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Thursday, May 29, 2008

Who Would You Swap With?

It is fair to question some of the decisions Vince Young has made early in is professional career. You may even want to say that that decision making ability, for better or worse, may carry out on to the field. But how many of us would have liked to have the glare of the media focused on us in our early twenties as we stumbled out of college and into ealy adulthood? I'm not a VY apologist, just a realist. Now, let me pose a question. Who would you swap him for? The only true measure of a quarterback is his value in helping your team win. How about the guys he came in with? Lienart? Forgetaboutit! Cutler? You can make an argument, but how has he done in the clutch? Not at Vandy, nor in Denver can you say that guy made all the difference. Cutler is reliable and mature, but he hasn't carried a team to major victories or a playoff. Denver was in much better shape 2 years ago than the Titans...and they haven't improved. What about David Gerrard in Jacksonville? He's 30 now and just had his first big year...no thanks. Philip Rivers? Maybe, but when he was Young's age he had yet to start a game...VY has two years under his belt. Eli? He was ready to be run out early last year...his fourth as a starter, before having a nice playoff run. Derek Anderson? