Philadelphia Eagles: 5 Ways Andy Reid Can Build Team Around Michael Vick

For Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles, the tick-tock of the proverbial clock has grown to an almost deafening roar.

Following yet another disappointing finish to a season that began with Super Bowl aspirations, patience has worn thin in Philadelphia. Despite an ever-growing chorus of calls for Andy Reid's immediate departure, team owner Jeffrey Lurie publicly granted what amounts to a one-year stay of execution for the embattled head coach. 

The message from Lurie was clear: Win now. 

Over the past five years, the Eagles have been tantalizingly close yet infuriatingly far from bringing home the first Lombardi Trophy in franchise history. Each year has begun with the same "Super Bowl or bust" mantra and ended with the same "we just need to make a few tweaks" excuse. 

With team ownership making it clear that there will be no time for tweaks beyond 2012 if his team disappoints, Reid is about to embark on what will be the most important offseason of his head coaching career. Luckily for him, the cupboard is anything but bare.

Michael Vick is the most physically gifted quarterback ever to play the game. With a cannon for a left arm and game-breaking speed that allows him to make something out of nothing when a play breaks down, he is certainly the type of talent most any coach would like to have headed into a make-or-break year.

Time no longer being an ally of Andy Reid, he must specifically build his team around the talents of the man he chose to be his franchise QB over Kevin Kolb in 2010 in order to give his team the best possible chance to succeed in 2012.

Here are five ways that the Eagles should build their team around Michael Vick to find success.

Improve the Offensive Line

When Andy Reid first became head coach of the Eagles in 1999, he made it very clear publicly that he believed a quality offensive line was the most important cornerstone upon which any good team is built. For much of his tenure in Philadelphia, Reid practiced what he preached, and rarely did anyone question the collective quality and ability of an Eagles offensive line.

However, through a series of poor draft choices and misguided free-agent signings, the Eagles' offensive line was a serious question mark headed into the 2011 season. Granted, under the tutelage of esteemed offensive line coach Howard Mudd, the unit was able to avoid the doomsday scenarios that many had predicted headed into the year, but nevertheless, there exists plenty of room for improvement.

With Michael Vick at quarterback, a quality offensive line serves purpose in several important ways.

First and foremost, as Eagles fans bore witness to in 2011, Vick's health is essential to this team's success. While there is little the offensive line can do to prevent injury to Vick once he breaks the pocket, his chance of being injured while scrambling is reduced if the number of times he is forced to scramble is reduced. By simply maintaining a better pocket for Vick to throw from, thereby discouraging him from running, the offensive line will help to keep their quarterback healthy.

In a less direct manner, an improved offensive line would also help to solve what became a major issue for Vick and the Eagles' offense in 2011: the number of turnovers committed. Vick was often criticized in 2011 for the number of interceptions he had thrown, but, upon closer examination, the turnovers were not entirely his fault. Often, pressure along the leaky offensive line forced errant or ill-timed throws that, given more time to deliver, would have been less likely to result in turnovers. Like any quarterback, Vick is going to throw an interception now and then, but his numbers in 2011 were not indicative of a lack of decision-making ability or accuracy as much as they were of a quarterback under constant pressure.

Keeping Michael Vick healthy and allowing him to assess the field more clearly will only help to improve his play. Having a quarterback like Vick can be both a blessing and a curse in that his abilities can make a mediocre offensive line seem good as he can turn would-be sacks into gains. This is fools' gold for coaches too focused on statistics to see what is plain to the naked eye: An improved offensive line would make Vick and the Eagles' offense hard to stop.

Place a Stronger Emphasis on the Running Game

In 2011, the Eagles were among the league's leaders in rushing, but those numbers were extremely deceiving. 

First, Michael Vick's uncanny scrambling ability helped to inflate the team's rushing average, and second, LeSean McCoy broke off some huge runs late in games when the outcome was no longer in doubt. Beyond the production provided by those two, the Eagles' run offense was often largely ineffective. Opposing defenses knew that the Eagles' first choice was to throw the ball, so they set their blitz packages and coverage strategies accordingly.

The Eagles must focus on either signing or drafting an effective, punishing short-yardage back this offseason to help their offense reach its full potential with Vick under center. 

By doing that, and emphasizing the run with their play-calling, the Eagles could essentially kill two birds with one stone. They would be schematically protecting Vick by taking the ball out of his hands and limiting the number of hits he takes while also forcing defenses to keep more defenders in the box, therefore opening up passing lanes and limiting the coverage Vick must throw against.

As it currently exists, the Eagles' offense is already tough to stop. Imagine if, when Vick drops back to throw, he sees single coverage all over the field on a regular basis. With the talent the Eagles have at receiver, this offense could be nearly unstoppable.

To be clear, this is in no way an indictment of LeSean McCoy, who is quickly becoming one of the best, most versatile backs in the NFL. By establishing the ability to be a rugged, grind-it-out running team when need be, it would add another dimension to the Eagles' offense that, given what it is already capable of in the passing game and given what Vick can do with his legs when the situation calls, few defenses in the NFL would have the personnel to defend against.

