Back in this post I made what seemed, to me anyway, the fairly obvious point that Michael Vick’s potential future success would not involve play at quarterback. Well, in checking in at ESPN periodically it appears that the Eagles are bound and determined to make me eat crow. Apparently, he is practicing as QB and looks to be McNabb’s backup. My immediate reaction to this was… are they mad?
Let’s be straght- Vick’s success as a QB pre-prison term was based on his feet. His arm, while strong, was not nearly accurate enough nor consistent enough to carry a team. As a runner, he probably had about 5 seasons where his feet would be an edge to rely on, of which 2 of them were used(by my count) by the time he was sent to prison. After that, the majority of high-caliber defenses were going to be quite capable of neutralizing his scrambling. As I seem to recall, Tampa Bay was able to do it as he was rising to prominence and making a name for himself as a scrambler. My point is that to win the big games against the best teams, he was going to have to be capable of beating teams consistently with his arm.
Now, he’s missed 2 seasons due to prison. That’s 2 years of onfield training he has lost. That’s 2 years of conditioning he has lost. That’s 2 years of routine and evolution he has lost. He was, at best, a mediocre passing talent. There is no way he can make up the time. His legs are not going to be capable of carrying him consistently. Perhaps, as his passing abilities improved, his legs would have continued to make him dangerous and difficult to gameplan for, but they were never going to be a long term path to NFL success. His arm HAD to develop. The Eagles O-line is not one of the greatest units in the league, IMHO, so he won’t be able to count on world class protection. Plus, he’s got Donovan McNabb in front of him- so his number of reps are going to be limited to non-existent.
So, in the face of all of these observations I have one question.
What am I missing? Because by my scorecard, he has no hope whatsoever as a QB in the NFL anymore.