Andrew Luck vs. Peyton Manning

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Its hard to overstate the greatness of Andrew Luck.

Stanford plays Colorado this weekend, and the Buffaloes head coach, Jon Embree, said he wished Luck had just entered the draft last year. But since he didnt, heres the silver lining Embree gave to his football team:

For those of you that will not get an opportunity to play professional football, youre going to get an opportunity to see what its like going against Peyton Manning.

Embree probably thought he was giving Luck the highest praise possible, but he was engaging in understatement. Luck is better than Peyton Manning -- hes a better college quarterback, and hes a better NFL prospect. Hes Manning-plus.

Heres how Luck compares to Manning: Hes big like Peyton. Hes accurate like Peyton. And now hes calling his own plays during two-minute drills just like Peyton.

PREVIEW: Colorado vs. No. 7 Stanford

But heres how he surpasses Manning: He can actually move. Hes a mobile quarterback. He can avoid a sack, he can scramble, and he can lower his shoulder and bounce defenders like Tim Tebow or Josh Freeman or Cam Newton.

He also can throw when hes running. Sometimes he stands in the pocket and throws soft-touch passes like Joe Montana used to, and sometimes he rolls out of the pocket and fires bullets on the run off one leg like Aaron Rodgers does every week.

He looks like a shortstop firing to first base after scooping up a weak ground ball. Its the most athletic throw in football, and Luck makes it look easy.

He can also catch passes, as we saw last week. He caught a ball over his shoulder one-handed next to the sideline, and it was such a difficult catch, he might be the only player on the Stanford football team who could make the play.

Andrew Luck is a complete football player. He can execute everything on the field that a player could possibly execute -- a block, a play call, a throw, a catch, a run, anything. He could be a first-round pick at tight end or linebacker.

The most accurate label for Luck might be The Greatest NFL Quarterback Prospect of All-Time, but thats probably an understatement, too.

Freelance writer Grant Cohn is a regular contributor to CSNBayArea.com.

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