Dave Betancourt | Sports Section Manager

3/01/02

The Michael Vick era is officially here.  In a salary cap move the Atlanta Falcons released their starting quarterback Chris Chandler making way for Vick to enter training camp this summer as the Falcons number one quarterback.  The move comes quicker than expected but was not surprising.  Vick appears to be closing the learning gap that separated him from his predecessor Chandler quicker than expected.  The move is more so because of the salary cap than anything else but now is the right time to start what will hopefully be for Atlanta a very successful career for their young signal caller.

Some fans in Atlanta were beginning to grow impatient with head coach Dan Reeves decision to keep Chandler in the games.  Heck it even resulted in fights in the stands at home games.  But now the people of Atlanta have their wish.  Vick will now get his opportunity to shine.

Even though it will be Vicks second year in the NFL it will essentially be his rookie year all over again.  Vick saw little action in 2001, going in only for a select few series only to come out of the game not really having an impact.  That will change in 2002.  The Falcons took the right approach in bringing Vick along slowly.  By not playing him for most of his rookie season they enabled Vick to watch and learn, which is the best thing for a young quarterback to do.  It worked wonders for Donovan McNabb and Daunte Culpepper, and the Falcons are hoping it will do the same for Vick.

While everyone surely remembers Vick¹s magical two years at that college 20 minutes away from us, critics argue that he won¹t be able to make defenses look like lost children the way he did when he was in college.  This however remains to be seen.  The argument is that the biggest problem every college quarterback faces is the sheer change in the levels of speed from the college game to the pro game.  And while that is very true, it¹s going to be just as difficult for defenses to adjust to playing against a quarterback that is faster than practically everyone on the field.

Vick proved in one game where he saw a lot of action; a late season game against the Dolphins, that his speed can be a huge problem for defenses.  The Dolphins are not only one of the better defenses in the NFL but one of the fastest.  Vick on more than one occasion made them look silly and made Dolphins defenders wish they hadn¹t knocked Chris Chandler out of the game.  A couple of nice runs don¹t equate a hall of fame career, but it¹s a start.

Vick at the end of the day is still learning.  An NFL offensive playbook is a far cry from being in college and just being told to throw deep and run when needed to.  Once Vick is able to master his playbook and have a full understanding of what¹s going on with everyone on the field he will be even more dangerous on the field than he already is.

Olympic like speed and being able to throw a football from Georgia to Virginia is nice, but at the end of the day Vick can¹t do it alone.  The Falcons will have to surround Vick with talent at other key offensive positions in order for the team to fully be successful.  Give Falcons running back Jamal Anderson credit for restructuring his contract to help the Falcons get under the salary cap.  If Anderson can recover from two horrible knee injuries and get back to his old form he will contribute to Vick¹s success by taking all the pressure to produce yards off of him.

The Atlanta Falcons are not going to be Super Bowl champions over night. Then again who the heck figured the Patriots would be champs this year. However it is clear the Falcons are ready to take their franchise to new heights. Putting the right weapons around Vick are important. Nothing however is as important as having Vick on the field. Vick has huge expectations ahead of him because of what he was able to do in college, but seeing if he is able to duplicate his success in the NFL will be just as fun as it was watching him in the college ranks.