April 26th 2012 has come and gone, yet that specific date could potentially be a day to remember for two NFL teams. On this date, two teams may have drafted quarterbacks that could join the ranks of the all-time greats. Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III were highly touted, obviously, but there will always be the side-by-side comparison considering where they went in the 2012 draft. What we need to consider, despite neither having taken a professional snap in a meaningful game, which quarterback will have the better career? Which will do better for their respective team?
Luck and Griffin are completely different quarterbacks; Luck is steady and constant. Basically, you know what to expect. Meanwhile Griffin is spectacular and breathtaking and routinely makes “WOW” plays seem impossible. Estimating how these players will do throughout their careers with any degree of accuracy is difficult, but one can make an educated guess on how either player will perform will their teams, and if success is in their cards.
First, we’ll begin with the Stanford quarterback, and the son of former NFL quarterback Oliver Luck. In college, Andrew broke multiple school and Pac-12 records for winning percentage and career completion percentage. Unfortunately, he was only a runner-up for the Heisman for two years straight. This ill-fated circumstance should not, at all, take away from the career that Luck had at Stanford because he was a fantastic quarterback to say the least. Calm in the pocket, smart, excellent at distributing the ball at opportune times and accurate… really accurate. But, so too is Griffin.
Griffin, on the other hand, played his college football for the Baylor Bears and was a sensational talent while playing there. Nicknamed “RG3”, Robert was not recognized by the media until this year and his stats speak for themselves. Only two yards away from 4,000 yards passing, while posting 45 total touchdowns, RG3 is most definitely a dual-threat. By possessing great arm strength as well as being a capable runner, he will definitely be a force to be reckoned with in the NFL. RG3 has also already one-upped Luck once, winning the 2011 Heisman trophy.
If you were to place the two under a microscope, you could see that Griffin completed four percent more passes from the pocket than Luck. Furthermore, Luck threw 28 touchdown passes from the pocket but Griffin completed three more. Interestingly, Griffin only had three interceptions from the pocket and Luck had a total of eight. And finally, on passes thrown for more than 15 yards, Luck completed 47.5% of them but Griffin completed an outstanding 59.7%.
By focusing on stats alone, you would assume that RG3 is the better quarterback. But football is more than just a single player game; it’s all about the team. And football is certainly not all about stats because so much is dependent on one’s teammates. Therefore, we have to think – who’s the better leader? Who makes their team better? Who will be there when the game is on the line, and their team needs them to convert? This is what we don’t know, but I’m sure starting this September, and for every NFL season after, the media will be all over which quarterback will have more value. But until then, as fans, we can just sit back, relax, and watch the players play.
The short answer to the original question is – “who cares”.
…and that is the last word.
