Andrew Luck Selected By Colts With No. 1

The Indianapolis Colts have chosen their successor for four-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning.

The Colts took Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck with the No. 1 pick as the NFL draft began Thursday night.

The selection was no surprise. Last week, the team told Luck he was their choice over Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III.

Luck is the first player the Colts have taken No. 1 overall since Manning in 1998 and the second Stanford quarterback they've taken No. 1. The Baltimore Colts took John Elway with the first pick in 1983. Manning will now play for Elway in Denver after missing last season to recover from neck surgery.I have no problem with anyone ranking Robert Griffin III of Baylor as the top prospect in this quarterback class. (See my scouting report here.) Griffin has great athleticism, intelligence and charisma to pair with good technique at the position. I wouldn’t be surprised, for example, if he has a better fantasy season as a rookie than Andrew Luck. But for the long haul, I still give the edge to Luck.

Luck has one of the most refined, polished games I have seen from a college quarterback entering the N.F.L.

It begins with his strong internal clock for pressure. He consistently does a good job of adjusting his location in the pocket at the right time so he can avoid the rush, keep his eyes down the field and get rid of the ball. Because he’s adept at using his eyes to manipulate coverage and displays an understanding of how to adjust his formations to get a mismatch before the snap, he’s well ahead of the game as an N.F.L. prospect. The fact that he does this in a pro-style offense is a bonus.

The ability to manipulate a defense extends to his play fakes, ball fakes and bootlegs to create open windows, and he does all of it with fantastic rhythm and timing for a young player. He’s smooth and controlled, and he throws off a defense before delivering the football on time and with great location to his receivers. He has a highly nuanced underneath game, and when defenses try to stop it, he can throw the deep ball as the counterpunch.