Fantasy Football Cafe Forum

by **spodog** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 1:45 pm

In the summer of 2010, MIchael Vick was a total gamble. He was a backup returning to action for the first time in a long time, blah, blah, blah, we all know the story. At best, he was a late round flyer, going in most drafts down in the mid or even late teen rounds.

This year, he is a consensus top 1 or 2 pick at the QB spot.

Excluding Rookies moving into their 2nd year, can anyone recall any veteran at any position making this kind of leap in expectations and consensus rankings from one preseason to another?

I can't, and I've been at this a long time. I'm not saying it isn't warranted, as he's a rare athlete. I'm just trying to see if there is any precedence for this ever that anyone can recall.

The closest thing I can come up with is Kurt Warner from preseason '99 to preseason '00. In 1998, Warner was the 3rd QB behind Tony Banks and Steve Bono and ended up the '98 season at 4 completions on 11 attempts. Up until the 3rd preseason game of the '99 season, Warner probably wasn't even in the QB rankngs other than buried somewhere around the 40 to 50 range, as a backup behind Trent Green.

Any other examples?

by **scottaa1** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 5:34 pm

Nope.

He's a Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. A former inmate, now, about to become the overall #1 pick at QB. It looks like a mirac... he's in the endzone!

Or, possibly, the hospital the way he plays.

I'm not drafting him.

But it's a nice felon to success story.

by **LMack** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 6:02 pm

I'm not surprised that the leap is so unprecedented because the circumstances are even more unprecedented.

Vick was coming off of almost 2 years of jail time. Vick was placed behind Kevin Kolb on his team's depth chart. The Eagles believed that Kevin Kolb was the choice to replace their 11 year starter in Donovan McNabb, expecting a Favre to Rodgers like transition.

I don't know if a player of Vick's talent level has ever been behind the 8-ball so badly in the NFL. If Vick came back and was placed in a better situation opportunity wise, the come back wouldn't have been so unlikely. I'm not saying any team would have signed them as their starter, but if Vick was added by a team with an uncertain QB situation he would have at least blipped on some radars.

by **spodog** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 6:22 pm

scottaa1 wrote:Nope.

He's a Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. A former inmate, now, about to become the overall #1 pick at QB. It looks like a mirac... he's in the endzone!

Or, possibly, the hospital the way he plays.

I'm not drafting him.

But it's a nice felon to success story.

Why did you delete the other post ?

by **scottaa1** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 7:05 pm

spodog wrote:
scottaa1 wrote:Nope.

He's a Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. A former inmate, now, about to become the overall #1 pick at QB. It looks like a mirac... he's in the endzone!

Or, possibly, the hospital the way he plays.

I'm not drafting him.

But it's a nice felon to success story.

Why did you delete the other post ?

because I got facts wrong and started over.

by **iamgregg** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 11:16 pm

Not to the extent of Vick, but Wes Welker made quite the leap

by **u_fig_eater** » Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:05 am

Randy Moss 2008? In 2007 he probably had a low ADP coming off a 500-yard effort in Oakland.

by **daullaz** » Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:42 am

Larry Johnson was a guy that "came out of nowhere" to be in consideration for top overall player the next year, even though he did have a little bit of buzz as a guy that could excel if he picked up the playing time.