TallySaint

From Pro Football Weekly....




Say what you will about Michael Vick - you either love his wealth of ahtletic abilities and unconventional style or it makes your skin crawl - but he remains the one Atlanta player that gives defensive coordinators nightmares.


While Vick's inconsistency in the passing game is maddening, his ability to change a game on a single play - with his strong arm or blazing speed - makes him an elite player. Vick will never be a conventional drop-back passer like backup Matt Schaub, and when Vick tries to stay in the pocket, he struggles.


The bottom line: Vick produces victories. He is 31-19-1 as a starter in the regular season games and 2-2 in postseason. Vick's wild running style leaves him vulnerable to unnecesary injuries; he has missed at least one start each season due to injury. With Vick's injury history, the Falcons are lucky to have Schaub as their #2.


Schaub could be an NFL starter and has drawn considerable interest from other teams inquiring about his availability via trade. He has ideal size, is accurate, has pocket savvy and is athletic enough to avoid the rush. Shaub is very poised for a youngster and arguably a better fit for the Falcons' West Coast offense than Vick.


The Falcons selected DJ Shockley in the seventh round of the draft to compete with Bryan Randall for their #3 spot. Both Shockley and Randall are long-term projects who may have to develop quickly if Schaub leaves when he becomes a restricted free agent after this season.


8)

My Guardian Angel wears a hard hat.

LongTimeFan

As I said many times here on the board, Vick isn't more than an avg. QB with RB type running skills.
IMO anyway..

maximkat

LTF, I've always thought this before he even stepped into the NFL, its so bad its pretty much cliche now. the only people who don't recognize it is the staff in atlanta.

LongTimeFan

I agree...

JimBone

Well the thing about Vick is, no one wants to play against him because he is such a matchup nightmare, and he is going to win anywhere between 6 and 9 games for Atlanta. I do not see him winning more than that and getting Atlanta to a Super Bowl. The NFL has adjusted to Michael Vick and now he has got to learn to be a passer at some point.

Memnoch_TP

The staff in Atlanta surely recognizes it. The owner also realizes that #7 wins games and sells tickets, even if he doesnt win Super Bowls. All by himself he puts the Falcons on a national stage, and the Falcons ownership is surely quite content with a full stadium, lots of ESPN highlights, and lots of exposure. What team that IS NOT an annual Super Bowl contender gets the attention Atlanta does from the national media? Only thing coming to mind is Green Bay, and that is because of their legendary Quarterback.

Replace Vick and mabye you win a Super Bowl, mabye you dont. Keep Vick and win or lose, the seats are filled and #7 is on Prime Time. Not a hard call to make on what to do with Vick in my opinion.

So the Atlanta staffs knows. They know very well. They understand that they have to make due with an Eighth Back (Half a Quarterback) and go to work every day knowing that they are most certainly not being set up for success, but have to accept the consequences of failure regardless.

"Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so." -- Douglas Adams.

papz

You make some very good points there.

maximkat

They certainly have their filling of seats, highlights on espn, etc. etc. when he is playing. I wonder (and i'm not going to do the legwork on this because quite frankly, i'm too lazy) how many sell outs and highlights they get when he is on the bench.