RG3 and Luck Will Be Household Names For a Long Time

The 1971 NFL Draft saw quarterbacks Jim Plunkett, Archie Manning, and
Dan Pastorini selected in the first three picks. Plunkett was considered
a bust until he resurrected his career which culminated with him
winning two Super Bowl Championships with The Oakland/Los Angeles
Raiders. Manning endured countless losing seasons with The New Orleans
Saints while Pastorini took the Houston Oilers to two consecutive AFC
Championships in 1978 and 1979. The 1983 quarterback class will always
be remembered for producing three Hall of Fame quarterbacks in John
Elway, Jim Kelly, and Dan Marino while Ken O’Brien and Todd Blackledge
never panned out. In 1998, all the buzz was around Peyton Manning and
Ryan Leaf. The Colts owned the first overall selection of the draft
while The San Diego Chargers held the second selection. Colts general
manager Bill Polian wavered back and forth before deciding on Manning.
Manning became a four-time NFL Most Valuable Player in Indy while
helping The Colts win Super Bowl 41. Leaf flamed out in three
disappointing seasons in San Diego and has recently found himself on the
wrong side of the law. In 2004, all the buzz was around Eli Manning who
was taken first overall by The Chargers. The New York Giants and
Manning coveted each other which saw The Giants draft Philip Rivers and
immediately trade him to San Diego for Manning. The Pittsburgh Steelers
went on to take Ben Roethlisberger later in round one. Manning and
Roethlisberger have since combined to win four Super Bowl Titles.

Both Luck and Griffin III enter different situations. The Colts have
been accustomed to winning with Manning. In Manning’s 13 seasons with
The Colts, the team made the playoffs on 11 occasions. Manning’s absence
last year proved how valuable Manning was to his team as The Colts went
from a perennial Super Bowl contender to a team that had to scrap to
get their two victories. It wouldn’t be fair to put that much pressure
on Luck even though he earned a degree in engineering from Stanford. For
RG3, he comes into a situation where The Redskins are desperate to win.
Dan Snyder took over as owner of The ‘Skins in 1999 and the team has
only won The NFC East once. Since The Redskins last won The Super Bowl
in 1991, every other team in the division has made The Super Bowl at
least once. The only thing that has been more horrific that the constant
coaching carousel in Washington is the equally disturbing roller
coaster at quarterback. The Redskins have not had a consistent
quarterback under center since the days of Joe Theismann. Hopefully for
Washington, this trend will end with Griffin III and Redskins head coach
Mike Shanahan.

The blueprint for each player to be successful in The NFL has been laid
out. The Colts have a lineage of quarterbacks from John Unitas to Bert
Jones and to Manning. Shanahan didn’t groom Elway with The Denver
Broncos, but he provided the running game needed to help Elway win a
championship. Shanahan was on the road again as he was developing
another Pro Bowl quarterback with The Broncos in the form of Jay Cutler
until team owner Pat Bowlen fired Shanahan at the end of the 2008 season
after The Broncos blew a four-game lead to The Chargers and missed the
playoffs.
Shanahan has a quarterback who has a strong arm along with athletic ability and good football instincts in RG3.

Both Luck and RG3 have the “it” factor which has a lot to do with their
backgrounds. Luck’s father Oliver is the athletic director at West
Virginia University and he was a former quarterback with The Oilers.
Both of Griffin’s parents have military experience in The United States
Army. Luck handled intense pressure during his last year at Stanford as
the eyes of the nation were watching. Luck led The Cardinal to a record
of 11-2 while earning Pac-12 Offensive Player of The Year honors. The
pressure was on Luck because he could have left school in the previous
year as he would have been the first overall pick in The 2011 NFL Draft
to The Carolina Panthers. Luck rolled the dice and he rolled lucky seven
which is where Stanford finished in the final Associated Press rankings
for 2011. RG3 came on the scene with The Baylor Bears which saw him
pass for over 4,000 yards as earned The Heisman Trophy.

In each player’s first preseason game they impressed. Griffin III was
4-for-6 with 70 yards passing in The Redskins 7-6 victory over The
Buffalo Bills, but he looked poised in the pocket and he seemed to get a
grip of Shanahan’s offense. Luck impressed the home fans in Indy as
well. Luck went 10-for-16 as he threw for 188 yards and a pair of
touchdowns. Luck first pro pass went for a touchdown as Colts running
back Donald Brown turned a three-yard pass into a 63-yard touchdown.
Luck ran a pro-style offense at Stanford so it won’t be difficult for
him to get acclimated to The NFL.

Luck has dependable targets to throw to in Pro Bowl wide receiver Reggie
Wayne and his college teammate tight end Coby Fleener. Wayne is second
on The Colts all-time list for receiving yards with 11,708 as he only
trails Marvin Harrison. Fleener was Luck’s main target in Palo Alto.
Fleener is a hybrid as he is a H-back/tight end, but Luck always knew
how to find him in critical situations. Griffin III has former Colts
wide receiver Pierre Garcon as his main target along with tight ends
Fred Davis and Chris Cooley in The Nation’s Capitol.
 
Griffin III might have a tougher road to success being that The NFC East
is so tightly contested between The New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys,
and Philadelphia Eagles where it is tough for one team to consistently
have success. Luck plays in The AFC South where the division was
dominated by The Colts since the division was formed in 2002. The
Houston Texans won the division once while The Tennessee Titans won it
twice and The Jacksonville Jaguars have never won The AFC South. When
you think of RG3 you will think of Luck and vice versa. Not only are
Luck and RG3 seeing people purchase their jerseys like hotcakes, but
they are the new household names of The NFL.