With his 18-of-23, 287 yard, 4 TD performance against Virginia Tech in Monday night's Orange Bowl, Heisman runner-up/inevitable #1 overall pick/all-around goofy bastard Andrew Luck made the statement we all expected him to make.
Now, it's time for him to make the other statement we expect him to make. That statement, of course, is that Luck is going to throw his name in the hat for this year's NFL Draft. Forget about taking a shot at the Heisman next year, Andrew. Forget about chasing a national championship. Forget about a potential NFL lockout. Your time has come, young man. Go join the big boys.
Luck's dominance of the Hokies was, as my friend Carlos put it, like watching Peyton Manning play against high school kids. Luck has all the tools to be "The Next Big Thing" in the NFL. Another year of dominating the Pac-10 is going to nothing to change that. ESPN draft expert and Mel Kiper wannabe Todd McShay has said Luck's the best QB prospect he's scouted in nearly a decade. Former Super Bowl winning QB-turned-ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer says he sees no flaws in Luck's repertoire. Jon Gruden, in a season that has seen him slurp more QBs than a Jets masseuse, nearly flooded the booth last night drooling over every Luck throw. Luck tried to play it coy in his post-game speeches, saying the typical "We'll see" and "I haven't made up my mind yet" cliches that a kid who doesn't want to let down his classmates would say. If Luck is as smart as his Stanford education would suggest, this should be a no-brainer.
Now, it's time for him to make the other statement we expect him to make. That statement, of course, is that Luck is going to throw his name in the hat for this year's NFL Draft. Forget about taking a shot at the Heisman next year, Andrew. Forget about chasing a national championship. Forget about a potential NFL lockout. Your time has come, young man. Go join the big boys.
Luck's dominance of the Hokies was, as my friend Carlos put it, like watching Peyton Manning play against high school kids. Luck has all the tools to be "The Next Big Thing" in the NFL. Another year of dominating the Pac-10 is going to nothing to change that. ESPN draft expert and Mel Kiper wannabe Todd McShay has said Luck's the best QB prospect he's scouted in nearly a decade. Former Super Bowl winning QB-turned-ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer says he sees no flaws in Luck's repertoire. Jon Gruden, in a season that has seen him slurp more QBs than a Jets masseuse, nearly flooded the booth last night drooling over every Luck throw. Luck tried to play it coy in his post-game speeches, saying the typical "We'll see" and "I haven't made up my mind yet" cliches that a kid who doesn't want to let down his classmates would say. If Luck is as smart as his Stanford education would suggest, this should be a no-brainer. 
After all, why would Luck stay? For a national championship? Chris Leak has one of those and, chances are, he'll be selling you your Big Mac when you visit Florida during your clashes with Tampa Bay. Besides, is Stanford a lock to make the BCS title game next year? Doubtful. Maybe Luck wants to end his career with a Heisman? If 2010 has taught us anything, it's that the Heisman is as good at measuring pro success as "Dancing With The Stars" is at finding the next Fred Astaire. Matt Leinart has a Heisman trophy....and he couldn't beat Derek Anderson out for a starting job. Ron Dayne has a Heisman trophy....and he couldn't pay a team to sign him. You know who doesn't have a Heisman trophy? Tom Brady. Lucky for him, there's no room for it on his trophy case because he needs a spot for the 2nd MVP he's about to win to go along with potentially his fourth Super Bowl ring. History has not been kind to quarterbacks who try to get cute and get too enamored with college life. It didn't work for Leinart, who lost millions by going from sure-shot #1 overall pick to barely missing the Top 10 by not declaring after his sensational junior year. It didn't help Brian Brohm either, who went from first round pick to a guy who just barely got drafted in Round 2(and that was only to serve as Aaron Rodgers' backup in Green Bay).
One guy who is not staying at Stanford is head coach Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh's the hottest coaching prospect out there right now and there's just no way he's going to be able to resist NFL owners throwing buckets of cash at him like the chicks on "Flavor of Love" throw the seasoned coochie at Flavor Flav. Luck pretty much said his fate is intertwined with Harbaugh's, which means the Carolina Panthers(owners of the #1 overall pick and one of a few teams with a coaching vacancy) need to back up the Brinks truck at Harbaugh's house and hope that, by hiring him to run the team, Luck will then be convinced to leave the Cardinal as well. Adding Luck and Harbaugh to the mix does more for the Panthers in terms of turning around their fortunes than adding Matt Ryan did in turning around the Atlanta Falcons. For one, Luck will be joining a team with a solid three-headed monster in the backfield in the form of running backs DeAngelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart and Mike Goodson. He'll have be throwing behind an above average offensive line led by tackles Jordan Gross and Jeff Otah and he'll be connecting on deep bombs to Steve Smith, who may be aging and in decline but is still one of the 15 best wideouts in the game. That's better than waiting a year and becoming the face of the Oakland Raiders, right, Andrew? On top of being the missing piece of a ready-made offense, Luck's arrival to Carolina gives us 10 years of potentially amazing Luck vs. Ryan/ Luck vs. Josh Freeman/ Luck vs. Drew Brees showdowns. After being forced to watch Rams-Seahawks in primetime this past Sunday, that alone should be worth starting the campaign for Luck to declare.
School's out, Andrew. You have nothing left to prove to the Lee Corsos and Kirk Herbstraits of the world. Why risk blowing out a knee or tearing a bicep by spending another year skewering the Oregon States of the world? If you're every bit as good as supposed "experts" like Gruden say you are, the time is now to strike while the iron is hot. You can be the next Matt Ryan or the next Matt Leinart.
The choice is yours.
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