Colts QB Andrew Luck having one of NFL’s best preseasons
By CLIFF BRUNT
ISL Editor
Andrew Luck is not only big, strong, fast and tough, he has become the one adjective he wasn’t last year.
Efficient.
Through three preseason games, he has a 108.3 passer rating. That’s third among clear-cut starting quarterbacks (Buffalo’s E.J. Manuel doesn’t count yet). Luck trails only Drew Brees (128.4) and Sam Bradford (114.1). If you think this doesn’t matter, let’s look at the next five slots among starters.
4. Tom Brady, 106.0
5. Aaron Rodgers, 102.3
6. Michael Vick, 101.1
7. Brandon Weeden, 99.9
8. Peyton Manning, 97.0.
Last I checked, except for Weeden, that’s a who’s who of Super Bowl winners and guys who are getting paid. Preseason final scores don’t matter much, but what your starting quarterback does in the preseason certainly does. Few have done it better than Luck.
What’s impressive is that Luck is in just his second year. Most of the folks listed above are veterans and several are heading to the Hall of Fame. Luck is right there with them, right where his talent level belongs.
Now, to just look at Luck’s growth, let’s compare his preseason from last year with his preseason from this year.
2012 preseason: 41-66 (62.1 pct.), 522 yards, 3 TD, 2 int., 89.3 passer rating.
2013 preseason: 29-44 (65.9 pct.) 322 yards, 4 TD, 1 int., 108.3 passer rating.
In other words, improvement across the board in the numbers that matter the most.
Now, let’s compare last regular season to this preseason.
As great as he was as a rookie, Luck only had a 76.5 passer rating last regular season. The preseason jump to 108.3, then, is significant. It would be easy to look at his preseason numbers and dismiss them because they are the numbers we expect from Luck, but quite frankly, he hasn’t been the efficient assassin that he has now become. Yes, he’s in a lower-risk offense now that Bruce Arians is gone, and that lends to better efficiency numbers. But the numbers that you might think would suffer haven’t. Last regular season, he averaged 7.0 yards per attempt; in this preseason, he’s actually up to 7.3. Last season, his touchdown percentage was 3.7 percent; that is up to 9.0 this preseason. Last season, he was sacked 41 times and threw 627 passes, or a sack for every 15.2 passes he threw. This preseason, he’s been sacked twice and attempted 44 passes, or once for every 22 attempts.
Continuing the comparison between last season and this preseason, Luck’s completion percentage is way up, from 54.1 from regular season to 65.9 in the preseason. He threw 23 touchdowns and 18 interceptions last regular season, so the 4-1 ratio in the preseason is outstanding.
Obviously, the sample sizes are different between last regular season and this preseason. I’m not saying that all the positives will transfer to the regular season in their entirety, but Luck is capable of doing it. It’s all there. He’s getting better protection, and if Indy’s running game is better and Ahmad Bradshaw heals up, very good things are on the horizon for the Colts.
