VINCE YOUNG IS RESTLESS

“I definitely want to get back out there playing ball and picking up where I left off, winning games and having a good time with my teammates and with the fans, at the same time, if them guys don’t want me to be in there, it’s time for me to make a career change for myself. Because the fact is I’m ready to play ball. If they’re not ready for me to play ball, then somebody is.”
(I do apologize for the incorrect use of the word them in the opening quote, but it is a quote, and that is exactly what he said. He was a star football player at Texas, do you really think he was forced to pay attention in all of his English classes? )

This is a statement that Vince Young made to a Baltimore media outlet concerning his current position on the Titans quarterback depth chart. Kerry Collins is currently the starter. He led the Titans to a 13 – 3 record and the AFC South Championship. Vince Young is currently the backup quarterback, and it looks like his only hope of starting for the Titans is if Collins gets injured or retires.

There were many people in the media who took shots at Young for making these comments. They made it seem as though he was whining or sulking and basically being a BRETT FAVRE (my new official term for DIVA), by saying that he must be given the starting job or he will take his ball and go home. In my opinion, these guys have it all wrong. Personally, I don’t have a problem with Young’s comments at all. What he was saying was that he has been working hard and really wants a chance to win back his old job (that he should have never had). I gather that he wants to play, and he feels that he is good enough to be someone’s starting quarterback, whether it is in Tennessee or elsewhere.

I applaud Young’s comments, because it shows that he is not content being a backup. Let’s be honest, does anyone want a player on their team who is content to be a backup. I want a team full of guys that will work their hardest to always get better and be on the field as much as possible. What do you think those same critics of Young would be saying if he instead said, “Man, I have the best job in the world. They just paid me over $7 million last season to wear a baseball cap and hold a clipboard. I can’t wait until next season starts so that I can watch Kerry do his thing, while I do my best Peerless Price impersonation and continue to rob them blind.” If that was his comment, everyone would be saying that we need a guy on our team that has more competitive fire and that is not content to be a backup. Truth be told, the best thing that Vince could have done was say nothing, because he was definitely in a no-win situation. He was going to be criticized no matter what he said.

Now, I must be honest. Although I applaud Young’s competitive fire and his desire to get back on the field, I must say that if he or anyone else believes that he can be a starting quarterback on a good team in this league, they are out of their minds. If you look at Vince Young’s history in the NFL, it is easy to see how he has a distorted view of his abilities. First of all, he was drafted waaaayyyy to high (He was drafted third overall in the 2006 draft, but that was also the year that Vernon Davis was drafted sixth overall by San Francisco. Let’s just say that the talent evaluators had an off year). That must have really had him thinking that he was the man. Then things got even more distorted when he was named Rookie of the Year (this was really because he turned out to be a better rookie running back than Reggie Bush and Maurice Jones-Drew). To make matters worse, he even made the Pro Bowl (actually he was an injury replacement’s, injury replacement). So basically, Young got a lot of undeserved accolades very early in his career, which gave him a supreme sense of entitlement.

The truth of the matter is, Vince Young has a loooonnnnng way to go before I would feel comfortable with him as my starting quarterback. There are those that would look at the fact that Young led the Titans to 8 wins as a rookie and 10 wins in second season, and say that he is a winner no matter what his statistics say. I strongly disagree. As a matter of fact, I can honestly say that the Titans had that moderate level of success IN SPITE OF Vince Young’s play at quarterback. His career statistics are simply terrible (for a lack of a better word). First of all, he has thrown for less than 5,000 yards in his entire career (33 games played). To put that in perspective, Peyton Manning threw for over 4,500 in 2004 alone. Tom Brady threw for over 4,800 in 2007. As a matter of fact, Brady’s 2007 total is only 158 yards less than Young’s career total. Drew Brees threw for 5,069 yards last season (105 more than Young’s career total), and even fellow 2006 draftee Jay Cutler topped 4,500 yards last season. I know that you are thinking that all of these players played with good to great wide receivers. That is true, but Donovan McNabb didn’t have a proven receiver going into last season and he still threw for almost 4,000 yards. Further proof that the Titans were winning in spite of Young’s play at quarterback can be seen in his 0.69 to 1 career touchdown to interception ratio (22 touchdowns to 32 interceptions). This means that he throws far less than one touchdown for every interception that he throws. Michael Vick (who is routinely criticized for his passing skills) even has a touchdown to interception ratio of 1.39 to 1, which is double that of Young. Basically he is half the passer that Michael Vick is/was (which is not saying much at all). Ideally, you would want this number to be 2 to 1 or higher, which Young’s is not even close to accomplishing. As a matter of fact, he has never thrown more touchdowns than interceptions in any NFL season.

Vince Young is a great athlete, but a terrible quarterback. I love his desire and competitive fire, but I hate his work ethic. While I have never attended a Titans practice, I am fairly comfortable saying that he doesn’t work hard because he is one player that I can honestly say has not gotten any better since he left college. There has been absolutely NO IMPROVEMENT IN HIS GAME. He is the same player that he was when he entered the league, and that player is not ready to be anyone’s starter.

My advice to Vince is to learn as much as you can from Collins, study film like there is no tomorrow and throw, throw, throw. Practice makes perfect. I sincerely hope that you are putting the work in, and will be ready when you get another opportunity to start. I wouldn’t give you that opportunity, but I am sure that someone definitely will.

AND NOW FOR MY BALLER & SCRUB OF THE WEEK

BALLER: Chad Ochocinco (Wide Receiver Cincinnati Bengals) - You earn this honor because you finally realized that the Bengals WILL NOT TRADE YOU, no matter what you do. That being said, all signs point to you working hard this off-season to return to the beast of a receiver that you truly are. No matter what the haters say, the game needs you. Football is at its best when Chad Ochocinco is at his best. Now go ball out and lead the Bengals to the playoffs. Carson is healthy, so THERE ARE NO EXCUSES!

SCRUB: Chad Ochocinco (Wide Receiver Cincinnati Bengals) - You get this dubious distinction for not being prepared at all for last season. I heard you say in a recent interview that you didn't lift one weight, run one route, or excercise in preparation for last season. Even if you were focused on getting out of Cincy, you should have prepared and played your hardest. I mean, you did cash thier checks, didn't you? The fans still bought expensive tickets in a recession to see you play, didn't they? I appreciate your honesty, but you should be ashamed of yourself. I EXPECT AN ALL-PRO SEASON THIS YEAR! Now go ball out and lead the Bengals to the playoffs. Carson is healthy, so THERE ARE NO EXCUSES!