Oh no, my Beloved Eagles signed Vick! Somebody, please shoot me!

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Last night, my wife saw a friend post about the Eagles signing Micheal Vick.... so we jumped onto Espn.com and whammo! There was his face with a big, green Eagles symbol next to it. Shame on Jeffrie Laurie!

There are 2 reasons this is bad...

1 - The obvious reason, his is a SCUMBAG!!!! All sports fan know this back story.

2 - The Eagles have a good, experienced QB already, who they just gave a big contract to. The have 2 good back-ups at QB. They run a very advanced and complicated version of the West Coast offense, which keeps the QB IN THE POCKET!!!! Micheal Vick??? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!! We need him in Philly like we need a hole in the head! That money should of been spent on the good offensive tackles we let go, MORONS!!!

YOU SUCK JEFFRIE LAURIE!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I can honestly say this move makes absolutely no sense. He is too small to be used as a RB or WR. He will get hurt quick if they try that nonsense.

 

I wouldn't mind the signing, there are plenty of bigger scumbags in sports. Give the dude a second chance...

Regardless of how he gets used he is a skilled athlete who seems to be saying the right things at least. He talked about how he didn't focus enough on developing his passing, he said immediate playing time wasn't a concern. He wasn't the best QB but he was pretty successful, with the tools to add to the return game and other facets. I like it.

Honestly I can see him doing a lot of what Seneca Wallace (almost) does with Seattle, backup QB, WR, PR, and hands team. That is, until they decided he was too valuable with the annually injured Hasselbeck behind center.

 

Odd, unless someone knows something we don't. Perhaps the offense system is being changed? As an outsider with no ties to any team what so ever I might have a different insight. Even I know, and I only watch some games on the European ESPN, that he moves a lot.

So everybody knows, from your information that the Eagles have a certain way to deal with offense. A westcoast passing offense that keeps the pocket secure and intact. So when that strategy does not work on a good defense you have to play the trump card.

Not to be negative about the Eagles but did they made the playoffs with their system? I looked it up and they had a wild card. Well done Eagles.

Perhaps one of the back-up is being sold? Or not happy?

 

You actually think he is smart enough to understand Reid's complicated system? I highly doubt it. Plus, we don't need him. We needed to keep our offensive tackles, but instead the owner went cheap and let them go to free agency. This is a terrible move. There is a reason why a whole bunch of season-ticket holders just put their tickets up for sale, as this is another of many moves by the ownership this year that just doesn't make sense. We already lost one of the best Defensive Coordinators with the death of Jim Johnson, then we didn't keep Brian Dawkins, the heart & soul of the defense.

In the many years of Andy Reid's tenure in Philly, he has only made one move that cost him and that was the signing of T.O. He rues that one! Reid has cut many players that have had personal issues off of the field. Brian Mitchell, the best returner Philly ever had, was cut due to an exposed affair with a cops wife. Reid has had several issues with both of his sons and the police this year and I think it is softening up his normally no-nonsense approach to coaching. It's a real shame...

 

I personally think that the NFL should have banned him for life. But apparently there's a lot of criminals playing for the NFL -- that's the impression I got from the letters in the newspaper -- the one woman said that there were people playing who have committed serious crimes against fellow human beings. I don't know what exactly she was talking about, mind you -- perhaps someone could enlighten me?

 

Perhaps that system is part of the problem. I know as a person from the soccer continent that many things in this sport eludes me. So I do not grasp how hard the system is.

Let suggest something stupid and place him as a running back. I can say that a lot of defenders are eager to get to him and never suspect a deep pass. Or he gets a short backward pass and trows himself. Or just as a decoy.

What did he do?

 

The Eagles have 2 backups, one young, one a veteran and both are happy.

They never open up the offense with speed at QB. That is one of the biggest gripes Eagles fans have. Reid has never let McNabb run as he should of and always reigned him in. I doubt that will change with the signing of Vick, as McNabb will definitely be the starter until he is traded or retires.

And yes, they made the playoffs. They have done so on a regular basis since Reid and McNabb have teamed up in Philly.

 

I wouldn't be surprised. It's amazing how athletics can change how somebody thinks. For instance some of the dumbest people I knew were the smartest players and could understand everything in a playbook, and execute the right moves in games. Whereas a lot of the smarter people were clueless. Vick seems like he has some football smarts. Plus, I think at worst he is sort of like a young Donavan McNabb, tries to run a lot and not much of a thrower. You think McNabb knew the system very well when he first started?

First example of the top of my head is Leanard Little's DUI vehicular manslaughter charge*. Of course Dante Stallworth had one of those this year but is suspended for a year. Little's sentence from the NFL was half a year.

There are plenty of people who believe Ray Lewis is guilty of murder, but had the charges dropped when he testified against some friends.

*It's absolutely ridiculous how short the penalties are for DUI vehicular manslaughter. The penalty for hitting somebody and killing them seems to go down if you have being drunk as your excuse. Committing a crime that leads to the death results in less penalty, are you serious?? Note here that Stallworth got 23 days for killing somebody in his case, Vick got 23 months about for dogfighting... Iffy to me. I'm fine with Vick's sentence, but you have to send somebody in for longer if they kill somebody, drunk or not.

