NFL: ESPN analyst Merril Hoge compares the qualities of QB standouts Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III. Watch more videos like this at www.espnamerica.com
Merril is one of the best analysts and he is one of the best predictors of talent. There is no way that he could have predicted the ACL tear and the firing of Shanahan and the complete unrest right now in Washington. RGIII did have a better rookie year than Luck, but he won 1 less game.
jon, great post .....the only time Hoge was off ....Luck is going to HOF ...RG 3 Will be outta of the league in 3yrs ..injuries are part of the game but rg3 is so over-rated !
Bro honestly, meril is amazing evaluator and the QB is the HARDEST one ur gonna miss. But he has some crazy hits on dudes tht were like consensus 1st rounder tht he wouldn’t even touch
I don't think Merril was that far off here. He was talking about their physical abilities and what he saw on the field, but he also did take a step back and said that their mental capabilities would be crucial in deciding which QB should go first. He even explicitly said that ASSUMING those intangibles are equal, he would go RGIII. Now, you could disagree with him either way, but he didn't say something THAT stupid. RGIII was sensational in his first season, but he crumbled under Gruden, injuries and the pressure. It simply turns out that mentally, RGIII is weak, his intangibles are not very strong. With all of that being said, even after the first season I, like many others, thought that Luck would be better, he simply commanded that offense better, he showed higher ceiling. However, remember that Luck vs RGIII was a legitimate debate once and that Merril wasn't that much out of line to say this, even though I think he was a little wrong. This is still a guy who predicted Manziel's demise, who was one of the few proponents for Mack over Clowney.. I know I'm still interested in hearing his opinion on NFL prospects.
looking back at this Merril isn't wrong - yet. the difference is from the eyebrows up. Luck is a professional, RGIII is still an amateur (who just happens to get paid). RGIII was successful at Baylor, largely due to raw physical ability and his work ethic is formed by that attitude. Luck is the son of a professional QB, he had instilled in him from a very young age the work ethic of a true professional. Luck gets it - RGIII still needs to learn it (same with Manziel, and guys like Leaf or J. Russell didn't learn it in time). being a pro in this context doesn't just mean getting paid, being a pro means working tirelessly to further your talent, not just relying on it.
Hoge is still right...He just forget the MOST important category, which DURABILITY! Talent means nothing if you cannot stay on the field. RG3 is better than A. Luck, but durability beats everything else.
I agree, But RG3 had one injury on a fluke play. How does that all of a sudden not make him durable? Tom Brady Tore his knee up, took a year off, got better and has been back on top since. Let's not write the kid off so soon. I also believe him and the rest of the team fell victim to an old arrogant head coach thats's not in touch with how the game is played today. Luck has had the benefit of structure with the Colts, and an overall better roster.
Great point of view, example! I just figured since that was his second major knee operation, his durability is now legitimately questionable. He should have not rush the #Week1 campaign. We shall see how he bounces back, now that he is actually healthy, and Shanahan is gone.
RG3 also has more talent than Manning/Brady/brees. Talent doesn't mean shit at qb. And by talent i'm assuming you mean athleticism/arm strenghth etc. Bc Rg3 might have that but doesn't have the head Luck has. RG3 can't go through his progressions to save his life. The read option is the wildcat (Even though I'd say read option is better and more effect, but not a year after year offense)defenses have mostly figured it out. All of RG3 stats were from the read option and Alfred morris. RG3 can't play QB straight up.
Stanley Askew Ha better team? hahah. How many of Lucks players were hurt last year? How bad was his o-line? you people and your excuses for rg3. Say whatever you want, but its a 100% if Luck was on the skins none of those problems with coaches would have happened. RG3 is RG me. The guy is an average QB. Anyone that watches any of his games knows that. Go back to the 2012 Saints vs Skins game (it's on youtube) and that sums up RG3. He killed it that game, but it was all bc of the read option creating wide open receivers. Ds have figured it out and unless he can improve on his progressions he's going to be out of the league. Luck is head and shoulders above Rg3 and always was.
+martyc909 There is no comparison between the two. Luck's problem is he doesn't have an O-Line and the Colt's D is terrible. He's the only reason they went all the way to the AFCCG a couple years back and you see how absolutely terrible they are without him. It's Manning part 2. Have a superstar...put shit around him for years and years. Seriously the Colts don't deserve Andrew Luck.
