Indianapolis Colts - Fantasy News

Andrew Luck 2017 Fantasy Projections

by Mike Rose

8/10/17

NFL

Indianapolis Colts

Andrew Luck

Indianapolis Colts QB1 Andrew Luck has been one of the more productive signal-callers since entering the league back in 2012. Up to this point, he’s thrown for just over 19,000 yards and 132 touchdowns, routinely ranking as a top 10 fantasy quarterback. He has yet to compete in a full regular season slate the last two years, however, due to what’s been a horrendous offensive line. But that won’t be too much of an issue at Dober with players only concerned with the week ahead.

Why Andrew Luck Will Be A 2017 Fantasy Football Stud

Luck played in 15 games last season, throwing for 4,240 yards with a 31:13 TD/INT ratio. His 7.8 yards per passing attempt were a career high, as was his 63.5 completion percentage. There’s no question that he has the skills to be one of the top gunslingers in the league, and with most of his toys back to play with from last season, another big year looks to be in store.

The Colts only ran the ball 41.2 percent of the time last season. That number underscores head coach Chuck Pagano’s desire for a focused aerial offensive attack, and newly anointed offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski should be happy to oblige. How could he not with ample targets in T.Y. Hilton, Donte Moncrief, Phillip Dorsett and newcomer Kamar Aiken at his disposal? Indy passed the ball nearly 60 percent of the time last season, so the more opportunities Luck has to sling it, the more opportunities he’ll have to rack up some serious DFPs.

In division play last year, Luck tallied no less than 20 fantasy points in the six games played against the Titans, Jaguars and Texans. Jacksonville and Houston ranked amongst the top six in pass defense, yet Luck went out and gouged them for an average of 23.8 fantasy points. He’ll put forth a dud on occasion, but for all intents and purposes, Luck is just about as match-up proof as it gets.

Why Andrew Luck Will Be A 2017 Fantasy Football Bust

While it was fully understandable to see the Colts go out and add a bunch of players on the defensive side of the ball with the unit ranked No. 30 and 22 in yards and points allowed, respectively, not much was done to shore up their deficiencies along the offensive line. Indianapolis allowed its quarterbacks to get sacked a whopping 44 times last season.

Of course, Luck felt the brunt of it. The more hits he takes moving forward, the more of a chance there is that he either plays hurt or misses games altogether. That is one of the main factors fantasy players are forced to deal with whenever deciding to back him in season-long or weekly formats. He’s already questionable for Week 1 due to offseason shoulder surgery, so if the O-Line remains leaky, he’ll likely be running for his life or absorbing big hits once again.

As good as Luck has been through his first five seasons in the league, he’s shown a penchant for turning the ball over, too. He tossed 13 interceptions a year ago and has thrown a total of 68 in his 70 games at the NFL level. That’s almost the equivalent of one per game, and that’s simply not good enough for a player considered to be one of the best at his position. He must shore his game up in that department if he’s truly to be considered one of the game’s elite.