Andrew Luck Rated Third Best QB by John Clayton

It isn’t a secret that Andrew Luck is well on his way to being the next great quarterback in the NFL. Many have placed him in their top 10 if not top five QB’s in the league.

ESPN’s John Clayton engaged in an interesting exercise recently when posed the question of who would be the top quarterbacks over the next three years. Clayton had Luck third on the list in 2015, and firmly in second place (behind Aaron Rodgers) the next two years.

Clayton cites Luck’s ability to carry the Colts to the playoffs, and a step closer to the Super Bowl each season, as to why he’s so high on the list. Luck is ahead of Ben Roethlisberger, Peyton Manning, and Drew Brees. Russell Wilson checks in at eighth on the list for 2015 as well.

What is interesting is that Tom Brady is second on Clayton’s list for 2015. I have no issue with Brady being rated over Luck, but it is clear that he is only this high on the list due to the Super Bowl championship. Brady falls to fourth by 2017, when he turns 40.

"Brady turns 40 in the summer of 2017. I have no doubt he still will be playing, but you figure his game would have to show some signs of decline."

As opposed to the signs of decline he’s showed over the past few years. Scott Kacsmar from Football Outsiders has run the numbers on Brady before, and he’s definitely declining, just like Manning and Brees.

Manning and Brees are entering the end of their careers and have seen a dip in their numbers over the past few seasons. The exact same can be said of Brady.

Championships have become the defining trait of quarterbacks over the past decade for some reason. This is despite the fact that analysts regularly agree that the hardest thing to do is get to the Super Bowl and that quarterbacks are only on the field for half of the game.

Colts fans can take solace in knowing that the most important position in sports is taken care of for the next decade in Indianapolis.