Andrew Luck threw a touchdown pass on his very first throw, matching Peyton Manning from 14 years ago. You may have heard of that guy. First pick, Indianapolis Colts, college star, dad was a quarterback, all that.

Luck then went on to have a better preseason debut than Cam Newton last year, and a better first game than his predecessor in Indy. In fact, his debut was better than every first overall pick going back to Manning. (Just for fun, I listed Griffin, even though he was the second overall pick, since many viewed him as #1 overall worthy in any other year).

One game is meaningless, right? Just the preseason. Sure, anything can happen, but with the notable exception of the Couch going on to get hurt and struggle with the expansion Browns, there is some relationship. JaMarcus Russell didn’t throw a single pass in the preseason. Alex Smith wasn’t ready. Sam Bradford, who has been defined by low yards per attempt and dink and dunks, had that in his debut. Vick only threw 6 passes as the backup his rookie year, but also contributed right away as a runner.

I’d rather my top pick start like Luck than Russell, that’s for sure. This Luck guy might turn out to be pretty good.

[photo via US Presswire]