Was Luck hyped to much?

[coltsfanmilyman]

It never fails that someone is going to criticize every single thing that Luck does or doesn't do. Two weeks ago you would have thought we drafted some scrub from the sixth rd. This week its the same song and dance, he doesn't do this, he doesn't do that. This is to low, he can't make this throw, he doesn't have a deep ball.

I don't know if the gb win inflated our aspirations of this team but really, its getting old.

The guy is a rookie, playing with rookies, using a patchwork offensive line. I mean seriously what are some of you expecting? 6-0? We are a .500 team that today. The win against the browns today we eclipsed our win total from last year.

All I'm asking is can we give the guy I don't know... The rest of the season before you all start nit-picking at every little thing the kid does or doesn't do?

Not to mention that the whole team is rebuilding. Offense, defense, special teams. Let's temper our expectations and enjoy what the kid can do versus what he cant ?

[NewColtsFan]

Since it's not possible for me to hit the "Like" button more than once, allow me to say a sincere Thank You for writing that.

I've been writing things like that it seems since the day I arrived in May.... I've written something a little similar in another thread about his low completion percentage...

This will all get better as the team improves around Luck. No player can do it all by himself. You need a team.

Give it a little time. Be a little patient. And Andrew Luck will reward your faith in him.....

[CR91]

people are gonna have their critics, but with a guy like luck with his nonchalant attitude, he'll be fine.

[Nobody]

We could just run screens and dump offs all day and lose games like the Redskins.

[John Waylon]

I like cheese.

But not goat cheese.

So you figure that one out...

These threads are soooooooo freaking tired...

[Slick_Rick]

The big problem among the fans, in my opinion, is that everyone is comparing him to Peyton and RG3. It's not a fair comparison, but humans by nature like to compare. I think given the talent that is surrounding Luck, he is doing well. He is not a finished product by any means, and I do not see a bust either. I think he has amazing potential, and he seems to grasp the game mentally. Physically, there is work to do. He is used to larger windows in the college game and his muscle memory is contributing to some of the errant throws, I believe. I'm not worried about Andrew Luck. He is a rookie and there will be moments where we may question, but let's stick it out and enjoy the ride.

[Coltsman1788]

I do think people over hyped Luck some in terms of all the "best prospect since Elway"; he's "head & shoulders above the other QB's in his class" stuff that many were saying. He's a top flight prospect and I have no worries that he will be an awesome franchise quarterback for us for many years to come. But there are other good QB's coming out of his class as well and some Colts fans poo poo'd those guys because they needed to feel reassured about the guy we were taking. As this season has unfolded we are seeing that the seperation between these prospects was perhaps not as wide as hyped up to be.

That said...Luck is coming into a situation in Indy that is more challenging than what some of his peers are stepping into. Given that he is playing for the Colts with all of their deficiencies I would say that he is developing very well overall. His rookie pace is ahead of Manning's for crying out loud so he is already well on his way. It's just that the combination of all the pre-draft hype, our fan base being spoiled by the Manning-era, and the surprising (to some) success of his qb classmates have all conspired to stir up the worry worts. As good and as hyped as Luck may have been coming out of college, many still lose sight of the fact that he is a rookie...a glorified one but a rookie nonetheless...and as such he will struggle at times.

I will continue to say it...he will be fine.

[Tark The Shark]

The only game I saw that Luck missed some throws were in the Jets game.

But really he has some great numbers and the O-line is getting better and better.

I can't wait till Luck and the rest of the offense masters the no-huddle offense. That will be when we start scoring some serious points.

[WSO]

I think House said it best in the other thread something along the lines of, Lucks biggest problem is that he isn't Peyton. You have a lot of fans who became Colts fans through the Peyton era (nothing wrong with that) and expect Luck to come in and replicate his success. They don't realize that he is a rookie surrounded by other rookie or 1st year players in this new system and it's a collective learning process.

