Theres a small minority of league insiders who believe that Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck isnt the franchise savior that most are making him out to be. Former NFL quarterback and current CBS/Showtime analyst Phil Simms appears to be a member of said minority.
I think the hype is a little too much, Simms told Adam Schein and Rich Gannon of SiriusXM NFL Radio on Tuesday. I feel bad for him in that respect. I mean, whats he going to do to match what they say he can do?
Theres a lot to him. I think his best quality, by far, is hes big and strong and hes going to be able to move and run in the NFL. Theres no question. I mean, this guy is strong. The throwing? He manages a game. I see all that.
But the one thing I dont see, I just dont see big time NFL throws. I dont care what anybody says. Ive watched a lot of him. He never takes it and rips it in there. And you can say what you want but, man, youve got to be able to crease that ball every once in a while. We see it every week in these games. Hey, he can develop it but even in the USC game, you know, hes very careful with it, guides it a lot, Rich. Thats what I see. Theres not a lot of rotation on the ball and theres not a tremendous amount of power. Not that you need to have that power arm. Im not saying youve got to have that exclusively but, man, it sure helps when you can do that because theres four or five plays a game it is about arm strength. And sometimes quarterbacks who dont have it, they pass those plays up. Why? Well, they go, I dont know if I can make that throw, so they throw it short. Thats why Im a little more reserved in my judgment than everybody else.