Improve the Middle of the Defensive Backfield

In 2011, the Eagles' defense was plagued by total incompetence at the middle linebacker and safety positions. While it was not for lack of effort—players like Jamar Chaney and Brian Rolle give all they can on the field—too many players in the defensive backfield were being asked to play out of position.

This offseason, Andy Reid must make acquiring a quality middle linebacker and safety a top priority. By focusing on improving those positions, the Eagles will become more stout against both the run and opposing tight ends, two means by which many opposing offenses won the ball-control battle against the Birds in 2011.

The Eagles already boast one of the most intimidating pass-rush tandems in the NFL in Jason Babin and Trent Cole, as well as what is on paper one of the best cornerback trios in NFL history, with Nnamdi Asomugha, Asante Samuel and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Despite the clear matchup advantages those players provide, the Eagles' defense struggled mightily at times in 2011 as opposing offenses focused on beating the Birds' weaknesses instead of trying to go toe-to-toe with their strengths.

If the Eagles are able to shore up the middle of their defensive backfield this offseason, they will become more effective against the run and force opposing offenses to play against their strengths. Given the talent the Eagles have along the defensive line and on the outside, they should find themselves victorious in these battles more often than not.

Aside from the obvious advantages an improved defense provides, there are ancillary advantages that will serve to help fortify the team around Michael Vick.

Winning the time of possession battle by forcing opposing offenses to go to the air will help take the pressure off of the Eagles' offense to come up with big play after big play which, in turn, will allow the Eagles to further protect Vick from injury. With Vick at the helm, the Eagles will always have big-play capability, but the less they need to rely on it, the more comfortable of a game pace the Eagles can afford Vick, which will also help to cut down on mistakes and turnovers.

Emphasize Speed at Receiver (Read: Keep DeSean!)

Since midway through Donovan McNabb's tenure as starting quarterback in Philadelphia, Andy Reid has seemed to be enamored with speed at receiver. Never has that emphasis on speed been more important than with Michael Vick at quarterback.

Vick's biggest asset is his ability to make a defense pay for failing to constantly cover every corner of the field with his speed. If a defense is too focused on covering receivers deep downfield, Vick is capable of gaining 10 yards and a first down in the blink of an eye, before any downfield defender even turns to see what has happened.

In order to fully take advantage of this ability, the Eagles must continue to place a high premium on speedy receivers who can stretch the field. It is for this reason that it is imperative that the Eagles not let DeSean Jackson walk this offseason without ensuring that they have a capable, similarly-talented replacement available.

With speed on the outside, the Eagles can attack a defense in two ways at once and force defensive coordinators to pick their poison. If they choose to focus on not allowing Vick to beat them with his legs, they run the risk of being burned for long pass plays with regularity. If, conversely, they choose to focus on taking away the deep ball, they run the risk of being nickel-and-dime'd to death by Vick and LeSean McCoy out of the backfield. 

Neither option is better than the other as the Eagles, with Vick, are equally adept at excelling in both ways. If the Eagles lose even just a few steps of speed on the outside, they suddenly become much more easy to defend and much less effective on the offensive side of the ball.

Get in on the Hybrid Tight End Craze

Over the last few years, the NFL has seen an explosion of fast, predominantly pass-catching tight ends. Since Antonio Gates burst onto the scene almost a decade ago, teams have caught on to just how valuable such an athlete at tight end can be.

Not coincidentally, over that same time period, the Eagles have struggled as a goal-line offense as they still carry just one predominantly pass-catching tight end. 

While Brent Celek is certainly a good player who has earned the wings on his helmet, he does not have the game-breaking speed that this new wave of tight ends possesses. That is certainly not to say he needs to go. As the New England Patriots proved in 2011, having two effective, pass-catching tight ends can make an offense extremely versatile.

A fast, pass-catching tight end would give the Eagles a consistent weapon on offense who would complement the current offensive roster very well and also help to cure the Eagles' red zone woes.

Aside from the lack of a consistent power-running game, the Eagles' biggest problem in the red zone is that the close quarters effectively take away the Eagles' biggest advantage as an offense, which is its speed. Starting wide receivers Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson thrive on open space and, while Jason Avant and Celek have both proven themselves to be serviceable short-yardage receivers, two viable, consistent options in the red zone passing game are simply not enough.

Acquiring a second pass-catching tight end would help to open up the red zone offense as the result of a simple numbers game. The more matchups Vick has to choose from, the more likely it is that he can find and exploit a mismatch. 

A second pass-catching tight end would also help in the open-field offense as it again creates the potential for mismatches. In today's NFL, the team that can create and exploit the most mismatches generally wins. If, as an offense, you can consistently force a linebacker into coverage on a tight end with receiver-type speed, you will instantly have a distinct advantage over the defense. Combine that advantage with all of the other advantages the Eagles offense already owns over the defenses trying to stop it and you will have a Super Bowl contender.

Trent Cole said last week that the Eagles were "inches away" from finding themselves in the same position as the rival Giants, who are still celebrating their second Super Bowl win in five years just two hours north on I-95. Cole wasn't far off in his assessment of his team. The Eagles again stand at the doorstep of greatness, and if Andy Reid makes these five simple moves, that ticker-tape parade could easily be headed down Broad Street instead of Broadway come next February.