When Comparing Michael Vick to RGIII, There is No Comparison

[SWFLSkins]

The only thing Vick has over RG3 is Speed, Elusivness, and Maybe arm strength. But Griffin is by far the better prospect out of college.

Wait what? Speed, yes, Arm strength?

Griffin, Baylor's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, was unofficially timed at 4.36 ...What did Michael Vick run on the 40 yard dash? 4.25. Not a huge diff.

Griffin however was responsible for 78 TDs in his career vs. Vicks 37 and almost one thousand more throwing yards. I see a couple differences in their game. RG3 is a QB that happens to be an exceptional athlete. Vick is an exceptional athlete that happens to play QB. One is much smarter than the other and made the Dean's list while staying out of trouble. One is a leader, the other we still have the jury out on. I like Vick but he comes with baggage I don't Griffin ever will have to carry.

RG3....2011

4293 37 6

Career

10366 78 17

School: Virginia Tech

Position: QB

Career Passing: 192 Cmp, 342 Att, 3299 Yds, 21 TD

Career Rushing: 212 Att, 1202 Yds, 5.7 Avg, 16 TD

[shakinaiken]

The only thing Vick has over RG3 is Speed, Elusivness, and Maybe arm strength. But Griffin is by far the better prospect out of college.

disagree with speed. Griffin has olympic speed. Albeit in a straight line, but in terms of pure speed, Griffin has the edge over Vick. Vick however is far more elusive than Griffin, especially in the open field when attempting to avoid defenders.

---------- Post added April-25th-2012 at 05:38 PM ----------

Wait what? Speed, yes, Arm strength?

Griffin, Baylor's Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, was unofficially timed at 4.36 ...What did Michael Vick run on the 40 yard dash? 4.25. Not a huge diff.

Griffin however was responsible for 78 TDs in his career vs. Vicks 37 and almost one thousand more throwing yards. I see a couple differences in their game. RG3 is a QB that happens to be an exceptional athlete. Vick is an exceptional athlete that happens to play QB. One is much smarter than the other and made the Dean's list while staying out of trouble. One is a leader, the other we still have the jury out on. I like Vick but he comes with baggage I don't Griffin ever will have to carry.

RG3....2011

4293 37 6

Career

10366 78 17

School: Virginia Tech

Position: QB

Career Passing: 192 Cmp, 342 Att, 3299 Yds, 21 TD

Career Rushing: 212 Att, 1202 Yds, 5.7 Avg, 16 TD

I highly doubt Vick ran a 4.25 40. I think Griffin has more straight line speed than Vick.

[DogofWar1]

Vick *might* be able to lob it farther, but his accuracy is far worse.

I think if you take away their athleticism, and just look at their arms, you've got a guy like Vick, who can lob it farther, but with less accuracy, and then Griffin, who might have just a little less arm, but is accurate far longer.

I think if you polled GMs and coaches and asked if they want a guy who can lob it 70 yards but is only highly accurate to 25, or a player who can lob it 50 but is highly accurate to 35-40, they'll take the 2nd guy 9/10 times. RGIII is better than the hypothetical 2nd guy though, he can probably lob it 60 yards and is probably accurate to 40-45 yards. So he loses a small bit of arm, but is highly accurate. That's exactly what you look for in a QB.

[Baylor Alum]

I highly doubt Vick ran a 4.25 40. I think Griffin has more straight line speed than Vick.

Vick ran a 4.33 at his pro day. He did not run at the combine.

http://nflcombineresults.com/nflcombinedata.php?year=2001&pos=&college=

[repo_4]

The only thing Vick has over RG3 is Speed, Elusivness, and Maybe arm strength. But Griffin is by far the better prospect out of college.

This one made me scratch my head. I dont know that Vick has an edge in any of these. I cant get past the comparion of these two simply because Vick is a sub-par human.

[Darth Tater]

Fact. I didnt even get into that ... bc its so obvious.

Well, I don't think that such a stat exists A dog fight index maybe?

