Atlanta Falcons: Top 5 QBs of All-Time

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44. . QB 2001-2006. Virginia Tech. Michael Vick. 4. player

I don’t think that there has ever been a more exciting or dynamic player to ever play in the City of Atlanta than Michael Vick. And that’s saying something because Atlanta has been home to CB Deion “Prime Time” Sanders and the Hawks’ “Human Highlight Film” Dominique Wilkins. But when Michael Vick played quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, it was 100% must-watch television.

Coming out of Virginia Tech as the number one overall player in the 2001 NFL Draft, the League had never seen a player like Vick before: a true bona fide dual threat quarterback. Not only could he rifle the football close to 70 yards through the air, he also had the scrambling ability of Fran Tarkenton combined with the foot speed of Prime Time.

Vick became the full-time starter in 2002 and took the league by storm. To this day, I still have no idea how the 2002 Atlanta Falcons not only made the playoffs but beat Brett Favre‘s Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in the postseason. Who wins on the road in the Frozen Tundra in January, honestly?

Michael never really became the pocket passer HC’s Dan Reeves or Jim Mora had hoped for in Vick’s exciting but brief tenure as the Atlanta Falcons franchise QB. Though Vick led the Falcons to the playoffs twice (2002 & 2004) winning a postseason game each year, he will always be remembered for what could have been.

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The three-time Pro Bowler for the Atlanta Falcons never threw for 3,000 yards or completed 60% of his passes in a season for the Dirty Birds. We as fans took his unconventional style of quarterbacking in full stride because it was both different and won football games (38-28-1). But we never got to see great years from a Vick-led Falcons team consecutively.

He broke his foot in a preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens in 2003 and the 2006 Dog Fighting Scandal forever marred any chance of Michael Vick ever playing for the Atlanta Falcons again. Hindsight is always 20/20 and yes, the Atlanta Falcons could have stayed at #5 in the 2001 NFL Draft and taken LaDainian Tomlinson instead of Vick and maybe Atlanta could have won a Super Bowl by now. But I wouldn’t have traded the Michael Vick experience in Atlanta for anything. I don’t think we as football fans will ever see a player like Atlanta Falcons era Michael Vick ever again.

Next: The QB That Nearly Took Us to the Promised Land

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Atlanta Falcons: Top 5 QBs of All Time

By John Buhler | Jul 8, 2015