Why I Don’t Believe in Michael Vick
By Alan Schechter
Jul 24, 2014; Cortland, NY, USA; New York Jets quarterback
Michael Vick(1) looks on during training camp at SUNY Cortland. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports
Anyone who reads this blog consistently knows that I am not in favor of Michael Vick being here. Granted, it is a highly debatable topic. My feeling has nothing to do with his off the field problems. The fact that Vick has changed his life, and frankly, is admirable. I am not one of those fans that believes he has no right to be in the league.
Michael Vick should not be on the Jets because he doesn’t have it anymore, and aside for a couple of seasons, wasn’t as good of a quarterback as everyone thinks. The numbers prove it.
First let me give you his passing stats for his career:
Passing
First of all, look at his touchdown passes. Only two times did he throw more than 20 touchdown passes, once for the Falcons and once for the Eagles. Twice! That’s over an 11 year career. Furthermore, twice is only once more than Mark Sanchez! Mark, over four healthy seasons, did it once.
Look at how many TD’s Vick threw in those seasons. 20 and 21 respectively. Those numbers never beat the best season of……Mark Sanchez! Mark, in his best year, threw for 26 touchdowns.
I thought Vick was great?? What happened?
Vick fans might come back to me by saying, “You can’t compare the two, Vick runs way more than Mark ever did.” OK, let’s include rushing scores in the offering. In his best season, Michael Vick accounted for 30 touchdowns total. In his best season, Mark Sanchez accounted for 32. So, about that……
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Some would say that he is a winner. Is he? Michael Vick had one season where his team went 11-4 in his starts, and one year his team went 8-3. Every other season, Vick was never better than 8-6-1. Again, two seasons only. Out of eleven. The 11-4 propelled him to a career in Atlanta that was 10 over .500, but his years in Philly? When he was so great under our current offensive coordinator? Michael Vick was right at .500.
This is the “special” athlete that is Michael Vick?
Don’t forget the fact that Vick isn’t durable anymore. Ever since he left the Falcons for Philadelphia, between injuries and sitting on the bench, Michael Vick hasn’t started a full season. Especially in later years, Michael has been hurt all the time.
He may not have thrown as many interceptions as our former quarterback, but he HAS been a turnover machine over the last few years. After 2010 when Vick tossed 21 TD’s against six interceptions, Vick never had a better ratio of TD’s to INT’s than 18-14. Four touchdowns more than interceptions, that’s it. This is the guy that was supposedly so great in the Mornhinweg system.
And, in a league where 60% completion percentage is the standard, Vick only achieved that feat once, in 11 seasons.
That is why Michael Vick can not be the guy to lead this team. He is just not that good, and I don’t believe he ever was.