With The First Pick In The 2012 Stampede Blue Community Mock Draft, The Indianapolis Colts Select...

Andrew Luck - QB, Stanford

Pick made by hoosierstudent:

"With the first pick in this year's NFL Draft, the Indianapolis Colts select... Andrew Luck, Quarterback, Stanford."
-Roger Goodell, 4/26/2012

It might as well be written in stone. Andrew Luck is the most lauded quarterback to enter the NFL Draft in the 21st century. He has prototypical size- 6'4, 235 pounds- and underrated athleticism. He worked for three years with former NFL quarterback and current NFL coach in Jim Harbaugh, with more control of a pro-style offense than any college quarterback has had since (ahem) Peyton Manning. He has all the intangibles as well: noted hard worker, vocal leader, high school valedictorian, Stanford graduate, charismatic, humble, durable, 3 year starter, 31 career wins.

Looking at the offense that the Colts have previously run (bear in mind that former offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen remains on the staff) while also predicting what Bruce Arians will install, Luck will lead a no-huddle, under-center offense. Arians will give Luck two run plays and one pass play. Upon reading the defense, a play will be called. This is a system he ran for three years at Stanford, audibling based on what the defense presented.

His production at Stanford was also phenomenal. In a run-first play-action offense, without a big-play threat, Luck compiled these statistics:

3500 Yards Passing
71% Completion
9 Yards Per Attempt
37 Touchdowns
10 Interceptions

Lastly, Luck is used to playing with and leading NFL-caliber talent. Stanford has 4 first-round graded players in this year's draft, in Luck, OG David Decastro, OT Jonathon Martin, and TE Coby Fleener. His transition to playing with and against NFL athletes will be very close to seamless.

Impact:

The pressure of not only starting in the hardest position in sports as a rookie, but also replacing (arguably) the greatest quarterback of all time, will be immense. Nonetheless, Andrew Luck has all the tools-both physical and mental- to excel. As a rookie, if Peyton Manning is off the Colts roster, Luck will start all 16 games with production that will look something like this:

3,750 yards passing
67% Completion
20 Touchdowns
20 Interceptions
250 yards rushing
2 Rushing Touchdowns
7 wins

More analysis:

Kiper and McShay: http://goo.gl/SBoS1
Running ability (and physicality): http://goo.gl/j1iZ8
ESPN Insider Profile: http://goo.gl/hYgfU
Downfield throwing: http://goo.gl/8bimF
Bunting breakdown: http://goo.gl/jrcIJ
2010 Season-in-review: http://goo.gl/629bf
Versus USC (high caliber defense): http://goo.gl/rP7QC
-part 2: http://goo.gl/pqNRF

Andrew Luck Scouting Report from Mocking the Draft (coming soon)

The Rams, and bigbaldruss are on the clock...