One day after Robert Griffin III took the stage at the Baylor Pro Day, Andrew Luck showed his arm at the Stanford Pro Day on Thursday. And from everything he put on display was every bit worthy of the number one overall pick.
It wasn’t quite perfect, but about as close as anyone could expect. Luck completed 46 of 50 passes, and three of the four incompletions were drops by receivers. One of the drops was a perfect 70-yard pass that his receiver mishandled in the end zone – in response to a request by scouts to test Luck’s arm strength.
“Maybe arm strength isn’t his weakness after all,” joked tight end Coby Fleener, would could also be taken in the first round.
Luck’s draft position appears to be pretty well set, and it is hard to improve from number one, but he also saw it as an opportunity to highlight some of his teammates, showing that he is the consummate team player, every bit as much as the Hall-of-Famer he is anticipated to replace.
“I think I’m in a very unique position. I feel very fortunate,” Luck said. “Obviously nothing is set in stone, but I should be drafted pretty high. Maybe a pro day is not going to hurt or help me as much as some other guys on our team. So I wanted to go out there and maybe show the strength of some of our receivers. If that means I go out there and throw a ball that I don’t really want to, maybe I’ll do it for those guys.”
The comparisons between Luck and Peyton Manning have already started, and assuming his name is called by the Colts on Draft Day, he will face tremendous pressure to fill Manning’s sizable shoes. A handful of players have had to take over for a legend, and a much shorter list stood up to the pressure and scrutiny. Steve Young may be the only quarterback that followed a legend and turned in an equally impressive Hall of Fame career.
Luck has been called the most well prepared quarterback to come out of college since Peyton Manning, and that was before the Colts were on the clock, going back to his Junior season. He is also a student of the game, and hard-working, blue collar player, much like Manning.
Asked about the Colts releasing Manning to make room for him, Luck was characteristically modest on the subject. “It’s what the club felt was the best move for them,” Luck said. “They have to do what’s in their best interest. I guess it is what it is now.”
For the Colts part, they were suitably impressed. “It was probably the first workout I’ve seen where a guy throws into the wind,” Colts quarterback coach Clyde Christensen said. “That probably reveals something about him, that he just goes and plays football, which is kind of neat.”