[Idaho fan]

Nice job - good read. The comparisons keep coming.. Ive heard that RG is similar to a Vick or even Tebow style of QB and that he is likely to get hurt because of his small size... Colin Cowherd has seemed to have jumped on that band wagon stating that its actually a disadvantage having a QB that can run... he says he wants a pocket passer that can't run like Eli that way they don't have to think about what to do as they only have one option. I say what can be better than a QB with a beautiful deep ball and one that can throw accurately yet can get out of trouble.. can boot leg really well and if need be can move the chains with his legs if things break down and there are no passing options.

I too think the Rodgers/Young comparison is a more fair comparison.... It would be interesting to see their college stats as far as passing yards, TD vs picks, rushing yards etc... Although the type of offense they played in would also be a factor.

[darrelgreenie]

my reply to Griffin's skillset comparison me of from 3 Jan 12:

I'm not a big fan of the whole comparison thing because there are soo many different aspects to each QB.

But the reason I see Rodgers in comparison to RGIII is because of their builds and playing styles.

They're both 6'2 220ish fast twitch athletes with a wiry frame and live arms.

Both use different arm angles and different throwing platforms (often goofy foot or 'wrong' footed) to delivery the ball on the move with accuracy.

Both have quick releases and have great touch on the deep ball.

Both regularly use their legs/athleticism to convert 1st downs(extend drives) running or to extand/make play with their arms.

Skillset comparison's are never exact.

Therefore don't understand why people are getting all upset and taking exception to the Griffin/Vick comparison from a skillset perspective.

I think people have a negative bias against Vick that clouds they're opinion of the comparison when in fact its a compliment to be compared to Vick from a skillset standpoint.

And just because they have a similar physical skillset does not mean they have the same personality or mental skillset.

I see about 6 areas where Griffin and Vick are similar.

First of all there is the speed.

When you belong to a category of QB that only contains 3 people there are gonna be comparisons.(they are the only QBs in NFL history to run sub 4.4.)

The fact of the matter is that Griffin and Vick belong in a category of speed that only contains them and 1 other guy (who's name escapes me).

Second, they both have live arms with above average arm strength.

Third they both can fire the ball out with a quick release.

Fourth they're both gifted runners that know how to escape pressure, avoid in the pocker, convert 1st downs extend drives, and have the ability to outrun the defense if the opportunity is there.

Fifth they're both playmakers that can make something out of nothing.

Sixth they both small framed guys.

I've always maintained that the most apt skillset comparison to Griffin is Rodgers.

But, without a doubt the Vick skillset comparison is valid.

If you’re looking to compare RG3 to anyone in the NFL, Rivera pointed toward a more mobile quarterback: Michael Vick. No, they aren’t exact duplicates, either. Far from it. But it might at least be a better comparison than Newton and Griffin.

http://blogs.nfl.com/2012/02/23/rivera-not-buying-comparisons-between-newton-rg3/

This is not to say NFL teams aren’t exceptionally excited about Griffin’s potential. He may not be a physical marvel like Newton, but his transcendent speed and polished running ability evoke more legitimate comparisons to Michael Vick, Steve Young and Randall Cunningham.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ms-silver_robert_griffin_andrew_luck_cam_newton_draft_022312

Looking at Griffin you gotta go back to a guy like Michael Vick....extraordinary running ability, arm strength and release Griffin is a little behind him in those areas but still good...

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-combine/09000d5d827251c4/Intrigue-vs-complete

[Missouri_Skins_Fan]

Curious how their rushing stats compare, though. Vick seems like an NFL runner (avoiding tackles) while RG3 was originally a track star (running in a straight line). I'm not doubting that RG3 is a great runner in the open field, but I think it lends some credibility to your argument that Beamer intentionally game planned for Vick to run.

While throwing the ball is infinitely more important, having the defense account for your legs would seem to give you an advantage in passing (one would assume).

To answer your question?

