How Andrew Luck’s career compares to Peyton Manning’s
By Ryan Stano
Luck has been with the team since 2012, so there is a large sample size now. How has he compared through his first seven years to the all-time great quarterback he succeeded?
Andrew Luck was drafted to replace a legend. He is part of the reason why the Colts cut that legend. Peyton Manning was due $28 million in 2012, but his neck injury wasn’t guaranteed to be recovered from. So then the Colts let him go and drafted Luck.
Luck has been with the Colts for seven years now. It’s a large enough sample size to compare the two quarterbacks. Both made it to the playoffs. Manning made it 5 of his first 7 years, while Luck has made it in 4 of his first 7. Neither have won a Super Bowl at this point in their careers.
Manning made the Pro Bowl 5 times in that span, while Luck has made it 4. The biggest separation between the two quarterbacks at this point in their career is that Manning had won 2 MVP’s while Luck has yet to win a single one.
Luck was drafted as the second coming of Manning out of Stanford. He was one of the most hyped college prospects in recent memory at quarterback. But his stats have not measured up to his predecessor. Perhaps the biggest problem has been his durability.
Manning did not miss a single game during this 7 year span, where Luck has missed 26, and could miss more this season. Luck just hasn’t been reliably on the field so far in his career. He also isn’t the transcendent talent that many were projecting out of college.
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Just because he isn’t an all-time great yet doesn’t mean Luck is a bad player. He has had plenty of great moments in his young career. But he will always be compared to the man so saved football in Indy, whether that is fair or not. And so far, there is no comparison.