DHQ Player Profile: Stanford QB Andrew Luck

The final of several player profiles that Shawn has been showcasing from his 2012 Draft Preview over the course of the spring, here is Shawn's profile on Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck:

Andrew Luck - Stanford - 6-4 - 234 - (No. 1 overall)

40 = 4.67

The best prospect that I have ever scouted at Draft Headquarters and the best prospect to enter the NFL since Peyton Manning in 1998, Andrew Luck heads to the next level as the type of franchise quarterback prospect that only comes once every 10 to 20 years. A three-year starter with 38 career starts at Stanford, Luck led the Cardinal to a 31-7 record over the course of his career while finishing second for the Heisman Trophy twice, as well as being named a two-time Offensive Player of the Year in the Pacific Athletic Conference. He helped lead a team that had endured seven consecutive losing seasons to three-straight bowl games, a near-chance at competing for a national championship, and the 11 games that Stanford won in each of the past two seasons is the most in school history. In his three years as the lead signal caller in Palo Alto, Andrew finished among the school's all-time leading passers, having thrown for a total of 9,430 yards, 82 touchdowns, and 22 interceptions with a 67.0% completion percentage (713-1,064); his best statistical season came in 2011 during his junior year when he threw for 3,517 yards, 37 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions with a 71.3% completion percentage (288-404).

As complete of a prospect as I have ever seen, Luck's intelligence, instincts, and understanding of the game are among the best to enter the league in the last 30 years; he owns the type of football IQ that you can only be born with. A proven leader who offers outstanding poise for the position, Andrew is a player who can be counted on no matter what the situation is, and is always capable of leading his team from behind for a victory; his consistency and reliability are two tremendous reasons why I am a fan of his. An elite game manager who takes care of the ball and doesn't make mistakes often, Andrew has displayed the short memory needed to bounce back from an interception to lead his team down the field to win the game. An extremely smart quarterback who was valedictorian of his high school, Luck brings the intelligence and controlled emotions that you can rarely find at the position. He is the best in the country at reading defenses, showing a simply special ability to walk up to the line, read the defense, and change the play if needed. He understands how to change protection schemes, audible from a pass to a run (or vice versa) and will be able to handle an NFL playbook from the first second that he enters the league. At Stanford, like with Manning and the Indianapolis Colts, Luck was handed a small number of plays and given the freedom to walk up to the line, read the defense, and call out which one he felt was best for that situation. His ability to make reads and checks at the line is unlike any other quarterback in the past 20 years, other than Manning. Andrew does a fabulous job of going through his reads and progressions, showing a quick, instinctive ability to cycle through his receivers and deliver the ball on time.

A cool, calm, and collected quarterback, Luck's emotion on the field, or lack thereof, reminds me of the same way that Eli Manning looks down the field with a blank stare, showing no signs of being rattled in the most high pressure situations. There are few players that born with the type of composure that Andrew has.

As a passer, Luck offers near-perfect mechanics with the smooth over-the-top delivery and quick release that you look for. He holds the ball chest-level high and is as polished from a mechanic standpoint as I've seen in six years. Andrew is an articulate, precise passer who displays the type of consistent pinpoint accuracy that you would expect from the first overall pick in the draft. He's as accurate in the short-to-intermediate range as he is down the field, also showing the ability to put absolutely outstanding touch on his throws. He has proven throughout his career that he is capable of dropping the ball in the bucket outside of the numbers and has an innate ability to throw the ball with enough loft to allow for his receiver to run under it and make an easy catch down the field. In addition, Luck has shown a very instinctive ability to throw his receiver open and lead him down the field, as to draw him away from coverage and place the ball where only his receiver can catch it; his ability to throw the ball into tight windows on a consistent basis is extraordinary. Andrew owns the arm strength needed to make every throw that an NFL quarterback needs to make. He is capable of driving the ball down the field with great arm strength and has shown that he can throw it 60-70 yards with ease. If there is one question in his game, and it's nitpicking at its finest, Luck does not throw the ball with the type of velocity that you normally desire. Rather than firing the ball to his receiver, he's more of a finesse passer who uses precision and touch to throw the ball accurately; he throws the ball more gently than aggressively. Andrew is far from a gun slinger, and to me, his velocity simply represents a different style of being able to throw the ball rather than whether or not he can throw it strongly.

