The Philadelphia Eagles have turned the quarterback position
over to rookie Nick Foles for the rest of the season which leads everyone to
believe one thing: Michael Vick’s days are numbered in Philly. If that is true
then we will find out soon if Vick still has a future as a starting quarterback
in the NFL.
More than likely Vick will be playing for a new team by the
start of next season. He has too much talent for some teams to pass up.
It was much easier for most teams to pass him up when he
first attempted to make a comeback after being released from prison. Most teams
didn’t want the negative media attention that he would bring even if he were
willing to come off the bench like he did when he first arrived in Philly.
But time heals all wounds or in Vick’s case it at least
soothed them enough for more teams to take a chance on him. There are still a
lot of people who are still horrified by what he did but for the most part, the
outcry against Vick isn’t nearly as loud as it was when he first sought
re-entry into the league.
And Vick has been a model citizen during his time with the
Eagles. He has done tons of public service and has been super supportive of
Eagles’ head coach Andy Reid and the whole Eagles’ organization.
Despite his team’s struggles, Vick’s teammates have stood
behind him and Vick has been careful not to cause any drama or get in any
trouble that could undo all the work he has put into rehabbing his image.
Even losing hasn’t hurt his image like it would most people.
Although Vick isn’t the most disciplined quarterback in the league, he has been
playing behind a horrible offensive line over the past three seasons.
Most speculate that Vick could post some really great
numbers if he had an offensive line that could actually protect him. With that
in mind there will be a few teams that will look to bring Vick in if the Eagles
do decide to release him this offseason.
There are even more teams who would consider bringing Vick
in as a backup but Vick will want to go somewhere he has a chance to start. The
good news for Vick is there are a number of the teams currently sitting in the
bottom of the standings will be looking to bring in a quarterback.
And whether the Eagles cut Vick now or during the offseason
the number of teams needing a good quarterback will probably stay the same.
The
2013 Draft won’t provide as many talented quarterbacks as the past few drafts
have and of the quarterbacks that will be available, none looks impressive
enough to draft with a high first round pick.
Of course there will be some desperate team that will probably
do it anyway. More than a few coaches and general managers will lose their jobs
this season and their replacements may want to fill the quarterback position
through the draft rather than take up someone else’s retreads.
But if a few of those coaches who are currently on the hot
seat happen to keep their jobs, then they may be in win-now mode for next
season.
Someone like Romeo Crennel (Kansas City Chiefs), Leslie Frazier
(Minnesota Vikings), Ken Whisenhunt (Arizona Cardinals) or Chan Gailey (Buffalo
Bills) could see Vick as a quick fix to their current quarterback situations.
Minnesota and Buffalo wouldn’t be bad situations for Vick.
The Vikings have many of the same type of dynamic weapons that the Eagles have
and a better offensive line for him to operate behind while Vick’s arm is
strong enough to survive the adverse Buffalo weather.
He might not fair too well in Kansas City or Arizona though.
Arizona has many of the same problems along their offensive line that the
Eagles do and probably wouldn’t be willing to add a second former-Eagles’
quarterback to their roster. If Vick is smart he wouldn’t want to go there
either.
Kansas City has had problems keeping players at any position
healthy. It just doesn’t make sense to add an injury-prone quarterback to an
injury-prone team.
There is one last team that may be in the fray for Vick’s
services and that team is the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Jaguars have the league’s worst record so far this
season and will most likely be picking first in next year’s draft. Vick doesn’t
seem like he would be high up their list to replace the ineffective Blaine
Gabbert but Jaguars’ coach Mike Mularkey has some experience with a quarterback
like Vick.
Before athletic quarterbacks became all the rage, Mularkey
coached quarterback Kordell “Slash” Stewart back during his days as the
Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive coordinator.
The Steelers went 13-3 with Stewart at the helm back in 2001.
Although Vick is older and has most likely lost a step, he is still way more
talented than Stewart was.
And despite the results over the past two years in Philly,
Vick is still more capable of playing in a system than Stewart was. You can bet
that Mularkey would take a chance on Vick if it would help him to get more
production out of the Jaguars’ first pick in this year’s draft, wide receiver
Justin Blackmon.
But for now Vick is
still an Eagle and the Eagles have not expressed any desire to part ways with
their embattled quarterback. If owner Jeff Lurie does hold to his promise
though and fires head coach Andy Reid then Vick’s departure is certain to
follow.
Roosevelt Hall is an NFL Blogger for The Sport Mentalist and an NBA Blogger for The Sport Mentalist 2. He is also a Sports Reporter for Pro Sports Lives. He can be contacted at sportmentalist@yahoo.com and be sure to follow him on Twitter @sportmentalist.
Also check out these stories:
No comments:
Post a Comment