FalcBlog

You technically can't have a QB controversy without the coaching staff and/or front office being involved. But that fact doesn't stop the media or fans alike to do their best to fan the flames.

Okay there was somewhat of a controversy when Schaub was still around, although it never really manifested itself within the organization.

But I have the feeling that with both Schaub and Vick out of the picture, the concerns over the Falcons quarterback position have not diminished.

And this is not to bash Joey Harrington. I personally like Joey Harrington, have since his days at Oregon. But frankly, short of a Jim Plunkett-like renewal at some point in the future, he'll go down in history as one of the biggest draft busts of all-time. He's not quite on the level of Ryan Leaf, if only because Harrington has managed to be demoted into journeyman status in the NFL as opposed to locker room pariah.

I'm not an optimist. I respect Bobby Petrino's abilities, but I don't expect him to "resurrect" Harrington's fallen career and make him into the player that the Detroit Lions thought they were getting five years ago. That would be a leap of faith that considering all the disappointments that have surrounded the Falcons the past few years, I'm unwilling to take.

I think where the controversy lies in will be in D.J. Shockley. Shockley, being a UGA alum has a strong local fan base. And Harrington makes a very easy target for fans and media as he did in Detroit.

And I feel a lot of the hope that has been displaced by Vick's downfall will fall into Shockley's lap. Face it, we Falcons fans have been spoiled with having a strong-armed and athletic quarterback lining up behind center the past few years. And anytime anyone that has not fit that description has played (Kurt Kittner, Doug Johnson, Schaub), that player has been met with general revilement. And then when you factor in the Bulldog Nation, well you can see how Shockley could inherit the title of "Mr. Can't Do Wrong" that Vick somehow managed to cast off.

And I see much the same for Harrington in this 2007 season. Shockley just shares too many similarities with Vick not to be beloved. They are almost identical in size, and although Shockley's athletic gifts pail in comparison to Vick's (don't worry D.J., the rest of the world is in the same boat), he still is heads and heels above roughly 95% of the rest of the NFL quarterbacking landscape.

When will the controversy begin? There will be distant rumblings probably during the preseason, as we will likely get more exposure to Shockley during exhibition games than Harrington. That's just the nature of it, in the summer you fall in love with the backups, while in the fall, they generally don't do much besides warming pine.

I wouldn't expect it to reach it's crescendo until several weeks into the season, especially if the Falcons don't get off to the fast start that has been the normal case with Vick as the guy the past five years.

But that hope that fans have in Shockley is probably misplaced. Frankly, D.J. Shockley is not Michael Vick. And never will be. And despite all the untapped potential and upside you want to label Shockley with, it's only a minuscule fraction to what Michael Vick possesses. Michael Vick was the number one player picked in his draft choice. D.J. Shockley had two hundred and twenty two players selected ahead of him for a reason.

This is not to say I believe Shockley incapable of being a contributor to this team this year or in future years. But he's a seventh round pick. Statistically, his chances of lasting more than four years even as a backup in the NFL are about on par with the chances of Michael Vick being acquitted in federal court. It is indeed far from the realm of impossibility, but still manages to stray into the realm of overwhelming unlikelihood. You bet on those kinds of odds only because you've been blinded by greed, as opposed to filled with logic and reason.

There might certainly be a point during this season that the team is so dismal, that Harrington taking control of the clipboard may be warranted.

Harrington struggled in Detroit, although not initially caused, but were certainly aided due to the lacking support of the Detroit media and fans. I'm hoping that the same does not occur in Atlanta, although I'm not very optimistic about it. Eventually he probably will be swallowed by the sea of red and black that is the Bulldog Nation as opposed to the inviting one of Falcons fandom.

But if anything the Falcons need is perhaps a positive interest story this year. And what better than to have Joey Harrington pull a Kurt Warner? Heck, I can do without a Super Bowl run. I'll settle on a wildcard and a Brenda Warner-free January.

Posted by Aaron at 9:21 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

In this equation about what to do with Michael Vick, an important name that is only occasionally being mentioned in the conversation is Bobby Petrino.

So I pose the question: What Would Bobby Petrino Do?

Or better put, what does he want to do?

If I had to guess, Petrino wants the least amount of distraction so that he and the 52 other players under his command can go out and do their best to win football games. Now does that require the presence of Michael Vick. It would seem that the answer is no.

