospect of a Luck-helmed team. (And the fact that the fans live in Indiana, so there's not much more to do with leisure time than watch football.)
Coming into the 2011 college season, greasy-haired commentators such as Kirk Herbstreit were already picking Luck to take home the coveted Heisman Trophy. Yet an improbable star on a team that had not won a bowl game since 1992 — and even then, the bowl in question was the trivial John Hancock Bowl, now the Sun Bowl — shook up the pecking order. I'm referring to Robert Griffin III, or RG3, the former quarterback of the Baylor Bears, who capped off a remarkable season with an upset Heisman victory.
As the NFL combine got underway, Griffin's efforts in the 40-yard dash — he ran an unofficial 4.38; the only other quarterback to run the dash under 4.4 was Michael Vick — have made the first-round draft pick increasingly difficult for the Colts, and now the question becomes: Luck or Griffin?
Luck is the poster child of the fundamentally sound competitor. He is noted for his accuracy, his pocket presence, his arm strength and his live game sensibilities. Not to mention, his 40-yard dash time of 4.67 has forced scouts to reassess his agility and liken him to the mobile, paramount passer, Aaron Rodgers.
But Luck's athleticism does not hold a candle to RG3's. Griffin is also an accurate passer equipped with a built-in throwing cannon, but his speed and quickness make him an unsackable defensive nightmare with a propensity for playmaking.
In past drafts, a pattern has emerged. When teams select the incredibly gifted athlete with arm strength, they end up losing big. Reigning rookie of the year Cam Newton is an anomaly because the words "running" and "quarterback" too often generate images of famous busts. Names like Jason Campbell, Vince Young and Akili Smith come to mind. There is one instance in recent memory, however, in which a stellar pocket passer was chosen over an explosive playmaker and the team with the latter pick actually benefited: the case of Tim Couch, first overall pick in 1999 for the Cleveland Browns, and Donovan McNabb, second overall pick for the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Colts will most likely make the right decision. After all, the last time they had the number one pick in the draft, they chose a young gun from the University of Tennessee, Peyton Manning, leaving a hothead from Washington State, Ryan Leaf, to be scooped up by the San Diego Chargers with the second pick.
Plus, judging by the way Griffin and Luck continue to display their talents and garner rave reviews from scouts, either player may be a viable number one option.
Now, Luck is still the presumptive number one pick, and he will most likely retain that unofficial title until draft day in April. Yet Griffin has given the Colts something to think about, and he should continue to flaunt his array of skills and increase his draft stock come NFL Pro Day on March 21.
Until then, the St. Louis Rams will continue to try to shop their number two pick in 2012, which augments in value with each passing minute.
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Zach Drucker is a senior majoring in international relations and Spanish. He can be reached at zachary.drucker@tufts.edu.
