As we march towards the regular season, the annual rankings of teams and players continues to roll out. Andrew Luck has jumped near the top of almost every released by the media so today’s recent quarterback ranking shouldn’t come as a surprise.
ESPN’s Ron Jaworski has worked his way through his QB rankings and has Luck as the fourth best QB in the NFL. The television segment can be found on ESPN today, but here is the transcript of Jaw’s comments on Luck:
"How many quarterbacks are making this play? That touchdown is a vivid snapshot of Andrew Luck. Luck may have the most diverse set of attributes of any quarterback in the NFL. It’s not just his size and athleticism. It’s his complete physical and mental skillset with a refined feel for the subtle nuances of the position.It’s hard to focus on a single trait with Luck because you check all the boxes when you study him. The Monday night game against the Giants was fascinating. New York’s approach was heavy blitz. Luck continually beat it.Luck may be the toughest pocket quarterback in the league. He’s both fearless and unmindful of pressure. Few quarterbacks have Luck’s strength and power as both a play extender and a scrambler. He adds a red zone dimension with his ability to run. But it was as a passer that Luck really excelled in the red zone – 23 touchdowns and only one interception.This touchdown was an excellent example. You get a great feel for Luck’s advanced progression reading ability. This was power pass with the first read, Coby Fleener, in the flat. That was immediately taken away by the linebacker. Luck then looked at Reggie Wayne on the backside crosser. He had no clarity to deliver that cleanly. He then went to his third read – Dwayne Allen. That was outstanding red zone quarterbacking, composed and aware.Luck was also outstanding on third down. His passer-rating of 112.7 was the third best in the league and his 16 touchdown passes on the money down led the NFL. As he enters his fourth season, Andrew Luck has all the traits you look for."
It isn’t as easy to follow Jaw’s breakdown without the highlights, but suffice it to say that he really likes the young QB. Luck is certainly worthy of the high praise. He finished his third season in the NFL with 4,761 yards and 40 touchdowns (leading the league) while completing nearly 62 percent of his passes.
Luck is just ahead of Seattle’s Russell Wilson in this ranking. Jaws hasn’t yet released his top three QBs in the NFL but it will include Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and Aaron Rodgers. Luck is the only QB in the top five with Super Bowl ring, but his team has improved every season since he entered the NFL.
With all the weapons Luck has at his disposal this season, he has a good chance of topping his 2014 campaign.