Vick only played 2 seasons in College. (99' & 00')

He rushed for 580 yards & 8 TD's in 99'

And rushed for 636 yards & 9 TD's in 00'

RG3 rushed for 843 yards & 13 TD's as a freshman in 2008

injured in 09'

rushed for 635 yards & 8 TD's in 10'

and rushed for 644 yards & 9 TD's in 11'

So if you take out RG3's freshman yr which was insane and blows away Vick in the rushing department?

And only go with Vicks respected 2 seasons and RG3's other 2 full seasons 10' & 11'?

They were almost identical in production. (RG3 better by about 50 yards)

So yea..RG3 can run the ball.

Don't worry about that, BornToHail.

RG3 was responsible for 109 TD's by either rushing or passing the ball for Baylor his time there.

Vick was responsible for 38 TD's for V-Tech.

Luck was responsible for 89 TD's for Stanford.

[Darth Tater]

I was at Virginia Tech when Micahel Vick was there.

There are no comparisions, they are 2 far different QBs coming out of college.

RG3 played in a passing spread offense, where as Vick played in an option/power running/deep ball offense.

The VT offense 1999-2000 was built on the I formation and options, along with the occasional Vick to Andre Davis deep ball.

Typical stat lines for Vick would be something like 6/11, 212 yards 2 TD passes 1 TD run.

RG3 on the other hand was throwing well over 30 times a game, short medium and deep. Vick rarely threw short, and there were a few intermediate routes.

It worked in 1999-2000 because there was nobody on the field who was in the same stratosphere as Michael Vick athletically. If you ever wanted to experience superman being on your team, that was it. He was simply unstoppable with what he did. His abilit to change directions but maintain peak speed is something I have yet to see matched.

But lets not confuse him in any way with the skillset and mindset of RG3. 2 totally different people and QBs

However, Baylor would also run it more often than they passed.

[FSUSkins24]

OP

Nice write up. Like SWFL stated, comparing the character, education, and upbringing would've made the argument more solid for the more dense fans... but I've resigned myself to not worrying about those fans anyway.

In fact, I have just started using that comparison to identify the people who don't have a ****ing clue. From that identification I then know not to discuss the topic with them.

[Darth Tater]

I admit I fell into that trap early on, when like many I didn't know enough about Griffin to make an educated opinion about him. I was wrong. I think it comes from a need by many people these days to tend to always try always categorize, label, and compare everyone and everything. Many of us fall into that trap and don't even realize it. As I have come to know Griffin...the comparison IS just flat wrong. They do both run fast, and they are both black. The comparison definitely should end there.

Briles originally used a lot of the long ball game in his spread but took it out because not too many QBs could handle it. When he got RG3, he put it back in.

[DogofWar1]

Nice write up. Like SWFL stated, comparing the character, education, and upbringing would've made the argument more solid for the more dense fans... but I've resigned myself to not worrying about those fans anyway.

In fact, I have just started using that comparison to identify the people who don't have a ****ing clue. From that identification I then know not to discuss the topic with them.

^^This. Whenever I start discussing RGIII with people, if they mention Vick, Leaf, Russell, or Vince Young, I know they have no idea what they are talking about. If they mention Steve Young or Aaron Rodgers then I know they have really spent time analyzing his play. Most people are smart enough not to compare him to other QBs since they know they don't know what they're talking about.

Seriously, when I'm on ESPN, I see comments that say RGLeaf and I just immediately flag them. At this point it's purely trolling.

[#BgMase76#]

Unanimous agreement among informed people. But I say what the heck, let'm believe it if they want. Meanwhile, RGIII will toast secondaries and defenses that decide to load the box in futile attempts to stop him from running. However, the pros know better. Can't remember where I read it but Jerry Jones is already on record talking about upgrading their defense to create more pressure on the rookie QB. I honestly don't believe there's a D or DC who believes he a running QB.

[Darc Requiem]

I always thought RG3 and Aaron Rodgers was good comparison as well. When it comes to QBs the norm is to shoehorn a parallel with a QB of the same race, whether it fits or not. Side note: RG3 and Vick size comparisons also grind my gears.