1st round QBs in recent history (2 of 29)

And we're back! After more than 2 months I'm continuing my mini segment on 1st round Quarterbacks. Number One thing I just want to get out of the way right now is this:

I apologize for stopping the segment and then not doing anything for so long. If anyone is interested/demands an explanation for the long time in between posts I can explain myself in the comments section.

So, in case you have forgotten what I was supposed to be doing or if you are just new to the site here is the link to the very first post where I explain what this segment is about. If you're too lazy/important/busy/Tre9er to follow the link here is a recap:

I want to know what classifies a guy as a 1st round quarterback. So I'm going back in time (oooh) in recent history (2000-2009) and looking at the quarterbacks that were picked in the first round during that time span.

The guy we will be looking at today is possibly the most intriguing quarterback prospect in the history of the NFL Draft. This guy should create a lot of interesting discussion. I'm talking about Michael Vick

Michael Vick played for the Virginia Tech Hokies from 1999-2000 (he was redshirted in 1998). In his first year starting as a redshirt freshman he led his team to an 11-0 record and an appearance in the Sugar bowl. That same year he also finished 3rd in the Heisman Trophy race, which was the closest a freshman had ever come. Virginia Tech's record with Michael Vick starting stands at 21-0 (thanks to 10fortech for verifying).

As we all know, Michael Vick may have been the most athletically gifted player to ever play quarterback at the college level. But I'm sure many of you have wondered "Just how fast was he?" Well, allow your buddy chikmagnet to deliver...Unofficially Michael Vick once ran a 4.25 in the 40 yard dash before his redshirt sophmore year at Virginia Tech. (He posted a "slower" time of 4.38 in a rookie mini-camp after he was drafted). Another thing I want to put out there: Tim Tebow can't jump higher than Michael Vick. Vick had his vertical leap measured at 40 1/2 inches at a spring practice in his first year at Virginia Tech.

So now lets get into the numbers. A quick look at Michael Vick's college statistics will leave many of you baffled. But not because they're amazing, instead it will be because of how "meh" they look. In his first year he only attempted 153 passes! (he ran 110 times). His second and final year was even more pedestrian as he had only 8 touchdowns to his 6 interceptions. But it gets worse: his completion percentage was never above 60%in either of his two years at Virginia Tech.

At this point I have to take a moment and be fair to Michael. He was hurt several times throughout his collegiate career so that most definitely contributed to his poor numbers. Not only that, Virgina Tech suffered mightily whenever Michael was inactive.

So how in the world does a 6ft tall, 210 lb, redshirt freshman with attitude concerns who is coming off an 8TD/6INT year go No.1 overall???

Potential.

Even though Michael Vick was undersized, inexperienced, and didn't play at such a high level, many still saw him as the man who was going to revolutionize the QB position in the NFL because of his unbelievable physical tools. This was a guy that could throw a football as hard and far as John Elway, elude defenders like Bary Sanders, and run as fast as Randy Moss in open space.

As we all know, the Falcons traded up to the No.1 spot to select Michael Vick and gave him a huge contract with something like $15 Million in guarantees.

Before we move onto the NFL part of the segment let me give you some quotes/mock drafts from 2000:

Here is a mock put together before the San Deigo/Atlanta trade that still has Michael Vick going No.1 overall. The author calls him "A faster version of Steve McNair"

Here is Mel Kipper's mock. He doesn't really give us any insight though. He just says Vick has a lot of upside.

Here is a mock after the San Diego/Atlanta trade. The author talks about Vick's contract demands and why he believes that's why San Diego traded the pick away.

So how did Michael Vick do in the NFL?

Luckily, he had Dan Reeves coaching him so his elite physical skills were used quite well. He never was much of a passer in Atlanta but he did manage to take his Falcons to the NFC Championship and ran for over 1,000 yards in a single season.

We will ignore his tenure with the Eagles for now because they are not the team that drafted him.

So what do you guys say? Did he give the Falcons good return on their investment? I want to say that he did. He brought success to the franchise and while his tenure there was cut short by legal issues he still gave Atlanta 6 good years.

To close out the post we'll take a look at a video of Michael Vick while he was playing for Virginia Tech (see if you can spot why I chose this video....)

and his career stats while at Virginia Tech: