Andrew Luck stunned an unsuspecting Twitter and television viewing audience with a near perfect performance in his NFL debut Sunday morning. The No. 1 overall pick of the 2012 NFL draft looked like a seasoned pro in leading the Indianapolis Colts to three first half touchdown scoring drives against the St. Louis Rams.
Luck looked poised in the pocket, delivered the ball on time, threw with tremendous accuracy and looked extremely calm leading his team prior to the snap. In short, there was definitely a Peyton Manning feel to his performance on Sunday.
Of course this was just one game and we cannot put too much stock into it. After all, Ryan Leaf destroyed the San Francisco 49ers in his initial preseason game in 1998 for the tune of 150 plus passing yards and two touchdown scoring drives.
It has to be taken with a grain of salt.
That being said, you have to be impressed by the way Luck performed. For many, including myself who watched him play weekly at Stanford, this didn't come as much of a surprise. Luck was a NFL caliber starting quarterback in each of his final two seasons in Palo Alto.
What Luck did on Sunday was definitely impressive. He seemed to give the Colts skill position players more confidence on the football field and made them look much better than they really are. The touchdown pass to Austin Collie is a prime example of this. We, as fans of specific teams, look for this type of leadership on the football field, but rarely see it. Luck was able to show that in his first preseason game just a couple weeks after signing his rookie contract.
What does this mean in terms of his fantasy value?
Not a whole lot in my opinion. Andrew Luck was going to be a QB2 heading into the 2012 fantasy football season. He might jump the likes of Joe Flacco, Josh Freeman and even Matt Schaub if this performance continues throughout the duration of the preseason.
ESPN has Luck as the No. 24 overall fantasy quarterback heading into draft season. He is listed behind Matt Flynn, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Sam Bradford and Carson Palmer, all of whom I would seriously consider taking Luck over.
His performance on Sunday coupled with that we have heard during training camp leads me to believe that Luck will be a QB1, among the top 12 players at that position, when the regular season draws to an end in late December.
So, if your picking up a reliably good starter in your draft you should definitely consider Luck as a surprising option at QB2. This doesn't even take into account dynasty leagues, where he would probably be considered a first-round pick.