I'm very impressed with the way that Andrew shortens up his throwing motion and throttles down the speed of his throws on shorter-to-more intermediate routes, as he to be more precise and accurate while putting even more touch on the throw. Luck also played with three tight ends being his dominant go-to receivers in 2011 and was not forced to drive the ball down the field quite as frequently as you'd expect, which is one reason for the misconception that he can't throw it strongly down the field. Once he is in an NFL offense with legitimate receivers, he will be more than capable of increasing his velocity and throwing the ball with great timing. Andrew displays polished footwork with the smooth, fluid drop back that I look for at the position, and I would consider this to be one of his greatest strengths physically. He shows quick, nimble steps in his three and five-step drops along with a great understanding of how to step into his throws to increase the torque through his hips. These quick steps allow for him to speed up the process of delivering the ball and also adds to the escapability factor for him.

He's one of the most underrated athletes in the draft, having posted the same 40-yard dash time at the NFL Scouting Combine as Cam Newton did in 2011. Luck displays outstanding pocket presence with a natural anticipation and feel for where the pass rush is coming from. He moves about the pocket very well with little trouble keeping his eyes down the field while sensing where to move. The fact that Andrew was only sacked 23 times over the course of three years shows the type of pocket presence he brings to the next level. A deceptive athlete, Andrew reminds me of Aaron Rodgers with his ability to quickly take off and run with the ball down the field at the last time you'd expect him to tuck it and go. He has more than enough speed to make something happen with his legs, having rushed for 957 yards and seven touchdowns on 163 carries (5.9 yards-per-carry) during his three-year career. His excellent athleticism was put on display at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis when he recorded a 36-inch vertical jump, 10-foot four-inch broad jump, and 6.8-second three-cone time. One thing that I like about Andrew's game is his improvisational skills, as he does a very nice job of making something happen or getting the ball down the field when under pressure. He never gets rattled when the rush is in his face, and when he escapes the pocket, has shown a consistent and reliable ability to throw the ball accurately on the run. In addition, I'm very impressed with the great job he does of hiding the ball on play action fakes, truly looking like an NFL quarterback with the way that he executes the fakes before stepping back up in the pocket and delivering the ball down the field. He's also incredibly efficient on third downs and will be as reliable as they come when needing to pick up the first down. Having started 38 games over the past three years, Andrew proved to be the epitome of durable over the course of his career and does not have any known injury concerns as he enters the next level.

I project that Andrew Luck will be the first player selected in the 2012 NFL Draft. Andrew Luck is a franchise quarterback with the type of rare instincts, intelligence, intangibles, and understanding of the game needed to lead a team into the future for the next 10 to 20 years. To me it's a question of how many Super Bowl's Andrew will be capable of winning, not if he wins one. He has every tool, skill, and trait needed to develop into one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL and I expect to see him go on to have a very long, successful, and productive career leading the team that drafts him.

Notes: A two-time Offensive Player of the Year in the Pac-12 (10), Andrew was named the Walter Camp Player of the Year, first-team All-American, and first team All-Pac 12 (10) each of the past two seasons. As a sophomore in 2010, he was the Davey O'Brien Award as the best quarterback in the country before winning the Maxwell Trophy and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Trophy as a junior in 2011. A former top recruit coming out of Stratford High School in Houston, Texas, Andrew was rated as a four-star prospect, the No. 4 pro-style quarterback and No. 68 overall player in the country, as well as the No. 9 player in the state of Texas by Rivals.com; he turned down reported offers from Northwestern, Oklahoma State, Purdue, Virginia, and Rice to attend Stanford. Andrew has great bloodlines, as his dad, Oliver, is a former NFL quarterback who played for the Houston Oilers after playing in college at West Virginia; he now serves as the athletic director at West Virginia. Over the course of his high school career, Andrew threw for 7,139 yards and 53 touchdowns with a 59.2% completion percentage (488-824), in addition to rushing for 2,085 yards.

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