If Michael Vick hadn’t been suspended for the first two games of the season, Donovan McNabb would probably be healthy and have played in both of the Eagles games. Vick would have been the guy on the field and running into the endzone against the Carolina Panthers late in that game.
Vick was being brought in to run the Wildcat because they didn’t want McNabb running it and taking all of those hits. Check out what Marty Mornhinweg had to say yesterday at his weekly news conference.
“Michael Vick has done a bunch of it in his past just in their normal flow of the offense out there in Atlanta. My point is that this has been going on for many, many, many years. The problem with doing it in the NFL was that the quarterback does get hit quite a little bit more, or the man that takes the snap”.
Do you get it? Vick has been brought in here to run the Wildcat in certain situations and especially down in the Red Zone, so he can take all of those shots that McNabb would be taking.
Let’s be honest, if it weren’t about staying healthy and taking hits, McNabb would be one of most ideal guys in the league to run the Wildcat offense. Mornihweg identified the one problem with it in the pros, the quarterback or guy taking the snaps is going to get hit and hit a lot but some big people.
Vick had been able to stay relatively healthy while running it because he’s the size of a running back and has the speed and quickness to avoid taking the big hit.
Andy Reid and Mornhinweg have been smitten by the Wildcat offense and used last year with DeSean Jackson and had plans on using it this year, whether they had acquired Vick or not.
Think about all the players they have on the roster who could possibly be a Wildcat quarterback. You know about Vick, Jackson, Brian Westbrook, Jeremy Maclin, who played it last year in Missouri. and injured tight end Cornelius Ingram was an All-American high school quarterback.
That’s a lot of guys. Is that a conincidence, I think not.
