NFL.com: Andrew Luck Projected Passing Yards King

According to NFL.com’s Gil Brandt, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck will once again be one of the NFL’s passing leaders this season. Only this time, instead of leading the league in touchdowns like he did last season with 40 touchdown passes, Luck will become the NFL’s newest passing yards leader:

"Passing yards: Andrew Luck, Indianapolis ColtsWill finish with: 5,100 passing yards.2014 rank: No. 3, with 4,761 passing yards (191 yards behind Drew Brees and Ben Roethlisberger, tied at No. 1).Luck passed for 939 more yards and 17 more touchdowns in 2014 than he did in 2013 — a huge jump. And that was without free-agent signee Andre Johnson or rookie Phillip Dorsett on the field. Indy’s defense isn’t great, meaning this pass-happy offense should end up in a fair amount of shootouts. The fact that the Colts will play 10 games in roofed stadiums (eight home games in Lucas Oil Stadium, plus one in Houston and one in Atlanta) and another four in warm-weather locales (at Tennessee, Carolina, Jacksonville and Miami) should only help Luck rack up the yardage."

While I’ll disagree with Brandt that Tennessee is much of a “warm-weather locale” all things considered, I will say that Luck does appear to have a pretty good chance of becoming the NFL’s newest passing yard king.

Jan 25, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Team Carter quarterback Andrew Luck of the Indianapolis Colts (12) throws a pass against Team Irvin in the 2015 Pro Bowl at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

As Brandt already noted, Luck threw for 4,761 passing yards last season, which was already 3rd most in the NFL. That was without Andre Johnson, Phillip Dorsett, and I’ll even mention Frank Gore, who figures to open up the passing game more as a run threat than Trent Richardson ever did and is also a reliable receiver coming out of the backfield.

The Colts figure to feature even more of a prolific passing attack this season, and with so many potential weapons and a pretty cushy NFL schedule, it means that Luck should rack up among the league’s most passing yards once again.

That being said, Luck should still be under strong consideration to defend his reigning crown as the NFL’s passing touchdown leader this season. Brandt’s pick in Aaron Rodgers is clearly no slouch, but what exactly changed on Luck’s end?

Maybe Frank Gore rushes for more touchdowns than the Colts running back unit collectively did last season and takes away from some of Luck’s 7 point tosses. Other than that, it’s been mostly all positives for Luck’s touchdowns projections.

Therefore, Luck appears to have as good of a shot as any quarterback to throw for the most touchdowns and to do it in consecutive seasons. He has more weapons than he did last season and that should make him a fantasy football player’s dream for both passing yards and touchdowns, as well as the possible king in both.

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