subject: Will The Cardinals Have Any Luck This Season? [print this page] It seems that the Stanford Cardinals have hinged their success for the 2010 football conference games on quarterback Andrew Luck.
Andrew Luck must have taken from his own father who used to be a quarterback at West Virginia. Much of Andrew's style he got from his dad who was later drafted and proceeded to play as NFL quarterback for the Houston Oilers. During high school Andrew was a choice pick and a favorite of athletic recruiters. After months of deciding, he eventually cast his lot with the Stanford Cardinals. He played a very good game during his first year and was subsequently given the position of starting quarterback. He had competed for that honor with Tavita Pritchard and became, on that account, the second athlete of Stanford win that distinction during his freshman year.
2010, however may well be his last collegiate season but in Coach Jim Harbaugh's opinion leaving the team for an NFL draft need not be Andrew's only option. He plans to discuss the matter at length with Luck after the 2010 games. It is apparent that the coach will try his best to come at a compromise resolution to that eventuality.
The Stanford Cardinals' victory over USC and Oregon last year was largely to the credit of Luck. However, Andrew injured one of his fingers and had to be operated on before the team played their championship bout. They eventually lost it.
He threw 2,575 yards in 2009. Of his 288 attempts 162 passes got through and only 4 were intercepted. That impressive record is not enough for Andrew because of his drive for perfection. He knows where he can still improve and is determined to work on those areas. The fact that he was working under the shadow of Toby Gerhart for some time, allowed him to learn from him while developing his own style.
His own unique playing style is gradually realizing itself. In the absence of Gerhart who switched to the Minnesota Vikings, Andrew has proven himself of being capable to lead the team. Being a perfectionist, he would much rather hear criticism than praise and he spends much time identifying his wrong moves after every game is over.
Andrew has all the qualities that are needed to play a winning game. He has strength in his arm and hands, fast and controlled speed, smartness and the potential for leadership that his teem gained advantage from during the last season of games. His experience has made him more professional at the end of the year when he became even faster, more powerful and wiser. At present, he would like to gain more of that power and speed as well as to sharpen his decision-making ability.
This year's spring training game was not perfect but it was an improvement over last year's. This year, Coach Jim Harbaugh and the rest of his teammates are pinning their hopes on Andrew to make a repeat and improve on what he did in 2009. He has been called the best quarterback in the country by the coach and Andrew is just about ready to be included among the ranks of the team's best quarterbacks.
