Jaws: Vick can be top-5 passer
Ron Jaworski continued his QB countdown today, naming Michael Vick his 12th-ranked signal-caller in the NFL.
Jaws: Vick can be top-5 passer
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Ron Jaworski continued his QB countdown today, naming Michael Vick his 12th-ranked signal-caller in the NFL.
Vick landed ahead of guys like Matt Schaub (13), Matthew Stafford (14) and Cam Newton (15).
During the segment on ESPN's SportsCenter, Jaworski discussed Vick's running ability and how it hurts him at times as a passer.
"The issue I have always had with Vick has been his willingness to run, to play the position outside of the pocket, outside of the structure of the offense," Jaworski said. "There’s no question he’ll always make plays, but he also leaves throws on the field."
Jaws then showed a play against the Buffalo Bills where Vick took off to run, despite having a clean pocket from which to throw the football. He was tackled after a short gain, while the film showed he had Jason Avant wide open in the middle of the field.
As I've written about at length here, deciding when to run will be something Vick continuously works on until his career is over. The official stats show that Vick ran 76 times for 589 yards last season. That averages out to 5.8 runs per game and 7.8 yards per attempt.
But I dug deeper into the numbers this offseason and found that 53 of those runs were improvised, meaning they occurred on plays that were originally designed for Vick to pass. So he took off to run on pass plays about 4.1 times per game. He averaged 10.2 yards per carry on those improvised runs, which is a huge number, but it's important to remember he was also sacked 23 times.
According to Jaws, Vick was hit more than 11 times per game.
"Vick always reminds me of something my former coach Dick Vermeil says: The problem with quarterbacks who can run is they run," he said.
Jaws also brought up a point that we probably don't discuss often enough: Vick has shown that he can make plays from the pocket.
"Vick has shown he is capable of throwing the ball exceptionally well from the pocket," Jaworski said. "His overall throwing skill set can be top five in the league. His objective in 2012 must be to play that way more often. It becomes an availability issue. You can’t be an elite NFL quarterback if you can’t be counted on every single week."
Earlier this week, I wrote about how Vick performed last year against different kinds of pressure. Many readers probably focused on his numbers against the blitz, but take a look at Vick's numbers when teams only rushed three: 31-for-40 for 470 yards. He was deadly (77.5 percent completions, 11.8 yards per attempt) when he felt comfortable sitting in the pocket and was not worried at all about the pass rush. Even though teams had eight defenders in coverage, Vick effectively found targets and delivered the ball accurately.
Jaws seemed confident that Vick can take another step in his development this offseason and lead the Eagles to big things in 2012.
"A more disciplined player will result in fewer turnovers," he said. "I would not be surprised if we’re getting ready to see the best year of Vick’s 10-year career."
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Again, "could be" is not "has been." This is a player that has never had back-to-back winning seasons. Since joining the Eagles he's 15-10. This upcoming season will be tough. Our o-line is worse. McCoy will be hampered by the loss of Peters. Maclin and Jackson can't create space. (Jackson really isn't the breakaway threat people think he is.) DeMeco Ryans is still coming off a terrible injury. Our second round draft pick is 5'11''. Book it: 9-7.— rubicon24- Sports writers have been saying that about Vick for ten years. Most philly fans want him see him do what they predict. Reid has been a Superbowl favorite for 13 years. I don't think eoither of them will make any of the predictions of these philly sports writers. I'm saving all the columns by them so I can send it back to them at the end of the 2012 season.
— mario1239 - Mario1239: Thanks for writing the truth. Too many homers on this website can't see the truth. Vick could not and cannot be spoken of in same breath as Eli, Brady, Brees, Rogers, Rivers, Roethlisberger, Schaub, Flacco and Peyton. There. He can't be a top-five quarterback with these guys still playing. This doesn't take into account that he's roughly on par with Romo, Ryan, Cutler, Stafford, Freeman, and Sanchez.
But, homers can't see the truth. They think this team is just a few bounces of the ball away from winning the Super Bowl. It's just sad. I don't hate. I just tell the truth.— rubicon24 - It's been tyen years since Vick came into the league. The quarterbacks are taller, The linemen are taller. The linebackers are taller and stronger and the defensive backs are no longer 5'7" The columnists won't tell you this but Vick is not even 6 foot tall. He is 5'11 1/2. The game has grown up around him and there is nothing he can do about. As for
Reid, his legacy will be Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick while other coaches got Payton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Eli Manning, Tom Brady, Ben Rothlesburger, and ten other QBs that are better. McNabb was called a great quarterback in 2009. Several months later in Washington without the great players the eagles has, he was kicked out of football. Did Reid learn his lesson? Are you kidding????????— mario1239 - hey bro its roelaidz except for my name is now defroe stupid questions get stupid answers bro thanks for deleting all my post im glad i made your job enjoyable. philly.com is a joke well the people running it are. moderator or whatever its called keep hiding behind your computer and all your fake names and delete all my comments again bro. do it!— defroe
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