Marcus Vick has a troubled past and unpolished skills, blurring his draft status

NFL general managers will have to weigh whether Marcus Vick is worth the risk, given his past mistakes.

By KYLE TUCKER
The Virginian-Pilot

After winning his first eight college starts last fall, Marcus Vick was being compared with All-Pro brother Michael.

Saturday, as the first day of the NFL draft will likely come and go without Vick being selected, the former Virginia Tech quarterback will hear himself compared more often with the likes of Maurice Clarett and Lawrence Phillips.

Rather than wondering if Marcus might be a better version of Michael, as some analysts did midway through last season, NFL general managers will be weighing whether Vick can stay out of trouble. Whether he's worth the risk.

"The whole question is character, maturity," said Scott Wright, president of nfldraftcountdown.com, a service that rates pro prospects. "Had he kept his nose clean, gone back to school, had another good year, he could have very well been a first-round pick next year."

Instead, following his All-ACC debut as Tech's starting quarterback last fall, Vick set about a string of troubled behavior: stomping an opponent's leg in the Gator Bowl, driving on a suspended license, allegedly pulling a gun at a Suffolk McDonalds.

Vick already had served a year-long suspension for another series of mistakes - reckless driving, marijuana possession, providing alcohol to teenage girls - and was booted from college for good in January.

Only a few weeks earlier, Vick announced he would not leave Tech early for the NFL draft, admitting he wasn't ready. Had he come out then, Wright said, Vick would've been a third- or fourth-round selection .

Now , Vick's been trying to convince teams that he really is ready. And that this time, he really is sorry. And that seriously, for real this time, he's learned his lesson.

In the only recent interview Vick has granted, he told the Associated Press that all the negative ink hurt his feelings. Vick said he's not like Clarett, kicked out of Ohio State for receiving improper benefits, then cut by the Broncos, then charged with armed robbery. Neither is he like Phillips, who had at least three different charges of assault on women, refused to show up for practice with the Rams and even stole a car.

"But I'm a hard worker," Vick told the AP. "I'm going to keep fighting through my ups and downs. That's the difference between them and me."

The other difference is draft position.

Despite dragging his girlfriend down a flight of stairs by her hair in college, Phillips was selected No. 6 overall in the 1996 draft. Despite his impropriety at Ohio State, Clarett was picked in the third round of the 2005 draft.

But because both proved their problems were nowhere near behind them, NFL teams are shying away from prospects with character questions these days.

"I don't think any team even brought (Vick) in for a private workout," Wright said. "There's a number of teams that don't have him on their draft board at all. They aren't even treating him like he's available. In the NFL, they'll keep giving you chances if you have talent. But he's getting real close to using up all those chances."

While Wright says he'd be surprised if Vick went undrafted , he doesn't think he'll go before the final two rounds .

Wright's bet is a team like Oakland, where owner Al Davis has a history of taking chances. Or Arizona, whose coach Denny Green once gambled on hard-to-handle wide receiver Randy Moss.

"I think you take a chance on a talent like him," Wright said. "Because his talent's never been a question, and that late in the draft, the reward far outweighs the risk."

If he's taken that late, he's a small financial investment and teams can cut him quickly if things don't work out.

But Vick's versatility may keep that from happening. At the NFL combine, Vick ran the second-fastest 40-yard dash among quarterbacks, at 4.42 seconds. He's been staying in Atlanta with Michael, working out with renowned NFL trainer Chip Smith.

Several teams who might wonder about Vick's admittedly unpolished quarterback skills might select him anyway, on athleticism alone. Teams know he played significant snaps at receiver in high school and college.

Wright said he could see Vick being used much the way the Steelers used former Indiana University quarterback Antwan Randel-El , lining him up wide, in the backfield and on kick returns.

Larry Woodward, the lawyer who represented Vick during all his troubles and is now his agent, said his client isn't against switching positions.

"Marcus is a realist," Woodward said. "All he wants is an opportunity. He understands this is going to be one of those situations where it's not where you start out that matters, but where you end up. … He's willing to do whatever is asked of him by a team."

One thing that has and will be asked is why a team should trust him today .

But his college coach, who tearfully told him he couldn't come back just three months ago, believes Vick truly has grown up. Frank Beamer still believes Marcus is more like Michael and less like NFL renegades past.

"He's not a bad person ... he has learned from his mistakes ... he's going to be a great NFL quarterback," Beamer said. "I don't have any trouble recommending Marcus Vick to anyone."

This weekend, we'll find out if anyone's listening.