Michael Vick has Pro Bowl-caliber expectations for Marcus Mariota in Atlanta

Michael Vick may always be remembered in the same breath as his dog-fighting scandal, which may make it easy to forget just how dominant Vick was in his six seasons with the Atlanta Falcons.

If anything best summed up Vick's brand of an explosive, dual-threat quarterback, it was the commercial, "The Mike Vick Experience."

Watching him was like watching a corkscrewing roller coaster. He was as hard to tackle as a ghost, and his 21 rushing touchdowns as a Falcon were proof of that.

Vick has been trying his hand at commentating about and analyzing the game and league he once dominated.

Writing for The 33rd Team, Vick explained why he's high on Atlanta heading into the 2022 season.

"I wish that I would’ve said this when I was talking to the team, but I really feel like this is going to be a team that’s going to fly under the radar and shock some people."

A quarterback by trade, one of the main reasons Vick feels good about Atlanta is because of quarterback Marcus Mariota. The former No. 2 overall pick of the Tennessee Titans (2015) seems to be more of a journeyman and career backup at this stage of his career to the outside observer. Vick sees something different, though.

"I had a chance to spend some time with Marcus Mariota. Arthur Smith was gracious enough to let me sit down with him and a have a chat. I feel like he’s ready to step into that role of being a leader and taking the next step on the field. Which means being a Pro Bowl-caliber player," Vick wrote. "We expected that from Marcus and we thought he could give us that when he was in Tennessee. We have seen glimpses of it, and we know he has the potential to do a lot."

Vick seems to think Mariota's experience with his head coach, Arthur Smith, will be beneficial. Smith was Tennessee's offensive coordinator in 2019 when Mariota played in seven games for the Titans.

"Marcus knows the offense and has a great understanding of it. That means he can coach the guys around him as they go through this process, and it’s not all on Arthur Smith to try to bring each and every player along. Atlanta has a solid leader in Mariota who understands what that’s about, and how to make that happen," Vick concluded.