Why Vick Improves the Eagles
Posted by Damon Hatheway | Posted in NFL | Posted: August 15, 2009 at 11:54 am
6
When Tom Brady finally stepped on the field Thursday night, his recovery from season-ending knee surgery was no longer the top story of the NFL preseason. Instead, the signing of a former first overall pick and Pro Bowl quarterback who could completely alter the outlook of the league this season had taken its place. On August 14, Michael Vick signed with the Philadelphia Eagles, ending a thirty-two month absence from the NFL. Vick, 27, signed a one-year deal worth $1.6 million with a team option for a second year. He can be fully reinstated on October 18 for the Eagles’ week six game against the Oakland Raiders. He will miss the Eagles’ first five regular season games, but will return a week before a crucial stretch of games in which the Eagles will face each of their NFC East rivals.
All is well in the City of Brotherly Love – for now anyway. And, speaking of brotherly love, Donovan McNabb apparently had a large part in convincing Andy Reid and the Eagles management to sign Vick. This sounds eerily familiar. Do you remember when McNabb last pleaded with the Eagles to bring in a superstar with questionable character? Do you remember how that worked out? The last thing Eagles fans need is for Michael Vick to be the second coming of Terrell Owens. But Vick inherits an entirely different situation in Philadelphia. For one thing, Vick has a lot to prove to the Lincoln Financial faithful. While T.O. came in as a potential savior of the franchise, thus far Eagles fans have largely shown displeasure toward their newest acquisition. Second, Vick appears ready to reconstruct his image both on and off the field and perhaps most importantly has lacked the demonstrative on-field outbursts that made Owens so unpopular.
All logistical concerns aside, what did the Eagles receive when they signed Michael Vick? Assuming that Vick can get himself into football shape, the Eagles just added another weapon to an offense already loaded with talent. If, and this is a big if, Vick comes back and shows some of the electric talent that made him one of the best players in the NFL early in his career, the Eagles offense will be a nightmare for opposing defenses. While Vick will probably see no more than about five to ten touches a game, his value will be felt long before he steps on the playing field. Team defenses prepping for the Eagles will spend hours each week planning for Vick alone. So what is it that makes Vick so dangerous? He and the Eagles can thank the Miami Dolphins for that. The wildcat formation may have just provided Vick a job in the NFL this year. Even in a copycat league, no other team ran the wildcat at the same rate as the Miami Dolphins (9.4% of all plays from scrimmage).
With Michael Vick at the helm, however, the Eagles can add an entirely new element to the formation. As both LeSean McCoy and DeSean Jackson are versed in the formation and the Eagles have other burners like Jeremy Maclin and Brian Westbrook, Eagles fans may be treated to the spread offense and not the wildcat. This past season the Dolphins ran 91 plays out of the wildcat, 85 of which were designed running plays. In the spread offense, if Michael Vick is able to find his feet (and his arm) the Eagles will effectively have two completely different offensive playbooks for defenses to prepare for. Because unlike the Dolphins run-oriented wildcat offense, Vick’s ability to make plays with both his arm and his feet will keep defenses on their heels. If the Eagles are able to utilize Vick’s arsenal of weapons effectively, they will pass at a much higher rate than the 08-09 Dolphins and the wildcat will have given birth to the spread offense in the NFL.
Without a doubt Michael Vick has a long road ahead of him before he can begin to make a difference for this football team on the field. Questions about his character remain and there are a lot of unhappy people in Philadelphia. But if the Eagles can put the pieces of the puzzle together they have the potential to make the wildcat formation look pedestrian in comparison. One thing is for certain: for Eagles fans, week six has never been so important.
Loading ...
The point that I would contend with here that you said Vick was one of the best player’s in the NFL. Vick may have been the most fun player to watch in football, but he really never was better than an average QB.
Although his passing stats were that of an average quarterback, Vick’s offensive production measured in yards and touchdowns, whether it be by means of passing or rushing, was in fact elite. As an example I would like to bring the 2006 season (Vick’s last before suspension) to your attention. In 2006 Vick threw for 2,474 yards and rushed for 1,039, thus accumulating 3,513 total yards. He also threw for 20 touchdowns and rushed for another 2, bringing his total to 22. Conversely, Tom Brady, who at this time was considered an elite NFL quarterback, threw for 3,529 yards and rushed for 102, thus accumulating 3,631 total yards. He also threw for 24 touchdowns and rushed for none. These stats show that Brady (who at the time had a much stronger supporting offensive cast) provided his offense with only 100 more yards and 2 touchdowns. These stats show that Vick was not only fun to watch, but also part of an elite group quarterbacks, even though he gained about one-third of his yardage with his feet rather than his arm.
Judging a quarterback purely on yardage means nothing. While it is very hard to quantify their value, if you expand the stats just a little bit you’ll see that Vick’s completion percentage was 52.6 percent, with a QB rating of 75.7. That was Vick’s best season and there’s nothing elite about those numbers.
Brady you will note, was 61.8 and 87.9, respectively. And we all know that was nothing compared to his 2007 season.
I would have to agree with you that based solely on passing stats, Vick is truly just average. However, I have to back Damon’s statement that Vick was indeed one the best player’s in the NFL. Vick is an offensive player, and offensive players (excluding the o-line and blocking tight ends and full backs) are judged mostly on their ability to gain yardage, and score touchdowns, thus providing the team with a better shot to win. As shown in the above example, Vick’s stats are comparable to those of the “elite” offensive players in the NFL. As for Brady’s freak 2007 season, I believe that it was really just the product of having Randy Moss, as well as a solid offensive line, and a strong supporting cast of Wes Welker and Laurence Maroney (who has since been plagued by injuries). Recent history has shown that quarterbacks that play with Randy Moss experience a massive boost in their statistics. Prime examples being Kerry Collins, Daunte Culpepper, and even Matt Cassel. Collins threw 20 touchdowns in 15 games in 2005, when his career average per season is 12.4. Meanwhile, Culpepper threw nearly 92.5% of his touchdowns while throwing to Moss in Minnesota, even though he only played about 76% of his career there. The final piece of evidence is Cassel, and his career stats really speak for themselves. I understand that this theory may be slightly farfetched, however I would like to hear your thoughts as to why Brady exploded for 50 touchdowns when he never eclipsed 28 in prior seasons.
I think ultimately your both right. Vick was not an elite quarterback. He struggled with his accuracy every time he stepped on the field and ultimately ended up winning games in Atlanta because his feet saved his arm.
However, I still believe that his weaknesses as a quarterback were more than compensated for by the plays he made with his feet. His dual threat ability became a nightmare for opposing defenses and it did truly make him one of the best players in the NFL even if he was only a mediocre quarterback with a strong arm.
Ultimately a mediocre quarterback who rushes for over 1000 yards in a season and averages over 8 yards a carry while doing so has to be considered an elite player in the NFL.
Brady was already considered an elite quarterback, even though he did not put up monstrous numbers until 2007, because he won three rings in four years. This is the stat that really matters most.
I would say that Vick was on the verge of becoming an elite quarterback after the 2004 season when he led the Falcons to one game from the Super Bowl. However, he failed to lead the Falcons back the playoffs the following two seasons. His erratic play and fumble-itis (he fumbled once every ten times he touched the ball, on average), proved to hurt the Falcons almost as much as his feet helped them.
Though he made electrifying plays and was a major offensive threat, Vick ultimately never delivered for the Falcons later in his career when they needed him to lead them to victory. Someone who does not have a proven track record for delivering in the clutch cannot be considered an elite quarterback.