Let me tell you something. Yes it's an apples to oranges comparison but if people are this upset with Luck's #'s and the Colts performance through 6 weeks, imagine what the board would be like if he had the following stats:

6 TDs, 14 int's 54.3%, 1364 yds, 56.9 QB rating 1-5 record

Through 6 games he has exceeded my expectations. I expected the Colts to be 5-11 at best. I've posted it numerous times. I also expect Luck to throw another 7-12 ints and lose probably another 5-8 games. The thing is, it doesn't bother me. Making mistakes is one way he is learning and is going to get better. Peyton sure as heck learned from his rookie mistakes and exploded in his 2nd season. Not saying Luck will (look at Cam) but just making a point.

[hambone35]

I'll tell you this he's as advertised luck will be the greatest QB SINCE manning to come out of college in a long time wait and see Wayne already compares him to manning just give this rookie some time luck for a rookie is impressive

[Mr.Debonair]

Luck is fighting the RG3 machine. He's not in the highlight reel every Subday like RG or making explosive plays every night. People look at stats n don't watch games. Also, he's fighting the Peyton ghost.

This KID is legit and as good as advertised

[betheafan41]

We could just run screens and dump offs all day and lose games like the Redskins.

actually alot of the games the skins have lost was due to poor defense like against the rams (they had a 20 point lead i believe and defense blew it) and today with just under a 1:40 left after scoring a go ahead TD the defense let cruz get behind them for 70 yards. then the offense was driving again with 10 to 15 yard passes and then santana moss fumbled. same thing against atlanta 10-7 torward the end of the 3rd then RG3 went down then it was 14-10 then 17-14 and the defense fell apart in the final 3 minutes. the only game they actually got beat in where they never had the lead going into the 4th qtr was against the bengals when they lost 38-31. but yeah kyle shannahan is ruining that offense, but mike wont fire his own son.

[luckyblue]

I thought Andrew played very well in the first half, and not as well in the second. If he can put it together for 60 minutes of a game(which he really hasn't done yet) we will have one heckuva QB! And I know that he is a rookie and in time he will get over the hump of having one good half and the other not so good. Personally I think one way he can get better is by throwing less long balls and going for shorter patterns or checkdowns to the running backs. If you look at rg3 his completion percentage is much better than Andrew only because thats pretty much all he's throwing is the short stuff. I really think it would benefit Andrew's growth as a QB if he didn't throw so many long balls and concentrated more on the short stuff, also if he threw shorter passes they would come out more quickly and he'd have less of a chance of getting hit so often! I think as he matures as a QB he will complete more of the long passes that are falling incomplete at this stage of his career. I'm not trying to nitpick about Andrew just offering a little suggestion that might help his progress, because in time I truly feel he's going to be a great franchise QB for the Colts, for many years to come!

[BleedBlu8792]

actually alot of the games the skins have lost was due to poor defense like against the rams (they had a 20 point lead i believe and defense blew it) and today with just under a 1:40 left after scoring a go ahead TD the defense let cruz get behind them for 70 yards. then the offense was driving again with 10 to 15 yard passes and then santana moss fumbled. same thing against atlanta 10-7 torward the end of the 3rd then RG3 went down then it was 14-10 then 17-14 and the defense fell apart in the final 3 minutes. the only game they actually got beat in where they never had the lead going into the 4th qtr was against the bengals when they lost 38-31. but yeah kyle shannahan is ruining that offense, but mike wont fire his own son.

Actually I disagree about Kyle. They've tailored an offensive playbook that suits RG3's skillset perfectly, and not only that, but put him in a position to not make very many mistakes. The Pistol formation they've been using is pretty fun to watch. They don't run a deep routing tree. To be honest Arians should be doing the same. He needs to tone down the routing tree a little bit, in terms of yardage, and allow some of these guys and Andrew to get a little more of a rhythm early on, then start spreading the field more.

I don't really care for the empty back set, and I think he's putting a lot of pressure on Luck when its not needed. However, the O-line excuse isn't going to be there much longer as they've continually gotten better each week and have been solid the past 3, and Luck is taking unnecessary sacks because he's holding on to the ball too long. Again I think a good portion is on Arians shoulders but Luck hasn't helped himself either in some situations.