In terms of his breakdown, Hoge is actually correct. However, he underestimates how much of a factor Luck's superior "decision making" is. It basically trumps all the physical and statistical advantages that RG3 has.
To your point, Merril's been preaching more and more about the important of decision making since. Maybe he saw how guys like Luck turned out and realized how important it was.
This was a good projection of these guys. Going into 2014-15, the 3rd season for these two QB's, you can tell that Luck had the better NFL prep in college. RG3 had a college friendly, Pistol Spread offense, but that doesn't translate well to the NFL. Luck throws a ton of INTs. RG3 struggles to go through progressions. Both guys have huge upsides.
Judah Prescott yeah all those teams (49ers, broncos, seahawks) last year were terrible. lol RG3 ain't half the QB of Luck, Wilson, shit even Cam. ha get the hell outta here. oh by the way luck leading league in tds and yards. enough said.
Merril Hoge wasted 120 hours of his life being caught up by RG3 putting up numbers in a gimmick offense lmao. There's a reason why everyone else thought Luck was leagues better than RG3 coming out; heres a couple: better accuracy, ran a pro-style offense, smart opportunistic runner, knew how to slide, better mechanics, could read NFL defenses, audibles effectively, learns quickly, and most importantly... DIDN'T TEAR HIS ACL IN COLLEGE!
Clearly you didn't watch RG3s rookie season. He won ROTY over luck. Shanahan single handedly destroyed his career. He was objectively for their rookie season, better than luck in EVERY category. Armchair analyst
@@ts9271not true at all. Once RG3 got hurt dude you can tell he played scared , he seemed to afraid to throw a football and run it , plus dude was eating hits . Shanahan built a good offense around him but RG3 just wasn’t really being himself and that’s what got him out of his elite column
Luck is better than Russel Wilson. Wilson is still incredible but Luck is a future aaron rodgers or peyton. I cant remember the colts record that he tied this season but i think it was like the number of games with 3 or more passing TD's in a season and he tied Peytons record. Think of all those crazy years Peyton had with Wayne and Harrison, putting up points like its nothing, and Luck comes in a ties a record like that in his 3rd year? Thats amazing.
Jermaine Miller To be fair to Russell, he doesnt turn the ball over and can still put up points despite having no real weapons to throw to. Hes proven that even more this year after losing Rice, Percy and Tate. Hes an extremely good decision maker, choosing the right times to use his feet vs his arm. Hes definitely a unique talent, just not as good as Luck.
+Cj Buford by "scouting" you mean studying idiotic tv pundits and regurgitating their claptrap? Robert Griffen wasn't any better than Nick Florence or Bryce Petty, they actually exceeded his stats against slightly tougher comp in the same exact system and school. If Griffen was white, he'd be called a system QB, since he's black he's the best prospect ever. BTW Griffen has the reputation for "accuracy" based on the passing accuracy stat, he has this simply because he never throws the ball away and will run out of bounds for a loss rather than throw it away, this inflates his accuracy stat.
I gotta give props to Merril Hoge for not being stereotypical and actually watching RG3's game and conceding equal IQ, rather than treating Luck as some vastly smarter guy because he's white. Both guys are intelligent enough to adapt and make good decisions. The only thing though, after seeing both, it seems that RG3 has a confidence advantage
Honestly RG3 was better than Luck their first year. In my opinion had RG3 not gotten hurt I think the Redskins would not have gone through the turmoil they have gone through the last two years. RG3 has never looked the same since his injury. I think Luck is an amazing talent, but RG3 getting injured ruined his career. He looks slower and his movement is just not the same. Pretty sad.
Kimmy Starr But the thing is, in that first year, the Redskins basically shaped their offense around RG3 where he was basically playing the same style that he did in college. Meanwhile, Luck had to learn to throw a lot of long passes as opposed to his college style due to Bruce Arians' philosophies. While RG3 looked better, Luck was learning much more throughout that one year. Also the kind of offense that RG3 played in that made him look good also proved to be quite detrimental to his health as well.
