Michael Vick

By Dalton Del Don

During the 49ers’ state of the franchise address Monday, San Francisco’s brass did not deny eventually acquiring Michael Vick, something no other team has done. In fact, most franchises are actually going out of their way to say they have zero interest in Vick.

I wouldn’t call myself a 9er fan, but as someone whose family has season tickets, I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to a better product on the field. Quarterback is obviously the most important position on the field, and San Francisco needs to address the area as much as any team in the league. Alex Smith and Shaun Hill are not long-term answers. Speculation has grown regarding a Vick to SF move with some of the 49ers’ personnel and coaching additions, who have had past ties to the QB, during the offseason, and it’s also a fit in regards to coach Mike Singletary’s run-heavy philosophy.

Forget all the PR hits, ethical implications and inevitable backlash of bringing Vick onboard, the even bigger problem is his extreme limitations on the field. He has a career completion percentage of 53.8 and a career YPA of 6.7 He can’t be analyzed the same way other quarterbacks are, of course, since he’s also rushed for 3,859 yards, but he also takes a ton of sacks and has fumbled 55 times over 74 games.

And all this occurred during his prime. History has been extremely unkind to athletes who have missed even just one year with off the field issues; Mike Tyson went from possibly the greatest boxer of all-time to a punch line. Mike Williams looked like a future perennial Pro Bowler while at USC and was at the top of Mel Kiper’s draft board (admittedly, damning with faint praise), and he’s now out of the league. Most recently, Pacman Jones was a shell of his former self after sitting out one season. He went from being one of the top-3 cover corners in football to someone also likely out of the league next year. Vick will have missed two years, at least, and I doubt prison has a top notch training facility.

Don’t get me wrong, it would be interesting to see Vick in San Francisco. Maybe even playing a different position. But ultimately, he was overrated as a quarterback, and there seems like a much more logical decision the 49ers need to make: draft Mark Sanchez with the 10th pick during the upcoming draft. He’s a much better prospect than Matthew Stafford anyway.