He puts a full game together and its likely to be a lopsided win for the Colts, but I think there are some adjustements that need to be made to help both out and make to help make the game easier, not more difficult as the game progresses.

[HtownColt]

It's funny how Luck took the lead with under a min left against the Jags just to see it evaporate on a 80yrd td the next play from the Jags.

Fast forward to today and RGIII takes the lead with over a min left just to see it evaporate 19sec later on a 77yrd td from Eli.

RGIII got a taste of what Luck went through 3 weeks ago

[Nobody]

It's funny how Luck took the lead with under a min left against the Jags just to see it evaporate on a 80yrd td the next play from the Jags.

Fast forward to today and RGIII takes the lead with over a min left just to see it evaporate 19sec later on a 77yrd td from Eli.

RGIII got a taste of what Luck went through 3 weeks ago

But Luck has many more last minute comebacks to feel happy about.

[throwing BBZ]

RG3 is CLEARLY the better QB. Stronger more accurate throws. He can throw a good deep ball. Luck has been Poor with his accuracy.

Definitely NOT the player sold to everyone.

Luck will be chasing 3 for awhile. Maybe a LONG while.

[Jules]

To the thread title. No.

But, quite often our fanbase is. At least the online version.

[coltsfanmilyman]

Thankfully some of us have reality in check. All of you have made graeat points. I'm just so sick of all the negativity even after a win. Its crazy!

Be thankful we are in the situation that we are, some franchises never will have 1 hof qb but we have 2 right now and Luck could potentially be a third.

[ColtStrong]

I like cheese.

But not goat cheese.

So you figure that one out...

These threads are soooooooo freaking tired...

I like Head Cheese, Know what that is?

[austriancolt]

Well I think he is doing great. Look at the stats Peyton had in his first season. Look at the fact that he is playing in a team that had a complete overhaul in the summer that lost a lot of talent and veterans. RG3 is playing great, now doubt about that, but it's also a fact that he is playing under complete different conditions.

[Nancy]

I think Luck is doing very good and we are very LUCK-y to have him as our QB!

[GoColts8818]

Luck is off to a great start. I think people get too hung up on what RG3 and Manning are doing. It doesn't matter how well they are playing as long as Luck is playing well which he is. Yes he has areas of his game he needs to improve on but what rookie doesn't? With that said when you stack his numbers up and compare them to what other top QBs have done in recent drafts he stacks up just as well as any of them including his completion % which seems to be the thing people are the most worried about it.

Like I also pointed out in another thread he's pretty much playing with rookies and second year players on offense at the skill poistion. I have a feeling a lot of those incomplete passes aren't all his fault. Other guys are making mistakes as well as they finding their way. Honestly he pretty much had four vets at the skill positions of those two are currently hurt in Brown and Collie and Collie isn't coming back and has pretty much been gone all year. The other two are Avery and Wayne. Avery is trying to come back from a couple of injury riddled seasons and teams are figuring out they need to double or triple team Wayne and they are focusing on taking him away from Luck.

The good news is that some of those other younger players are starting to come on as well. Again we just need Luck and those guys to keep making progress and getting better that's what you want to watch for and I think Luck is.

[Vance]

To the thread title. No.

But, quite often our fanbase is. At least the online version.

The sexiest sense is common sense.

[Qwiz]

Luck is fighting the RG3 machine. He's not in the highlight reel every Subday like RG or making explosive plays every night. People look at stats n don't watch games. Also, he's fighting the Peyton ghost.

This KID is legit and as good as advertised

I've watched games...and I see great things out of both these guys. Griffin's gotten more attention since before they were drafted, so I don't think 12 is fighting a "RG3 machine". It's just that the Redskins are in the dramatic NFC East and the Colts are in the attention-starved AFC South. Both have been playing good football, and I agree, they should both be as good as advertised.

