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BEWARE OF VICK
Athlon Sports 2011 Fantasy Football magazine has Philadelphia quarterback Michael Vick ranked No. 6 at his position and No. 26 overall because we dont trust him.
Thats it in a word trust. We dont trust that the 31-year-old will have the kind of year on the ground that he had last season, when he piled up 676 yards and nine scores. Since the 1960s, no quarterback who has rushed for even eight touchdowns in a season has come back to score more than five the next year. Q: Vick: Better or worse in 2011? We dont trust that the career 55 percent passer A: Depends which part of the first year will repeat his 62.6 percent performance from a year youre comparing him to. Vick put up ago. He had eclipsed 55.3 percent passing in a seasome ridiculous numbers in wins over son only one time before last year, and he did not hit Washington and the New York Giants but last years 62.6 percent season mark in any of his final tailed off at the end of the season as four games of the season. teams began finding ways to blitz him We dont trust that Vicks offensive line has improved into poor decisions. Best guess: Vick will enough to keep him comfortable in the pocket, despite the be steadier in 2011, putting up reliably fact that the Eagles need to do all they can to protect their key good numbers without as many extreme asset with the likelihood that backup Kevin Kolb will not be on the highs or lows. Also, expect his rushing team a situation that leaves Mike Kafka as the next man up. totals Vick had nine of the Eagles 18 In the six games after his monster 57.3-point fantasy effort against Washrushing TDs last year to be down. One ington, Vick attempted more than 38 passes five times something he thing Vick and the coaches want is for had not done in his first six games of the season and he was interhim to protect his body more. Phil Sheridan, Philadelphia Inquirer cepted in all but one of the games, fumbled nine times (lost three of them) and had 19 of his 34 sacks. Did defenses figure him out? Well if they didnt, they have certainly had nothing but time during this lockHeres how the five QBs we have ranked out to study all they need to about the new-andahead of Vick have fared when it comes to starting games from the time they ascended to the improved Michael Vick. starting role on their respective teams. Vick has Combining all the above with the fact that started 77 of 90 games in that time. we also dont believe he will make it a full 16 PLAYER YEARS STARTS games has led us to the following conclusion: Aaron Rodgers since 2008 47 of 48 Beware of Vick in 2011. Philip Rivers since 2006 80 of 80 We DO trust the quarterbacks who have done Peyton Manning since 2002 144 of 144 it year in and year out in recent memory more Drew Brees since 2002 137 of 144 than we trust a player who finally put it together for Tom Brady since 2002 129 of 144 one season and didnt even stay healthy in the process. Total starts since 2002 537 of 560 Our Old Reliables are Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Philip Rivers all quarterbacks who succeeded with missing pieces last year and have been there at the top year after year. That five-man group has started 537 of a possible 560 games (95.9 percent) since becoming starters for their respective teams. Of the 23 missed starts by these five, Brady accounts for 15. He tore his ACL and MCL a little over seven minutes into the first game of the 2008 season. We are willing to take the chance that, while they may score fewer points than Vick, their chances of being upright from Week 1 to Week 16 are much greater than the Philly scramblers. Vick, who was incarcerated during the 2007 and 2008 seasons and had to sit the bench in 2009, has started only 77 of a possible 90 regular-season games (85.5 percent) since 2002 and has played a 16-game season only once. So take the risk if youd like and waste another pick in the middle of your draft to get some insurance. Meanwhile, we will take the safe, proven bet pick up a player in that same round who we can use multiple weeks and see who gets to the championship. Were betting its us.

Whats a Philly beat writer say?

Old Reliables

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