It was rumored that when the Falcons were wooing Mr. Petrino to be the next head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, they told him that they were not necessarily married to Michael Vick.

Well it seems that in the Bobby Petrino Era, the new couple did not even make it out of the church before the marriage fell apart.

I just wonder how much input Petrino will have on Blank's decision. I've never believed despite the public comments that Bobby Petrino had total faith in Michael Vick. It was just a fact of the salary cap, that Michael Vick was going to be an Atlanta Falcon through the 2007 season. Nothing anybody said or did could really change that.

I believe even without this dogfighting stuff, Michael Vick was already on the bubble in Atlanta. He basically would have been given two years to excel in Petrino's offense, and by the end of 2008 if he had not shown significant improvement as a passer, he would have been replaced.

Now it seems the bubble has burst. It's not difficult to imagine that sometime within the past 72 hours, Petrino has told Arthur Blank that he wanted Vick gone. But I can also imagine Petrino saying relatively little as well. He's been keeping pretty low key about all of this, and that might mean he's doing his best to keep his hands clean. After all, as I said before, Arthur Blank is not in an enviable position. Petrino could take the approach that he's only here to win football games, and whether that is with Michael Vick or without him is more up to his boss than he himself.

If you think about it, it's really not a bad position to be in. If Blank allows Vick to play, and the Falcons still manage to win, then Petrino gets credit for keeping the ship right amidst all this turmoil. If the team struggles, then he has a handy excuse. If Vick doesn't play, then he gets even more credit if the Falcons do well, and an even better excuse if they lose.

Now that's not to say that Petrino is sitting pretty, but his legacy in Atlanta won't be tarnished. In that regards, he's in a better position than most first-year NFL coaches.

Posted by Aaron at 8:24 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Okay, I've had a few days to sit back and think about this issue. I consider myself a pragmatic thinker, so therefore I was in no rush to make a judgment on this issue. It's been able to sink in, but it's still probably a bit early. The Falcons kick off training camp next week, and that's when it's all going to come to a head.

I fully expect that the Falcons training camp will be picketed unless the Falcons decide to suspend or release Michael Vick between now and Thursday. It's a shame really, that arguably the most notable thing that has happened to this franchise is this.

Personally, I believe that Arthur Blank should ask Michael Vick to take a voluntary leave of absence. That would be the best thing for the Falcons, the NFL, and probably for Michael Vick. It seems based on the schedule at AtlantaFalcons.com, training camp runs through August 14, in which practices are open to the public. It's in the best interests of all parties involved that Vick makes himself scarce at least until then.

If Vick was to join the team in mid-August, perhaps he'd be ready to play in the final preseason game against the Ravens, and then a few weeks into the season perhaps be able to suit up for the team and continue to play until legal events prevented him. I'm hopeful his lawyers will be able to delay the trial until January, and therefore Michael Vick could reasonably play most of the season with the Falcons.

Now, I know some are reading this, and hope that I'm kidding. They don't want to see Michael Vick play this year. And I understand those sentiments, but I just don't share them. Not over some great amount of support I have for Michael Vick. Anybody who has read many of these blogs going back to January will know that I have no love for Michael Vick. But because I believe that you can distinguish what someone does personally and professionally. A good example in my eyes is Mel Gibson. I believe Mr. Gibson to be an anti-Semite, something I deplore in people. But that doesn't prevent me from believing that Mr. Gibson is a good actor and filmmaker, and doesn't stop me from enjoying or viewing his films. Another example, is if the best car mechanic in town is a convicted felon for a despicable crime, does that change the notion that he can fix your car better than anybody else? I don't believe so.

In a perfect world, our personal and professional lives shouldn't intermingle. Of course we live in about an imperfect world as they come, but that doesn't stop me from upholding that belief.

Football is what matters to me. And because of that, I want to see Michael Vick out on the field this year, because I believe he makes our football team a lot better. Does that mean I think Michael Vick is an outstanding quarterback? No, but he's a better one than Joey Harrington or D.J. Shockley.

But I completely respect the notion that perhaps the majority of people have a strong opposing belief on that matter. If so, then so be it. If you think there isn't a circle of Hell low enough for Michael Vick, then so be it. I don't expect to sway your opinion (nor am I attempting to).

