All anyone can talk about is the “Suck for Luck” campaign. Between the Dolphins, the Colts and the Rams, and every other terrible team in the league right now, all you hear these days is how they are all making a pitch for Stanford pivot Andrew Luck.
It is hard to blame them considering that Luck is considered the most league ready quarterback since Peyton Manning, but the rest of the QB’s in the class must not be ignored.
So let us have a look at Mr. Landry Jones, the man under center for the Oklahoma Sooners. He is shredding apart teams in the Big 12, or whatever the conference is called these days. Jones has tossed 21 touchdowns to just seven picks thus far, and his poise in the pocket seems to be just a notch below that of Luck.
Coming out of Artesia High School in New Mexico, Jones was not the the highest rated pivot in his class. But despite being ranked behind the likes of Blaine Gabbert and Dayne Crist by Rivals, he has worked his way into the conversation as being a high first round pick.
Jones showed up on campus at Oklahoma in 2008, the year that Sam Bradford was leading the Sooners to the national championship game and winning the Heisman trophy. Who better to teach you how to prepare for the next level than the man who went first overall himself? After Bradford’s follow-up season was cut short due to a shoulder injury, Jones stepped in and took the reigns of the team. He threw for 418 yards and three scores in the 2009 Sun Bowl against Stanford, and he was immediately placed amongst the elite quarterbacks in college ball as he won the Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year.
Last year, Jones led the Sooners to another bowl victory, this time in the Fiesta Bowl over the hapless UConn Huskies, and he has continued to shred teams apart this season. He has thrown for 369 yards a game, and is completing an impresive 65% of his throws. On paper he is giving Luck a run for his money, but the scouts continue to prefer Stanford to Oklahoma when picking their franchise savior.
Landry, named after Tom Landry himself, has great size at 6-foot-4 and weighing in at 230 pounds. Perfect size and strength for a pivot at the next level. He has the arm strength to make all the throws down the field, and is playing in a spread style offense led by former Sooner Josh Heupel.
He will face a tough test this weekend, as the Sooners travel to play 10th ranked Kansas State. Despite a huge game from Jones last week (412 yards and 5 TDs), Oklahoma fell to Texas Tech and now find themselves ranked 11th in the polls. However, if they can end the season with victories over K State, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State, they could put themselves right back into the BCS talk, depending on how the ever powerful SEC finishes up the year.
Jones has developed a great rapport with wideout Ryan Broyles, who is racking up more than 120 yards a game so far this season. If the two can keep this chemistry up, there is no telling how far they could go this season as Landry prepares for the big show.
Seattle, Miami and Washington are all badly in need of a new man under center, and whoever does not win the Luck sweepstakes will be lucky to get Landry.
Will Landry bring immediate success to the field like Andy Dalton? Or will he struggle to get the ball down the field like Blaine Gabbert? That is largely a result of the team that he ends up with, but it looks as if he could end up being closer to the ginger than the Sunshine.
