If and when Vick returns to the NFL after a 23-month prison sentence, it would be for the 2010 season. Vick will be 30 years old then and will have missed three straight seasons of pro football — and will have missed three straight years worth of education learning the quarterback position. It’s doubtful he would be able to produce at a very high level, at least as a passer. Most teams might determine, if they’re stuck with a QB who needs to learn the position, that they’re better off with a 22-year-old than a 30-year-old.

However, a body that’s gone three straight years without the train-wreck rigors of NFL football could be perfectly suited to make an immediate impact at running back.

6. Vick was never a good passer to start
Even if Vick were to return to the NFL and match his previous passing production, it would hardly be enough to inspire confidence in a team.

Vick’s major problem as an NFL quarterback has been that he simply does not pass the ball nearly as well as the game’s elite quarterbacks. He’s never completed 57 percent of his passes, he’s never thrown for 2,500 yards and he’s never thrown more than 20 touchdowns. And his career passer rating of 75.7 is below average (typically about 80.0) and far below the elite status that might inspire a team to take a chance on him three seasons after he last took a snap from center.

Atlanta’s running game has certainly suffered severely this year without Vick (down from 5.47 YPA in 2006 to 3.88 YPA in 2007, entering Atlanta’s Monday night game vs. New Orleans). However, the Falcons passing game, even with a rotating cast of quarterbacks, has fared relatively well, with 2,675 yards through 12 games, just seven yards shy of the 2,682 yards Atlanta’s 32nd-ranked passing attack produced in all of 2006.

7. Vick's game doesn't work in pro football
Major college football has changed drastically over the past decade, with most teams eschewing run-first offenses for pass-happy pro-style offenses. But there’s still room for the running quarterback. Simply look at dual-threat Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow of Florida, or the option offenses employed with great effect by military academies Navy and Air Force, which ranked Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in rushing offense this season.

But the NFL ain’t college football. You'd have to search long and hard through the dusty pages of NFL history to find a running quarterback who won a championship. And those with reputations as running quarterbacks, such as Steve Young and John Elway, were also great passers when they won championships.

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The pro game is all about quarterbacking play — specifically, it's all about the passing play of quarterbacks. Teams that pass the ball well win games consistently and win championships consistently. Teams that don’t pass the ball well don’t win consistently. There's a reason why just eight Hall of Fame quarterbacks have won 22 of the 41 Super Bowls ever played (Terry Bradshaw, 4; Joe Montana, 4; Troy Aikman, 3; Tom Brady, 3; John Elway, 2; Bob Griese, 2; Bart Starr, 2; Roger Staubach, 2).

And Vick’s Falcons never won consistently because he never passed well consistently. They were 37-27-1 with Vick as a starting QB, but just 15-17 over his last two seasons. And Atlanta’s greatest season under Vick simply proves the importance of passing.

The 2004 Falcons went 11-5 and reached the NFC championship game. Vick, not so coincidentally, had perhaps his best season as a passer with career highs in completion percentage (56.4) and yards per attempt (7.2).

Yet in a league in which an effective passing game is always the difference between failure and success, those numbers are not great — certainly not great enough to inspire a team to hand Vick the keys to the offense after a three-year absence. But they should find seven good reasons to hand him the rock.

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