Barkley/Luck comparison

[Duck24]

Kind of a basic question but one I've been pondering while debating which is better. Both are obviously ungodly talented but Barkley has 10X the help with other talented players. So question is, if Barkley was on Stanford and Luck was on USC, how would each team fare? This takes nothing away from Barkley who we know is talented and can play ball but I have trouble believing that if he had Stanford's talent at WR/RB, he would have Stanford at #6. On the other hand, if Luck was at USC and was throwing to Woods, Lee and the rest of those 5* skill players...he would have had the Heisman locked up in October and USC (if they weren't on sanctions) would easily be undefeated and headed to the natty. Let the debate commence!

[Dr.Plompy]

When Owusu went down with that last concussion, ESPN talked about how losing an "elite" reciever like Owusu would affect the team and Luck in particular. That should tell you all you need to know. Owusu is a good reciever, but he's certainly not elite. The point is Luck made him look that way. You put Andrew Luck at any school and he's a force to be reconed with, regardless of whether the team around him is playing at that same level.

[Duck07]

Kind of a basic question but one I've been pondering while debating which is better. Both are obviously ungodly talented but Barkley has 10X the help with other talented players. So question is, if Barkley was on Stanford and Luck was on USC, how would each team fare? This takes nothing away from Barkley who we know is talented and can play ball but I have trouble believing that if he had Stanford's talent at WR/RB, he would have Stanford at #6. On the other hand, if Luck was at USC and was throwing to Woods, Lee and the rest of those 5* skill players...he would have had the Heisman locked up in October and USC (if they weren't on sanctions) would easily be undefeated and headed to the natty. Let the debate commence!

Well, if USC isn't on sanctions they would have been taken a lot more seriously this season, even with the early season struggles. Another difficult aspect is that so much of these quarterbacks have been ingrained into their particular systems. Luck is in a Pro Run offense whereas Barkley is in a Pro Pass offense. Both excel at doing the things needed for each style, but as you mentioned, the difference is in the TE and WR spots and that's what changes the style of offense. Basically, they each play to their team strength's. You don't see Luck go deep all the time because its not available just like you don't see Barkley check down unless its a last resort. So, if either QB had been brought up in the opposite system, I think they basically run everything the same and results pretty much the same, although I can't speculate on QB/team dynamics. Certainly, the love for Andrew has a lot more to do with career than season success (and thats not necessarily wrong) but if Andrew was in SC's style of play, we'd be hearing even more about him and conversely we'd be talking about Barkley's high-IQ to make the right play rather than the flashy play at Stanford.

[wheaton4prez]

Stanford has been pulling in pretty good recruiting classes over the last 4-5 years. Luck is surrounded by a top 25 class. Also, he has benefitted from one of the better coaches in the game in Harbaugh. While USC is working with a coach with a pretty bad record historically and NCAA restrictions. So, I don't buy that Luck is being held down compared to Barkley.

The Luck kool-aid is strong. People don't want to recognize it. But, Barkley is the better over-all QB. Luck is a better runner. But, doesn't pass deep as well. This will become apparent in the NFL where deep passing is a necessity in most if not all schemes being run.

(It brings me no joy to admit this given that Barkley is far more annoying than Luck.)

[duckgrad99]

Honestly, I have been more impressed with Barkley than Luck as a qb. At the same time, I don't care for Barkley. I like the way Luck carries himself, doesn't do any smack talking, etc. Barkley is a cocky SOB, typical of a USC grad/player under Kiffin.

[OreDucks01284]

Give Luck With 2 WR type players like woods and Lee, then there will be no difference comparisonbetween barkley and luck, stanford would be better overall team right there.

[wheaton4prez]

Give Barkley a coach like Harbaugh and an Owusu and he would make Luck look like Brock Mannion.

[nehalem]

Just got the feeling that Barkley stays for his senior year.

[alabamaduck]

Just got the feeling that Barkley stays for his senior year.

Me too...I think he'd like a shot at playing in a BCS game

[Boom]

They're both really good

But I think there is good reason why Luck is considered the #1 pick... and is often considered the biggest can't miss prospect since John Elway.


And yes... Luck has some talent on his team, but it's nothing to what Barkley is currently playing with.

[TheMaehlMan]

Barkley is overrated in my opinion. He's good, but not great and after his performance against Oregon people are in-love with him. When Barkley gets pressure, he consistently throws off of his back foot, and that is a disturbing trend. Of course, we could not get any pressure on Barkley after a little bit into the game, so this wasn't a factor. I also have to question how he would perform without great wide receivers, because he locks on way too much. Good college quarterback, but my assumption is that he will not be all that great in the NFL..

I'm sure people will disagree with me, and I realize that I kind of veered off the concept of this thread.

[Boom]

I actually think Foles could be a better NFL QB than Barkley

[maxduck]

I actually think Foles could be a better NFL QB than Barkley

I agree. I'm not sure Barkley has the mobility to succeed and he doesn't perform well after he gets hit a couple times. Of course Oregon barely laid a hand on him this year so he performed like an all pro Hall of Fame candidate. His two previous games against the Ducks he got rattled.

[UofDuck]

Just got the feeling that Barkley stays for his senior year.

Could, but look at Bradford and Luck, both had hoped the same thing and stayed to no avail. Part of getting to a national championship is Luck (no pun intended). On top of being a great team, everything has to go right and bounces to go your way. When they do, bingo, but more often then not, they don't. I wonder when the last team who started number 1 in the polls finished number 1? This year it was Oklahoma and...

[nehalem]

Just got the feeling that Barkley stays for his senior year.

Could, but look at Bradford and Luck, both had hoped the same thing and stayed to no avail. Part of getting to a national championship is Luck (no pun intended). On top of being a great team, everything has to go right and bounces to go your way. When they do, bingo, but more often then not, they don't. I wonder when the last team who started number 1 in the polls finished number 1? This year it was Oklahoma and...

All very true. But I think he has a "messiah" complex. He wants to be at the helm when "he" navigates the children of troy out of the bowl-ban-desert, back to bowl prominence. He's factoring the weapons they have returning, a weak PAC12 south and his not being the number 1 QB taken(debatebly not even the 1st round), in his decision.