Now, going back, if Vick is unwilling to accept this voluntary leave of absence, then I believe Arthur Blank has no recourse but to suspend him for four games. Why that amount? Because it's basically written in the CBA that conduct detrimental to the team allows for a team-imposed suspension of up to four games. Besides releasing him, Blank has no other disciplinary recourse.

In my eyes, either option that the Falcons take basically result in the same thing. Basically it means that Michael Vick will miss the first few games of the season.

I don't envy Blank's position. He is weighing several options right now, and has to factor in a lot of things before coming to that decision. I believe we'll have a decision before next Wednesday (when players report for camp), but I don't think it's necessary for him to make a quick judgment despite public and media pushing for it.

He has to weigh football vs. public relations vs. the fan base. In terms of football, the decision would probably be to do nothing. Let Michael Vick play in both camp and during the regular season. For public relations, the best thing for him to do is to severe all ties with the man, by releasing him yesterday. For the fan base, it's probably somewhere in the middle. He has to show that he's not going to let it slide, but he can't exactly "pack in" the season by dumping Vick. That is why ultimately I expect Blank to make a decision along those things.

Posted by Aaron at 8:11 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

In Week 4, our second home game, we will host the Houston Texans in a game that I'm sure will be hyped by the media about Matt Schaub's return to Atlanta.

Offense: The key to the Texans offense is their quarterback play. Schaub is untested, but by the fourth week of the season he should be relatively comfortable running the team. The Texans sole weapon is Andre Johnson, who is emerging as one of the league's best receivers. Their other receiver Kevin Walter is essentially a poor man's Brian Finneran. Ahman Green is a good runner, but no longer a threat to take the ball the distance. But he's still a competent runner that is efficient, if not dangerous. Owen Daniels is an underrated pass catcher. He's not the biggest or fastest guy around, but is solid as they come. But the weakness of the Texans offense is still their offensive line, assuming Schaub is up to par. They were better last year than they've been in past years, but they are still flawed at the left tackle position.

Defense: They have a very young defense and only a few playmakers. Okoye and Mario Williams could help change that. Williams should be better after a lackluster rookie year, but Okoye is a defensive tackle, and very few of them have real impact years right off the bat. Ryans is the only notable linebacker, as the rest is just below average to average starters. Robinson is the only one worth noting in the secondary. But besides those playmakers, the rest of the defense is lackluster, but it's not incompetent. The Texans had one of the worst pass rushes in the league last year, and if Williams and Okoye can improve them in that area significantly, the rest of the defense will fall into place.

Off-season: Rather than making a big splash in the off-season via free agency, the Texans decided to hold back. They added Schaub and Green, their sole big splashes. Both should be upgrades over their predecessors, but how much remains to be seen.

Draft: Although Okoye should be a solid building block for the future, whether or not he really does much this year remains to be seen. Besides him, none of their other draft picks are notable except Fred Bennett and perhaps Jacoby Jones, everybody's favorite WR sleeper. If Jones is the next Marques Colston, then that will be a huge boon, but since that's doubtful, it's more than likely they won't get a ton of production from this group until two, three, or four years down the road.

Overall: The Texans are slightly improved from a year ago, and a lot of their success rests on Schaub's shoulders. But still they lack a lot of talent to get over the hump. The newness of Schaub and an improved pass rush should make them more competitive, but how many more wins will it net them? Second place in the AFC South is not crazy, but considering that's probably the weakest AFC division, it's unlikely that is going to earn a wildcard spot. One thing is for sure, under Schaub they'll have to be able to score 28 or more points in order to win a lot more games. That's a mark they never achieved last season.

How They Match Up: On Hall's best days, he could be a major thorn in the side of Johnson. But if we're judging by how often Hall shows up vs. Johnson's consistency, then the bet should be on Johnson to outclass him. The Texans have a zone-blocking offensive line, which gave our defense more troubles last year. But unlike many of the zone blocking teams we faced last year (Cowboys, Redskins, Saints), the Texans offensive line is far from quality. Whomever lines up at left tackle for Houston could have real problems with a healthy John Abraham, whether it's Spencer or Ephraim Salaam. Mario Williams is a big physical pass rusher that could cause troubles for Gandy as well. A strong physical running game right up the gut could really hurt the Texans, who really don't have the hogs there to really stuff the run. But Dunn and Norwood aren't known for their abilities to pound it up the gut, so any advantage the Falcons could reap there might be negated.

Posted by Aaron at 10:37 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post