Well Vick always seemed to be running for his life in Philly and he had trouble staying on the field in any season he played there. I think it's a big issue but one that Vick has covered up by being as mobile as he is.
Vick has always chosen to run versus stepping up in the pocket and being elusive in the backfield, I guess that can be construed as running for your life if you choose to, but it also has a lot to do with him starting out in the league as a runner and spending his latter years only doing it when he got into trouble. And it probably doesn't help that he played 6 games a year against the NFCE.
Excellent post. While I am not of the opinion that it is a certainty that Vick, if allowed to start all season, would not last due to injury, I can certainly understand the historical record's relevance. So maybe we need to get used to the scenario where Smith and Vick will both see some starts, the question being how many for each. But as for Smith, you have crystallized the way Smith Fans make a conclusion I would characterize as based on a binary choice, that being that Smith MUST start and play the regular season (they never quite say how much, but imply the whole year) in order to allow the CS to assess him. But why is that? Won't the CS see in the first couple of weeks of camp whether he's stepped it up any? I would think by the first or second pre-season game the CS, if they have their eyes open, will have a very good idea of the answer to that question. Because it says here that if Smith shows up at camp and has not shown significant improvement, I highly doubt you will see it as the regular season progresses. But... even if Vick ends up being the starting Qb, a spectrum of scenarios will play out, ranging from great success with Vick (in which case, why shouldn't Vick continue to start???) to a mix of good and bad to poor performances or, of course, loss of game time due to injury. Depending on where the Jets end up on that spectrum, even if Smith does not win the starting job in camp, he may have opportunities to redeem himself in the regular season. Perhaps several opportunities. Imo it is not at all necessary for the Jets to start Smith all year in order to know by next season how they feel about him on a going forward basis. Yes, in a Perfect World of Smith Testing, we could put aside the overall desire to win as many games as possible. Or as in 13 there was no clear candidate to replace him and perform better (although not to digress I still wonder what Simms could have done with more preparation and support). We are not living in a Perfect World for Smith Testing.
Imo, Marty is going to be the key here. When Vick first went to Philly his carries dropped significantly. He stayed in the pocket more, and his Qb ratings went up significantly. Sure he still ran the ball plenty, more than most. But Vick himself knows he has kept getting injured. While it is no assurance that pocket passers will not get injured, the odds do go down, and there will still be opportunities to run for Vick. But I think the Johnson signing, and perhaps the Amaro pick, set things up nicely for Vick to have options that will allow him to cut down further on his runs. Which may well allow him to stay on the field, even perhaps all season.
Not really. Leadership in the locker room doesn't require all pro talent. Look at Trent Dilfer. He was a great leader and his departure hurt the team, but he was not a good QB.
Rex built Revis. Rex, says a lot of things, sometimes players respond. Geno is stronger and faster. Vick is more experienced, possibly smarter player. I think Geno has some intangibles though and physical ability that will win him the starting position. The kid can run; running qbs are the the trend in the league. Vick's days of running are behind him. Didn't think Geno would be handed the reigns again. Not surprised or shocked by Rex's comment. The best player should start.
Let's be serious, Ray Lewis was the true heart and voice of that locker room. One of the greatest defenses of all time. Dilfer made players that post-season so he didn't royally fuck it up for anyone else
It does have some implications, but you definitely do not have the offensive tackles switch sides. First of all, obviously it changes which side is the blind side, but that does not require a swap of tackles. A high percentage of our plays are running plays, and more often than not they go strong side. Our strong side, along with most teams, is primarily the right side, where we line up a TE next to the run blocking tackle. You don't want to change the scheme of your entire running offense by switching the tackles, because that part absolutely does not matter to a left handed QB. The "blindside" tackle got it's name because you want him to be able to protect the QB as he looks down the field to pass, and righty QB's generally can't see the backside as well as the front side (obvious I know). The thing you have to remember is that a QB is supposed to have a timer in their head, a basic spacial feeling of when their pocket is imploding. It is not solely the responsibility of the blindside tackle to keep him clean. Now, teams have schemed defensively to take advantage of the blindside by placing their fastest, most elusive pass rusher there, in hopes of beating the QB's internal timer. Thus "blindside" tackles, or tackles that are very quick and have great balance to fight off speedy pass-rushers became a premium in the league. There are two main implications of this. 1. Teams are able to put those generally smaller, speedy pass rusher players on that side because it is the weak side. In 4-3 alignments they are interchangeably called rush ends, backside ends, or weak side ends. They are generally not stout against run plays in their direction. In 3-4 fronts that player is called the rush-linebacker or weak side linebacker, and again are generally not stout vs the run. 2. If a team thought they could just mess with a lefty QB by swapping their pass rushing End/LB to the opposite side, they will be in trouble. Vick would just audible into a strong side run play and the RT and TE would bowl over the weaker DE time after time after time. It does have minor implications, like which direction can the QB successfully throw on the move, and which direction should receivers go to extend the play, but nothing so drastic as a swap of tackles.
Geno may well be stronger but I respectfully disagree that he is the faster of the two, even at this latter stage of Vick's career. Last season, Smith totaled 366 yds on 72 attempts with an average of 5.1 YPC and 22.9 yds per game with a longest run of 32 yards whereas Vick, in only 6 or 7 games managed to accumulate a total of 306 YDS on only 36 attempts with an average of 8.5 YPC and 43.7 YDS per/game (almost double) with a longest run of 61 yards (again almost double). Interestingly, Smith averaged 4.5 runs per game last year compared to Vick who was slightly higher with 5.1 runs....
Interesting stuff. I assume you isolated the games Vick started and played all or most of the game. .6 runs a game is imo not statistically significant. If I were a Smith fan, I would note that Smith ran and did not result in any loss of game time from injury. But didn't we hear that Vick's injury was not incurred while he ran?
Says who? Never heard he was a great leader. He played about half the year they won the SB. What is this based on?
Strong stats man. It's going to be a nice competition. Vick, has a good shot to come in and win the job. Geno, is still going to make young mistakes; but I think the game has changed a lot, since Vick's height. It's getting younger and faster. I still think Geno is faster now, than Vick. Vick's body is wore down, there is no way Vick will make it through an entire season. It's one of those mental thinks where young men take greater risks. I don't see Vick laying it all out anymore. I think Vick would pull up and come short a yard than dive in head first like a young Geno might, still.
