Well there goes one dream for the 2011 NFL Draft. Stanford has announced today that Andrew Luck will return for his senior season according to Joe Schad. This is a really interesting move by Luck considering there is a good chance that his coach, Jim Harbaugh, will not be returning to Stanford next season. Then again, maybe he knows something the rest of us do not and Harbaugh isn't going to leave.
I am of the school of thought that it is typically a good idea for quarterbacks to play all four years in college, but Luck looks like the surest QB prospect since Peyton Manning. Now he will go through a whole season with every draft analyst alive trying to find something wrong with him. You might remember that most people thought Jake Locker would be the #1 overall pick ha he left college last season, and now he needs to really shine at the combine and at his pro day to be a first round pick.
The CBA negotiations could factor into Luck's decisions as well because if this lockout extends into the summer players could be looking at a quick turnaround from the doors being re-opened and football being played. That would hurt a rookie quarterback more than any other player because they wouldn't have the benefit of going through all of the OTAs and training camp.
The thing that really stinks for the Titans in all of this is it means they will probably be picking between QBs #4 and #5 instead of #3 and #4. There really wasn't much of a shot that the Titans were going to have a shot at Luck, but a team taking him would leave the #2 QB on the board longer which benefits all of the people that pick after the top 5.
(h/t to gramsey and STT for posting fanshots about Luck)