Does Andrew Luck have a case for the Pro Football Hall of Fame?

Andrew Luck is eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame next year. In assessing his case there is only one conclusion to come to: He doesn't have one. Six seasons just isn't enough time for a quarterback to develop a Hall of Fame case.

He's 90th all-time in passing yards at 23,671; 29th in passer rating at 89.5 between Chad Pennington and Matt Schaub; 72nd in touchdown passes with 171 and 57th in fourth-quarter comebacks with 16. Luck made 4 Pro Bowls, the same number as Matt Ryan, Eli Manning, Kurt Warner, George Blanda, Bart Starr and Ken Stabler; all in the Hall of Fame or with a strong case. But Kirk Cousins, Derek Carr, Tony Romo and Drew Bledsoe also made four Pro Bowls. Good quarterbacks but not Hall of Famers.

There should be no criticism of Luck's decision to retire in 2019. It's his life, his body; if he doesn't want to play football, he shouldn't. But if he had, it's entirely likely he'd have an extremely strong Hall of Fame case.

Here's how Luck compares to other quarterbacks through their first six seasons (not counting the year Luck missed in 2018):

Yards: 23,671; 4th. Peyton Manning, Patrick Mahomes and Dan Marino rank ahead of Luck.

Pro Bowls: 4; tied for 7th. Mahomes, Marino, Russell Wilson, Donovan McNabb, Johnny Unites and Norm Van Brocklin had 5.

Touchdowns: 171; third. Only Marino and Mahomes are ahead of him.

Sacks: 174; 35th. We'll save the debate that Luck's offensive lines weren't as bad as they're often accused of being for another time.

Game-winning drives: 20; 2nd. Tied with Manning and Jake Plummer, only Matt Ryan had more.

Quarterback rating: 89.5, 28th. He's tied with Marcus Mariota and Teddy Bridgewater.

Interception percentage: 2.5, tied for 33rd.

Wins: 53, tied for 12th.

No one is a lock for the Hall of Fame after six seasons as Luck's career -- especially his quarterback rating -- demonstrates but he was well on his way there. He'd likely needed to win a Super Bowl, though Philip Rivers and Matt Ryan will be testcases for that when their time comes.

So Andrew Luck isn't a Hall of Famer. But he could have been.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Andrew Luck Hall of Fame: Does the ex-Colts quarterback have a case?