Brian Brohm.... we had many a debate about that kid didn't we hoops?
Listen, I don't buy into Andrew Luck because he's hyped, I buy into him because I've evaluated him with my own eyes for 3 years. I never buy into any of the gushing over prospects that pencil pushing sportswriters who've never been within 6 feet of a football in their life, bestow upon college prospects. I tend to formulate my own opinion based on my own groundwork.
I'm either right or I'm wrong... but the point is I have enough conviction one way or the other based off everything EXCEPT hype.
Luck is a tremendous FOOTBALL PLAYER, that just happens to be one of the best quarterback prospects I've ever seen in 40+ years of college football.... he's not overhyped simply because he's a quarterback that can't play FOOTBALL... like so many are.
Andrew Luck doesn't have the athletic ability of Cam Newton. He doesn't have the arm of Kyle Boller. He doesn't have the statistics of David Klingler.
The point is, the hype surrounding Luck is based mostly off the fact that he's so fundamentally sound, and understands the game of football. He knows how to play the game. He understands situational football... and the higher the pressure gets turned up, the better he gets.
His physical tools are somewhere in the above-average range, the same as guys like Peyton Manning, Sam Bradford, and Aaron Rodger's were.
He's not an overhyped system quarterback with inflated stats like Tim Couch, Andre Ware, David Klingler, etc. He's not overhyped because of he's all arm, and subject to get overdrafted based solely on arm strength like Jamarcus Russell, Kyle Boller, or Jeff George.
Nobody can guarantee any kid success coming out of college, but there's no denying the fact that Andrew Luck is close to "can't miss" as a quarterback prospect can possibly be. You just won't see guys like this very often... they come around once a decade or so.
If you've never taken the time to actually watch this guy play college football, I'd suggest taking the time out of a Saturday and catch one of his games. You should quickly be able to discern that this is an NFL quarterback playing college football.
Without getting into technical aspects of the QB position, just watch him and pay attention to the little things he does. Watch his body language... pay attention to the way he leads and directs his men on the battle field.... his maturity. Notice his tempo never changes, how smooth he goes through his progressions and never looks antsy. You'll see his instincts and natural feel for the game, and realize that it's something rare.
It's not a ridiculously high ceiling that makes Andrew Luck as special of a player as his is, it's the significantly high floor that makes him a rare quarterback prospect.
He's not perfect, but you'll rarely ever see a quarterback that's easier on the eyes than this kid. Nobody has seen it all quite like this since Peyton Manning was carving up SEC defenses in the mid 90's.
Guys like this are the one's that end up being destiny changers for stagnant franchises.