+Baba Yaga yeah, luck can actually throw from the pocket and prefers to do that first. not to mention how big he is as a person. that helps when getting roughed up. rg3 on the other hand was hurt in college and hes a qb whos skill set is his ability to run around. thats just looking for trouble in the nfl. anything can happen in the nfl when it comes to injury but a running qbs dont last. when these two were going to be drafted i thought the colts should go with luck because i thought rg3 was fragile and now look at where we are today.
epic fail. Which guy ran a pro style offense, had free reign to audible, had the total respect of his teammates, was humble, was smarter, had a far stronger, more durable body? Also notice there has been zero drop off at Baylor since Griffin, in fact they have won more and scored more since he left. That system creates monster stats. Luck creates wins (Andrew that is)
god your stupid i guess if your the reason that your team has a chance to win is because your a loser even with a torn shoulder,broken ribs and a laceration was still better then rg3
i'm a Redskins fan and even i admit that Luck is better, BUT it's still early in their careers and RG3 has the ability to improve and i think both him and Luck will. Luck though has Peyton like ability with Elway like mobility which is scary and why i had and still have him ranked over my favorite team's QB.
Luck is just more intelligent than RG3. RG3 got a better raw talent than Luck, but in this 2 last season Luck has been a lot better than RG3. Still it is early in their careers.
it's real earlier. both have intelligence though admittedly Luck is more intelligent. RG3 has a stronger arm, they both have accuracy, but i think Luck's is a tad bit better. RG3 needs to work on decision making (mainly sliding and getting down).
i didnt say Luck was a "tad" better, i said his ACCURACY is a "tad" better. where Luck has RG3 beat is intelligence, RG3 is smart, but Luck is a genius who knows how to QB a pro style offense like it's simple as ABCs and that's something RG3 is working on. i always said and always will say that Luck's better than RG3, but again, RG3 has potential to be great...but for RG3 it will take more time since he never played a pro style offense like Luck has.
Just goes to show that evaluating talent from college to the pros is always guesswork. When you get it right you look like a genius and when you get it wrong everyone forgets about it. Heck, some of the best NFL players didn't even go in the first round. Luck was ultimately better than RGIII in every category. To be fair, RGIII wasn't bad and had a successful rookie season that was marred by a knee injury. But that also proved how much of his early success was his ability to run. Luck was a generational talent that could elevate a bad team around him. RGIII, injury or not, was never going to be that good.
the colts wanted to changed their mind but they were stuck because of all the hype they gave him at the beginning of last season when manning was out causing colts fans like me to look forward to luck coming as if he were a savior. after griffin denied that meeting with the colts it added on to the fact that fans and everyone else were already set on who they wanted so we had no choice. the colts couldnt afford to disappoint after a terrible season like last yr.
There's nothing wrong with this analysis looking back. But RG3's decision-making is jeopardizing his career. He is more accurate than Luck, but he tries to do too much and gets burnt too often in the process. Let's not forget Griffin still had a much better rookie season, when he wasn't dealing with injuries.
Accuracy and all those numbers in rookie year 100% due to read option. Watch the skins vs. saints game his rookie year (it's on RU-vid). rg3 blew them out, but it was all due to the read option. With that run threat the receivers were wide open. 2nd year, the defenses got film on him. Idc if he's a 1000% he will never duplicate his rookie numbers. And his rookie year wasn't even that much better. Luck threw from the pocket with a terrible line and a much worse team. Luck will throw bad int from time to time, but year to year he gets better. Rg3 never was or will be better than Luck and that's just fact.
RG3 makes better decisions. Luck has more experience - not decision making. Experience in a NFL system vs actually decision making ability is different.
Cause of Hodge getting Johnny Football sucking right and Mack over Clowney right we act like he’s a football genius. He’s actually far from it. This point shows that plus when GB drafted Brian Brohm in 2008 he said he would take Brohm over Aaron Rodgers how’d that work out? 😆
He's right & I don't wanna see RG3 in the NFC East....he's nothin like Vick he's more like Aaron Rogers... Stop trying to compare him to Michael Vick & I love Vick
He was ultimately wrong, but the process that Hoge took took to reach his decisions in his assessment wasn’t. Player evaluation isn’t an exact science.
RG would've been better if he didn't get drafted by the skins... Gotta be mature to be a superstar in the DMV, if not the media will destroy your thought process. Kaep will be better than LUCK, RG3, Wilson, and Cam
ChamberAthletics 1000 comedians out of work right now an you come hear for an audition? I mean what you said was funny, but more in the Larry the cable guy kind of stupid way.
Hey Hodge how's it looking now?? LMFAO!!!!!!! RG3 should never be mention in the same breath as Luck ever again! RG3 won't be in the league in 3 years!
