A few years back we all heard the talk about the possible competition between Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III for best young quarterbacks of the future. Luck has always been the favorite to run the town called the NFL once he got a few seasons under his belt. He is proving to be better than advertised and that is not an easy task with hyperbole running rampant in this day and age. RG3 on the other hand has been a flop and not worthy of comparison to Luck in any shape or form. Griffin did get hurt at the end of his stellar rookie year. That could be the biggest reason for his fall off, or maybe he foolishly thought the NFL would be easy since his first campaign was a success.
The 2012 QB class comparison now shifts to Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson. No other quarterback from the class of 2012 qualifies. No other young QB at all for that matter.
Luck is John Elway reincarnated. He is that good.
He is a deadly pocket passer that has as much ability to run as almost any quarterback in the NFL. He is smart enough to know when to do so however. Wilson may be the most exciting QB in all of the NFL. He may also be the easiest to root for, at least that is the case for me. I love the fact that the guy that slipped to the third round of the NFL draft has made teams rue the day they passed on the Wisconsin star.
What makes this quarterback comparison even better is the fact that they play in opposite conferences. So a matchup in a future Super Bowl is a possibility and a likely one. Manning versus Brady has been a fun rivalry over the years. Not only the games pitting the two against each other, but the stat comparisons have been fun to mull over and debate. But those two legends never had the chance to play in a Super Bowl against each other. Peyton beat Rex Grossman and lost to Russell Wilson. Brady lost to Eli not once but twice, after winning in his first three trips to the big game.
It will take more than a decade to sort out which of these young stars was the best. It may take a decade after the two wrap up their careers. They will be that close in terms of achievement unless something goes horribly wrong injury wise. Luck has more natural ability than any other QB in the world and knows how to use it. Wilson is no slouch athletically and that is clear. The possible difference could be a chip that sits on Wilson’s shoulder from being drafted so late. It would make sense in a Tom Brady sixth round pick kind of way. There is surely a burning desire that makes Wilson the hardest working player on his team and one of the most dedicated professionals in the league. Being thought of as third rate by many teams during the draft lit a fire under an already motivated athlete.
I would love to see these two guys make a Super Bowl opposite each other sooner rather than later. That would be the ultimate indicator of just who is the best field general. As I think about it more compared to the Brady and Manning battles, which Brady clearly dominated, maybe it would be better if Wilson and Luck were in the same conference. Instead of one or two shots at a Super Bowl matchup, we could get almost yearly playoff battles between these two young ballers.
Who would I take if I were starting an NFL team? First, I would wonder where the hell I got the funds to buy an NFL team. Then I would have to go with Wilson. That may sound crazy to some folks and I loveAndrew Luck. But who would have started their team with Tom Brady over Peyton Manning all those years ago?