Fantasy Football: Why LeSean McCoy Will Suffer Without Mike Vick

When Eagles quarterback Mike Vick was knocked out with an injury during Sunday’s game against the Washington Redskins, Philadelphia fans and fantasy football community held its collective breath.

After being named the starter in week two and going forward by Andy Reid, Vick had resurged into the spotlight and quickly become an elite fantasy quarterback. His surprisingly improved passing accuracy combined with his amazing rushing ability helped to create a high-powered fantasy offense that included running back LeSean McCoy as well as wide receivers DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin.

But with Mike Vick being knocked out of Sunday’s game, fantasy owners are beginning to panic. We saw a complete lack of a vertical passing game from Kevin Kolb in replacement of Vick, so owners of DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin are reasonably worried.

But one player who is being overlooked in this whole situation is running back LeSean McCoy.

At first glance, it would seem that an injury to a quarterback would likely turn to more touches and thus more production by the running back. But Mike Vick is a unique situation.

Not only does Vick play the position differently than any player in NFL history, but he also forces his opponents to defend him differently than they do other quarterbacks. Very few quarterbacks have the ability to take off and run for big yardage, and none of them have the speed and vision that Vick does.

With defenses being required to "spy" Vick, the running backs he plays with tend to get less attention from defenses and thus have an easier time making plays.

We’ve seen this in the past with running backs playing aside Vick during his time in Atlanta. During the entire time Vick was at quarterback, Warrick Dunn had an over four yards per carry average. When Vick left in 2007, that number instantly fell by nearly a full yard, down to just over three yards per carry.

The Falcons ranked just 14^th in the league in rushing yardage during the 2003 season, which Vick missed the majority of with an injury. Upon his return in 2004, the Falcons proceeded to lead the entire league in rushing for three straight seasons from 2004-2006 until Vick was eventually suspended. With Vick gone, the Falcons rushing attack fell to 26^th in the league in 2007.

While much of that yardage can be attributed to Vick’s rushing the ball, there is no doubting the correlation that his missing games had with the other ball-carriers, namely Warrick Dunn.

The Eagles are certainly a different team than the Falcons were when Vick left, but attention has to be paid to the lack of respect that defenses are going to have for Kevin Kolb’s rushing ability. Not having to stop Mike Vick simply makes it significantly easier for a defense to focus in on, and stop, LeSean McCoy.

Another overlooked situation from Sunday’s game was actually a rib injury to McCoy himself. While Mike Vick’s x-rays came back negative for broken ribs, McCoy actually did break a rib and continued to play through the pain. This is certainly a testament to McCoy’s toughness, but it has to be a concern going forward. Broken ribs are one of the most painful, nagging injuries that a player can have, and they make everything more difficult, including something simple as breathing.

Though McCoy was used heavily in the passing game when Kolb came into the game, much of that can be attributed to how the defense prepared for Mike Vick as opposed to Kevin Kolb. With Kolb, the vertical passing game became practically non-existent, and the short dump-off passes to McCoy and other shorter-yardage receivers became the majority of the offense. Don’t expect the San Francisco 49ers to let that happen in week 5.

Vick’s status is currently unknown as he recovers from rib cartilage damage, but with both he and McCoy currently showing up on the injury report, Philadelphia’s offense may be in some serious trouble.