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 Friday, December 13, 2002
No one compares to Vick -- college or pro
By Gary Danielson
Special to BCSfootball.com
I'm not at all surprised Michael Vick has decided to go pro. With his learning curve at Virginia Tech, he has done about all he can do in Blacksburg. He needs to take the next step in becoming a professional quarterback and he needs to do it now. The only way he can do that is by entering the NFL Draft.
|  | | Michael Vick helped Virginia Tech reach the National Championship Game as a freshman in 1999. |
His only other alternative, and this might have been a bit distasteful, would have been to approach head coach Frank Beamer and say, "Yes, I want to win. Yes I want the school to do well, and I want to be the team guy, but in the same instance I want to improve my skills for what I want to be, which is a pro quarterback."
It would be extremely difficult for Vick to walk up to Beamer and ask him to change the entire system, considering Virginia Tech can be a successful team running quarterback draws and sprint-outs.
However, Vick needs to throw the ball 30 to 40 times a game like Chris Weinke or Josh Heupel, make mistakes and learn from them. He can grow from that type of an offensive system.
Vick must look around him and view the NFL game with the impression that he's as good, if not better than Aaron Brooks or Shaun King. And part of the mindset of a competitive athlete is the desire to be surrounded by players of equal or better caliber. Vick has that mindset. Between the XFL and the NFL, he's sitting in a perfect spot to make a lot of money.
I've talked to several different scouts, and outside of Michigan's Drew Henson, Vick is the No. 1 prospect at quarterback. Henson is not coming out. This is not a great year for pro-potential quarterbacks.
The team that drafts Michael has to be innovative and forward-thinking. Teams should not try to turn him into a Peyton Manning drop-back, study the defense sort of signal caller. Vick needs to have the freedom to use his instincts. He has the potential to revolutionize the position in the same degree that Lawrence Taylor and Randy Moss changed their respective positions.
Vick will be a hybrid, and can bring a whole new dimension to the quarterback position in the National Football League. After all, look at the last eight who were in the playoffs. Neither of them looked bad, but they didn't look good, either. The game is such that quarterbacks can not pick away at defenses anymore. When the money is on the line, these defenses get the best of them.
This opens up the opportunity for a player like Vick to redefine the game -- to make it more of an 11-on-11 type of game -- where the quarterback is involved in many more facets of the offense than simply handing it off, throwing it or using play action.
Daunte Culpepper is close. Donovan McNabb is right there too, but probably has more of a background as a passer. Vick is a whole new breed and teams will have to assess their entire offenses to figure out how to use him. He has unlimited potential if someone is willing to let him make mistakes.
Vick doesn't fit into any mold that I'm aware of, and compares to no one I've ever seen. His strength and running ability are second to none. Vick's throwing skills are rudimentary, but his other skills so far outweigh them that he must seriously be considered as one of the top two or three picks in the draft.
Gary Danielson is an analyst for ABC Sports coverage of college football and is a regular contributor to BCSfootball.com.
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