Originally Posted by sherck
Yes.
The Peyton years showed us that having, and keeping healthy, a top tier QB will keep this team competitive pretty much by itself.
Add to that a good running game because of that O-Line who is also protecting the QB and a commitment by our young GM that he WILL NOT neglect the defense and it all adds up to a much more balanced team than we ever had under Polian with Peyton.
However, protecting the QB and helping the run game fuels the entire domino effect.
While Luck has not shown himself to be an elite QB, yet, gander at these numbers:
First 5 years as starter of career:
Pick from:
Peyton Manning =
Tommy Cheater =
Drew Brees =
Matt Ryan =
Aaron Rodgers =
Andrew Luck =
Russell Wilson =
A) 80 games / 2,281 attempts (28.5 apg) / 1,476 completions (18.5 cpg) / 64.7% / 18,193 yards (227.4 ypg) / 127 TD / 045 INT
B) 78 games / 2,545 attempts (32.6 apg) / 1,576 completions (20.2 cpg) / 61.9% / 18,029 yards (231.1 ypg) / 123 TD / 066 INT
C) 80 games / 2,817 attempts (35.2 apg) / 1,749 completions (21.9 cpg) / 62.1% / 20,618 yards (257.7 ypg) / 138 TD / 100 INT
D) 70 games / 2,651 attempts (37.9 apg) / 1,570 completions (22.4 cpg) / 59.2% / 19,078 yards (272.5 ypg) / 132 TD / 068 INT
E) 74 games / 2,336 attempts (31.6 apg) / 1,466 completions (19.8 cpg) / 62.7% / 16,545 yards (223.6 ypg) / 105 TD / 064 INT
F) 78 games / 2,606 attempts (33.4 apg) / 1,717 completions (22.0 cpg) / 65.9% / 31,332 yards (273.5 ypg) / 170 TD / 043 INT
G) 78 games / 2,637 attempts (33.8 apg) / 1,654 completions (21.2 cpg) / 62.7% / 18,957 yards (243.0 ypg) / 127 TD / 060 INT
Not far off from each other, are they?
Luck is in the hunt of being elite; build him an excellent offensive line and a good defense and we will be knocking on the door every year with hopefully better results than in the Peyton years.
So, yeah, we can use a top 5 pick on the best Offensive Lineman available in the draft.
Walk Worthy,
|