 

Perhaps McNabb is injured and they haven't told people yet, or they are scared he will get injured. Vick can't play until week 6, so maybe they just want a good backup? That being said, he hasn't played in 2 years.

How big was the contract?

 

When Vick was in Atlanta, they had to dumb down the playbook on pass plays for him to run the offense. And he is notorious for not being able to read blitz packages and calling the audible to burn the defense for a big play. The only big plays Atlanta got out of him were on broken plays and scrambles. No quaterback can do that forever, as age and injuries catch up to them very quickly.

 

Blades,

I'm not going to argue for or against Vick being in the league regarding his legal past. He was out of football for two years serving a jail sentence. Whether or not you feel his debt to society is paid is up to you to decide. I don't care about Vick OR the Eagles so I don't care either way. I'm analyzing this move strictly from a football perspective. From a football standpoint:

I do not think that the Eagles expect him to learn to playbook. I do not think they expect Vick to be anything more than a 2nd string QB, even if McNabb gets hurt. Vick has a very poor career completion percentage (a hair over 50%), so he is the exact type of QB you do NOT want for a West Coast offense.

So the conclusion in inescapable: Vick was signed to run the wildcat. The Falcons were the only team in the league to use multiple verions of the QB option in the pros. Also, while his passing accuracy is poor for a QB, it's much better that what you'll get if you line up a running back or receiver behind center. Philly is expanding their already immense offensive playbook by adding a scheme of wildcat plays.

Philly set a team record for points scored last year, so their offense did not necessarily require an overhaul. The question is this: Is taking the ball out of McNabb's hands for 5-10 offensive play per game a good idea? The Philly offense is pretty good, and McNabb is an accomplished QB. You don't pull him off the field unless you are confident the wildcat plays will be effective.

 

Aldeth,

Vick will not improve the passing game one ioata. Adding the Wildcat to their already imense and complicated playbook just makes it harder on the other players. To what gain? Saint Donavan is 10 times the player Vick could ever be. Every play he is on the field, the Eagles have a potential for the big play. Vick decreases that greatly. With a long absence from the field, his chances of adding anything positive are about nil. The Eagles added, via the draft, some nice young talent at the RB and WR positions to make McNabb happy. This move is all about Andy Reid trying to be a saint, must be he's guilty conscious about how his kids have turned out. I know alot of season-ticket holders and they are all pissed over this move by the Eagles. Sal Palintonio of ESPN posted a poll of 50.1% of the Eagles fans had a negative view of the signing. That's says alot....

 

Blades,

Are you agreeing or disagreeing with me? I cannot tell. Let's review a few points you brought up.

Which is pretty much exactly what I said. I even went so far to say he is the type of QB you do NOT want if you run the West Coast Offense.

Which I also mentioned. I openly questioned whether or not it would be worthwhile to take McNabb off the field for 5-10 plays per game.

If they were expecting him to be a QB, you'd be right. I don't think many QBs could learn to run that offense in a year, much less a month. Vick is going to need to learn about 20-30 plays. That's it.

Signing a dog-killers qualifies one for sainthood?

Including that the other half aren't that bothered by it.

 

Sorry Aldeth, I was agreeing with you about Vick not improving Philly's chances on the field.

As for the dog-fighting, I mean to say that Reid has had some failures in his personal life that were publicized and maybe this is an attempt at redemption, in his own eyes at least.

Also, Vick will need to learn more than 20-30 plays. McNabb audibles almost 50% of the time, part of their system is to show a fake front, watch the defensive set-up and the other players, not just the QB, make the necessary adjustments. That requires the type of "thinking" that Vick just can't comprehend. That is why the Eagles thrive year in and year out without a lot of "talent" at WR. They don't need a star, though it is always a plus, they need players that can comprehend the system.

 

I agree that Vick won't be audibilizing. He can't run the West Coast anyway, so what's the point of learning all those audibles!

But if he isn't going to run the wildcat (which to me seems like the only logical use), then why are the Eagles paying him $2.3 mil over the next two years?

 

From what I get listening to some sports talk radio from Philly is this...

For some reason, there is a big pity-party going on for Vick in Philly. Reid is a highly religious person, a Mormon in fact. From what I gather, they are looking to help him make some kind of personal strides to become a better person. (MAYBE I get that part of it....) But he just doesn't fit the system, so the Eagles brass are trying to say, via McNabb, that they are thinking about the Wildcat sets. Nobody in the Eagles faithful is buying it. Reid won't change his offense drastically, no way! We beleive they made a bonehead and rash move, as usual, to try and stop another NFC team that Vick could be more efficent with from landing him. Basically, signing him so nobody else could. I know he isn't the plague, like T.O., just a moron. But on the field, I just don't see it as a help, only a step in the wrong direction in their quest for a Super Bowl win.

 

Report out of camp is that he has a solid grasp of the basics of the west coast offense, and is putting effort in. I really wouldn't be surprised if he just didn't care about the playbook in with the Falcons organization.

He is an incredible athlete and won't be asked to take a huge role on the team. For a few plays a game the can use trick packages or just get him out there with a chance to make plays.

I know I wouldn't mind having the guy on my team.

 

There is no question he has some talent. But the Eagles put up record scoring numbers last year, why fix it if it's not broken? They already improved via the draft at those positions, why take the risk? Especially in Philly....