During the entirety of the NFL preseason this year, all eyes were on Andrew Luck. The young quarterback was hyped up for being the next NFL MVP. He was supposed to do great things for the Indianapolis Colts and have a flawless season.
And then Week #1 came and the Buffalo Bills tore him apart. It wasn’t a great start to a season that everyone was looking forward to. Bad games happen, but usually not so bad and not so early.
Sign up to Play Daily Fantasy Football at Fan Duel
Perhaps the even bigger surprise from the Colts-Bills game was how well new Buffalo QB Tyrod Taylor played. He had good reports coming out of preseason, but very few people expected him to suddenly be a top 10 NFL QB. It took the Colts and a lot of fans completely by surprise.
Still, the question about Luck remains: is he going to have the season that everyone has predicted for him? There’s no doubt that he’s a talented quarterback. He’s very athletic and has a great arm. But that doesn’t mean that he will be a top player. Three weeks into the season might be a little early to start this analysis, but it’s definitely not too early to look at what evidence we have before us already.
For now, let’s ignore week one and look at the next two games Luck played in. In week #2, the Colts faced the New York Jets and lost, 20-7. Luck played awful in this game, earning himself a QB Rating of only 52.8. The two big reasons for this were his 3 interceptions and a completion rate of only 56.8 percent. He only had 1 touchdown pass this game. In week #3, he fared better, showing that he is capable of playing well. The Colts beat the Tennessee Titans, 35-33. Luck’s completion rate went up to 60.0 percent, he threw 2 touchdowns, and his QB Rating was a respectable 82.6. Still not great, but a noticeable improvement. His interception number went down to 2, as well.
This weekend, the Colts go up against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Luck is said to have a sore shoulder, but is still probable to play. Jacksonville has struggled, but it’s pretty obvious that Luck is not playing at MVP level at this point in the season. Both teams are 1-2, although Indianapolis is a 9.5 point favorite according to Vegas odds makers. The only team Jacksonville has beaten is the Miami Dolphins. However, they did lose to two strong teams: the Carolina Panthers and the New England Patriots. Both are better teams than Buffalo, which indicates that Jacksonville could conceivably have a chance against the Colts. With the home field advantage on their side, this isn’t likely, but it is a small probability. Jacksonville’s defense has been pretty bad lately, and this could be a good opportunity for the Colts’ to finally show what they are capable of doing.
The x-factor is Andrew Luck. He’s playing some of the worst football of his career right now. If he can play at the level he’s capable of, Indy should win. If he plays like he has been, it will be a close game. Either way, it’s not yet a smart choice to include him on your daily fantasy football rosters. He’s still expensive and hasn’t shown that he’s worth the price yet. Hopefully he will prove this assessment wrong, but it’s never a smart choice to take a risk on a player that hasn’t shown that he’s worth the price that the daily fantasy sports sites are asking for him. Even if it is potential MVP Andrew Luck.
Photo Credit goes to.