[braveheartcolt]

I'd like to compare the Redskins O-line and TE's and RB's and WR's. Let's take the QB's out of the equasion and see how those thingies all match up. Perhaps the majority of us are in denial, and we just picked the wrong guy? And it would keep quite a few on here happy....

[Gavin]

We picked the right guy at QB no question, Now at Offensive Coordinator......Thats going to be an ongoing debate all season to me, good play calling on offense today for sure though, we went short to medium to long with passes, The deep passes were just off for Luck today, But I liked it, throw short to intermediate while establishing the run

[braveheartcolt]

Why are some forgetting we were officially the WORST team last season. And we weren't even arguably the worst. Therefore, with only 11 teams having a better record than us at this point in our rebuilding exercise, we are doing just fine. And with a rookie QB, we are doing as well as, or better than Brady, Brees, Romo, Palmer, Manning (P), Rivers, Sanchez, Freeman, Newton, Stafford, Bradford, Griffin, Tannenhill, Weeden and Vick....

Lest we forget.

[Smitto]

We could just run screens and dump offs all day and lose games like the Redskins.

Redskins aren't losing games by dumping off screens.... You should watch their games instead of probably looking at stats

[Smitto]

Why are some forgetting we were officially the WORST team last season. And we weren't even arguably the worst. Therefore, with only 11 teams having a better record than us at this point in our rebuilding exercise, we are doing just fine. And with a rookie QB, we are doing as well as, or better than Brady, Brees, Romo, Palmer, Manning (P), Rivers, Sanchez, Freeman, Newton, Stafford, Bradford, Griffin, Tannenhill, Weeden and Vick....

Lest we forget.

The Colts were the worst team LAST YEAR because they had a really bad QB and bad defense.... They don't have that excuse this year. Colts are losing games this season because of the missed assignments, bad effort, and errant passes and sometimes bad play calling.

Ppl need to stop giving the "he's a rookie" excuse because even Arians will tell you that is no excuse.. They've already had about a full season of college football...

QBs miss passes and WRs drop balls... Luck is not Peyton Manning and he certainly won't have the completion percentage of Peyton so stop holding your breath in hope of next year.

[BleedBlu8792]

The Colts were the worst team LAST YEAR because they had a really bad QB and bad defense.... They don't have that excuse this year. Colts are losing games this season because of the missed assignments, bad effort, and errant passes and sometimes bad play calling.

Ppl need to stop giving the "he's a rookie" excuse because even Arians will tell you that is no excuse.. They've already had about a full season of college football...

QBs miss passes and WRs drop balls... Luck is not Peyton Manning and he certainly won't have the completion percentage of Peyton so stop holding your breath in hope of next year.

Not to go off topic but I don't think the team was as bad as their record indicated. I would say the coaching staff was absolutely terrible. Look at all the coaches and specialized coaches they had. Not ONE had any other professional experience except the time they had with the Colts. After the first 8 or 9 weeks last year they could have easily of had 4 or 5 wins. They were in every game except for that first Houston game. The coaching staff hurt that team more than experience did. They are less experienced this year than last year, new schemes/systems, and so far are playing better.

That says a lot about this coaching staff compared to last years...

[Gavin]

Not to go off topic but I don't think the team was as bad as their record indicated. I would say the coaching staff was absolutely terrible. Look at all the coaches and specialized coaches they had. Not ONE had any other professional experience except the time they had with the Colts. After the first 8 or 9 weeks last year they could have easily of had 4 or 5 wins. They were in every game except for that first Houston game. The coaching staff hurt that team more than experience did. They are less experienced this year than last year, new schemes/systems, and so far are playing better.

That says a lot about this coaching staff compared to last years...

well and that New Orleans embarrassment to

[Smitto]

Not to go off topic but I don't think the team was as bad as their record indicated. I would say the coaching staff was absolutely terrible. Look at all the coaches and specialized coaches they had. Not ONE had any other professional experience except the time they had with the Colts. After the first 8 or 9 weeks last year they could have easily of had 4 or 5 wins. They were in every game except for that first Houston game. The coaching staff hurt that team more than experience did. They are less experienced this year than last year, new schemes/systems, and so far are playing better.

