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I'm not trying to be rude, but I literally talked about Vick specifically last week in depth. He DID NOT have a whale of a rookie season. He attempted 113 passes, completed 44% of them, and had a 63 rating. Maybe you are referring to his second season, in which he started 15 games? Well let me again post those stats. 55% comp, 16/8 td/int, and an 82 rating. His ranks for the 2002 season were as follows:
comp %-- 25th
int%-- 6th
ypa--12th
rating--18th
And again Griffin's rankings in those categories
comp %--4th
int%--t1st
ypa--1st
rating--3rd
Notice any differences? To compare Griffin's rookie season to Vick's is a complete travesty. To compare Vick's second year to Griffin's rookie year is still not even close. And that's spotting Vick a year.
So what about Tom Brady? He sits back in the pocket for hours sometimes and finds guys open, do we now say that his success shouldn't count either? Do we now go back through the record books and put an asterisk by any QB who had good pass protection? Does your hometown hero Wilson get good pass protection? I notice a few marquee Pro Bowl Offensive Lineman on Seattle's roster. So now lets invalidate his stats too. And now when a QB gets extra time because of a play-action or boot leg, those stats shouldn't count either? Every team in the NFL does things to try to buy their QB's more time.
Here's an interesting thought experiment. Imagine another athletic young(first or second year) QB had played all season for Washington instead of Griffin. Who would you choose, Tebow, Tarvarris Jackson, maybe Colt Mccoy, how about Vince Young, or let's try Jake Locker. Your pick. Most of those guys have been in systems that cater to their specific abilities, and how have they ended up? How about Cam Newton. How'd his rookie year end up? Similar athletic abiltiy. #1 overall draft pick.
60% comp, 21/17 ratio, 7.8 ypa, 85 rating. Would you look at those numbers and say, geez, what a bust, that guy cant play QB. Once defenses adjust he's dead in the water. What if those were Andrew Luck's rookie numbers or Sam Bradford's or Matthew Stafford's? You'd say, that's solid for a rookie, and will only get better from there. Almost anyone would say that. So why all the vitriol for Griffin? If ever the phrase "the sky is the limit" were apt for someone playing QB in the NFL, it would be for Robert Griffin.
And finally, how about all of those QB's that Shanahan had in Denver with that great ground game he always had. I posted detailed long-term numbers in the other thread addressing exactly this. The conclusion: Jake Plummer was the only QB he took from below average/decent to good. Cutler, Griese, Elway, Grossman, his affect on their production was negligible.