Was Michael Vick a Worthy NFL Starting QB Even Before Going to Prison?

(Photo by Haraz N. Ghanbari-Pool/Getty Images)

Michael Vick’s release from prison sparked a great deal of conversation on the topic of whether he is still capable of being a starting quarterback in the NFL.  After being away from the game for two years, many see him as only a backup quarterback, Wildcat quarterback, or wide receiver at this point.

However, all the conversation about Vick after prison made me think about Vick before prison. 

Even before he left the game for two years, just what kind of NFL starting quarterback was he?  Had the Michael Vick experiment already failed before we ever even heard a single word about dog fighting?

After posting a passer rating of 81.6 and throwing twice as many touchdowns as interceptions to earn a trip to the Pro Bowl in his first year as a full-time starter in 2002, Vick’s passing regressed rather than progressed.

Vick missed most of the 2003 season due to injury.  Upon his return to health from 2004 to 2006, Vick’s interception rate climbed and his production through the air declined instead of improved—which means Vick is still waiting to have his first season with at least 3,000 passing yards. 

Vick’s passer rating fell to 78.1 in 2004, and then fell again to 73.1 in 2004 before improving somewhat to 75.7 in 2006 to perfectly match is career passer rating through six seasons in the NFL.

Now obviously there has always been a lot more to Vick’s appeal than his passing, and he did manage to rush for 902 yards in 2004 and 1,039 yards in 2006.  

However, I think it is fairly clear that Vick never developed into the passer that the Falcons had hoped he would.  After all, they traded the first- and second-round picks used by the Chargers to draft LaDainian Tomlinson and Drew Brees for the right to draft Vick first overall in the 2001 NFL Draft.

Vick’s defenders will naturally argue that the Falcons never gave Vick enough quality receivers to succeed as a passer.

That defense doesn’t quite sit right me however, knowing that Vick had a four-time Pro Bowl tight end in Alge Crumpler and that the Falcons used two first-round picks to draft wide receivers to catch passes from Vick.

Roddy White in particular has had over 80 receptions and over 1,200 yards in each of the two seasons after Vick left the team, which earned him a Pro Bowl selection in 2008.

Vick’s defenders will argue that it was just unfortunate for Vick that White did not develop into a quality wide receiver until after he was gone, making sure to mention that Vick was not at fault for White’s lack of production in his first two years in the league.

It’s certainly not uncommon for wide receivers to take some time before exploding on the stat sheet.  After all, White’s fellow 2005 NFL Draft classman Braylon Edwards didn’t break the 80 reception and 1,200 yard threshold until his third year in the league.

Roy Williams and Lee Evans, who entered the league the year before White and Edwards did, didn’t hit those marks until their third season in the league either.

As the proverbial coup de grace, Vick’s defenders will point out that Michael Jenkins’ production never really improved all that much as he only managed 50 receptions and 777 yards even with Matt Ryan throwing him passes in 2008 (compared to bests with Vick of 39 receptions in 2006 and 508 yards in 2005).

In other words, if Vick was holding his wide receivers back, why didn’t Jenkins improve significantly too?

However, to better understand the situation with the wide receivers in Atlanta before and after the whole dog fighting thing, we need to take a closer look at the career progressions of Jenkins and White.

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