That says a lot about this coaching staff compared to last years...

They are playing better because they have better more athletic players.... The Colts old mantra was play fast with little guys and ppl but it but the defense wasn't actually fast they were quick little guys... One way to judge the talent on your team is by your special teams unit... Wish I could bring up the stats showing last year's and this year's but you can go ahead look at it and see a lil difference

[ruksak]

The issue is whether Luck was over-hyped. As in; The media making statements like "A once in a generation quarterback" etc

I would have to ask why a once in a generation QB can't seem to hit the broadside of a barn with half his throws? His accuracy is VERY unimpressive so far.

[Holden89]

Yes, I think he was over hyped...but so is everyone else! Every player in the draft is over hyped. The problem is, it gets fans thinking it's going to start from day 1. Very few players come into the league and just light it up.

The reason Cam Newton and now RG3 have been able to is because they're so different from the usual QB. Look at Cam now, people know what to do, and he's nothin special. I fully expect the same thing to hit RG3 next year.

Luck struggles with accuracy at times, I know. It surprises me as well. The deep balls don't bother me, we knew he didn't have a great deep ball (or should have known) going into the draft. I'm just surprised that the short and medium passes are so off sometimes.

All in all, Luck is still a rookie, and I still think the future is very bright with him.

I have to say...I think everyone would be fine with how Luck was playing if RG3 wasn't so ahead of the curve this year. You have to remember the Redskins traded UP to get that 2nd pick. They weren't that bad of a team last year. Certainly not as bad as the Colts. Don't get caught up on how well RG3 is playing, and just worry about us...

[ColtsPacersfan]

Totally agree it takes time. He will be fine.

[Floydian]

Do we have access to posts from Manning's first year?

I know the Star forums are gone and that was probably the most popular forum back then.

By this time in Manning's first year we were 0-5.

I'm sure people were screaming to bring Harbaugh back.

Calling him over-rated / over-hyped and asking for Jack Trudeau to step in (was he the backup back then?)

Just sayin!

Joe

[ColtsPacersfan]

Do we have access to posts from Manning's first year?

I know the Star forums are gone and that was probably the most popular forum back then.

By this time in Manning's first year we were 0-5.

I'm sure people were screaming to bring Harbaugh back.

Calling him over-rated / over-hyped and asking for Jack Trudeau to step in (was he the backup back then?)

Just sayin!

Joe

Agreed!!!!

[FastStarts]

Do we have access to posts from Manning's first year?

I know the Star forums are gone and that was probably the most popular forum back then.

By this time in Manning's first year we were 0-5.

I'm sure people were screaming to bring Harbaugh back.

Calling him over-rated / over-hyped and asking for Jack Trudeau to step in (was he the backup back then?)

Just sayin!

Joe

Give this man a medal, please!

[House]

Do we have access to posts from Manning's first year?

I know the Star forums are gone and that was probably the most popular forum back then.

By this time in Manning's first year we were 0-5.

I'm sure people were screaming to bring Harbaugh back.

Calling him over-rated / over-hyped and asking for Jack Trudeau to step in (was he the backup back then?)

Just sayin!

Joe

Hyup.

We live in a "gotta have it now" society.

Doesn't matter that he's a rookie, and that historically (with exceptions) rookies don't start their first year. Doesn't matter that our O-line, which we complained about nonstop for the last 3-4 years, can't establish consistent protection or a running attack. Doesnt matter that we have a D that has consistently been our weakest link for a decade.

It seems people actually expected Andrew Luck, a rookie QB, to coverup all our glaring flaws and instantly be amazing.

So to answer the original question. No. I don't think Andrew was too hyped. He's everything as advertised in my opinion. I think some fans took that hype to mean immediately he would be as good as they say.

Most of the praise I heard referred to Luck as the greatest "prospect" they had ever seen. The word "prospect"implies development is still needed.

I hope these threads exist in 3 years when Luck has us as a 10 win teams