In his first NFL game, No. 1 overall pick Andrew Luck had four turnovers as the Colts lost. Meanwhile, No. 2 overall pick Robert Griffin III had a huge game in leading the Redskins to a victory over the Saints, and was named the NFC offensive player of the week.
Clearly, that means Luck is the new Ryan Leaf and RGIII is the new Peyton Manning, right?
Not quite. Although it’s tough to resist the temptation of overreacting to the way Luck and Griffin looked in their first games, Luck told Mike Garafolo of USA Today that he hasn’t given any thought to the way Griffin played: He’s too busy thinking about the next defense he’s going to play to spend any time thinking about an offensive player he’s not going to play.
“No, honestly, that hasn’t crossed my mind. I’ve never been into creating rivalries, sort of fabricating rivalries,” Luck said. “I’m an offensive player, I worry about what the defense is doing of the team I’m playing that week. Beyond that, if you start thinking about that, at least in my mind, I’ll get in trouble and start thinking about the wrong things. So the short answer: No.”
Even though Week One didn’t go the way he wanted, Luck said he thinks it was a learning experience for him.
“I feel much more competent,” Luck said. “I’m a big believer in competence over confidence. I feel like, ‘OK, I’ve been through a game and understand the situations better, I understand how the speed is.’ So understanding that, I guess, gives me more competence.”
Luck will need to be more than just competent to be better than Griffin. But he’s right not to get caught up in comparisons. Especially after just one game.
