RG3 vs. Luck, The Debate Rages on

We have seen many a reputable source, and a few not-so-reputable sources, throw their support behind RG3 over Andrew Luck in this year's draft.  Being one of those not-so-reputable sources, I love the idea of Mike Mayock and Greg Cosell studying film and coming to the conclusion that RG3 is better.  What I don't love, however, is the real possibility that the Redskins may not end up having a chance to draft Robert Griffin III.

But, is it really that much of a possibility?  In a recent article, Jason Cole of Yahoo Sports polled 8 NFL executives, and all eight of them said they would choose Luck over RG3.  Interesting, but not necessarily surprising.

What's more interesting, however, is the reasoning behind the pick.  All of these execs highlighted the fact that Luck was the "safer" pick, and most used the word "safe" as their main justification.  While we here on 11-on-11 have discussed the Luck vs. Griffin debate, and ultimately came to the same conclusion, the responses are still somewhat shocking.

The word "safe" is definitely overused in draft circles these days, and calling any quarterback the safe pick or a safer pick seems pretty ridiculous to me.  In all honesty, one of the "safest" draft picks of all time was Tim Couch, and one of the riskiest was Cam Newton.

But as we said last week, the NFL is a business, and ultimately has to be run like one.  If you are going to make an investment, you are going to make the safer one, and it seems that execs across the board see Andrew Luck as that investment.  Whether he actually is remains to be seen.

We won't know who made the right choice for about 4 more years, but it's always fun to speculate.

For now, however, I'm siding with RG3.  We have heard many a pundit come out this week (even if Merrill Hoge was one of them) and say that RG3 is the better quarterback from a skill-set perspective.  What we haven't heard, however, is anyone saying Andrew Luck is more skilled as a quarterback.  We've heard the phrases "NFL-ready," "safe" and "smart."  But who's to say?  We know RG3's greater skill-set will be there come September, but who knows how Andrew Luck's smarts and NFL readiness will translate.  We have statistical evidence of Robert Griffin's stronger attributes, but I can't say the same about Andrew Luck's.

And while Luck may end up being the better quarterback, I really think RG3 has the better chance to excel at the next level.

Sidenote:

People love to compare Griffin to other Black quarterbacks, simply because he is Black.  But we haven't seen a Black quarterback, besides Cam Newton, with the skill-set that Robert Griffin has.  Also, people love knocking "running quarterbacks" come draft day, and people have used this argument against Robert Griffin.  "A running quarterback can never win a Super Bowl in this league."  Well, interestingly enough, Aaron Rodgers ran more times out of designed pass plays during the Packers' 2010 Super Bowl run than Robert Griffin has during his entire career at Baylor.  And Aaron Rodgers, more so than almost any other quarterback in the league, is a running quarterback.  So running quarterbacks can win Super Bowls.