The over hyped star label is probably more so in Michael Vick's case than in Josh Freeman's. Vick has been a household name for a variety of reasons and for a number of years. He has always had 'tremendous athlete' tag on him, even if he was not the most accurate passer. Highly touted and praised his star status has had many ups and downs.
Here is another crossroad for Vick as a professional football player. I don't think there is much to the competition between he and Nick Foles. If Vick is even decent as a passer this pre-season, he wins that job. Barring an injury or simply some awful football, Vick is in as the Eagles top guy. Now, that does not preclude him being benched at some point this year. Vick's tendency over the years has been that his play has been very volatile. He will look like a Hall of Famer for a game or two and then look like the starting QB for my nephew's sixth grade team. As mentioned, he is not the most accurate passer either.
All that being said, he has had two nice pre-season games thus far, going 13 for 15 and showing some nice touch. He is averaging a tremendous 13.3 yards per attempt vs. Foles' 7.1. He's looked very calm, cool and comfortable in Chip Kelly's offense. Yes, Vick has a lot of mileage on him and he's been in the league a very long time, so there is some merit to those who say that 2 pre-season games do not contradict ten years of games he has played in the NFL.
However, he has not only a new coach, but a coach who brings something very different to an NFL offense. Has Chip Kelly tapped into Vick's inner QB and allowed the all-powerful QB genie to finally reveal himself? Well, I'm not sure about that, but signs are that Vick just feels very much at home in this offense and may just surprise some folks this season.
Josh Freeman never has been in this kind of a spotlight. Known for flashes of brilliance, he just as easily has hit the skids. He can be a maddening player for your fantasy team. He almost brought the Bucs back to playoff land in 2010 with a brilliant season, throwing for 3451 yards and completing 61.4% of his passes. Ladies and gentlemen, this was only three years ago. So, the talent is there. However, does this kid have the ability, or the team around him, to tap into what he brought to the NFL party just a few short years ago?
Right now, he is the Bucs only real option. They will most likely not go to rookie Mike Glennon already, and Freeman is still young enough to turn things around and become more consistently good. However, through two games this Bucs offense looks pathetic. Granted, this last pre-season game they were playing without veteran guard Carl Nicks, but still the Patriots came calling on Freeman and the Tampa offense. Freeman went a paltry 2 for 3 totaling 8 yards and 3 sacks. Not exactly numbers that will get Freeman shooting up your draft list.
In two pre-season games he is a very average 6 for 10 totaling 42 yards and four sacks. I know the pre-season can be unbelievably misleading. But, when this is what you have to go on, it sticks with you a little more.
I still like Freeman, but right now I like Vick a little more. Stay tuned, there is one more meaningful pre-season game left to evaluate your guys as you get closer to draft day.
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