The Mag asked KC Joyner to pick the player most like Michael Vick for each of the NFL's 32 teams. Now, these aren't just guys who are game-breaking, home-run threats. They're also impossible to game-plan against: a safety who roams without tendencies or a tight end who lines up all over the field. Like Vick, V-Factors make an offensive or defensive coordinator's game week prep seem like one long nightmare.
AFC previews
| NFC previews | Joyner's V-factors
AFC
AFC EAST
New England Patriots
Brandon Tate, WR
Want to know how Tom Brady tied for second in the NFL in yards per stretch vertical attempt (20-plus yards)? Look no further than Tate. His ability to break open on corner, post and go routes was key to the two-year pro catching six of 12 stretch vertical targets for 241 yards and two TDs last season.
New York Jets
Antonio Cromartie, CB
After five seasons of lockdown coverage, Cromartie might be the perfect defensive mirror to Vick himself. He plays tight in man-to-man (6.3 YPA, 17 passes defensed in 2010), has rapid reaction (18 career INTs) and, like Vick, knows what to do in the open field (302 INT return yards).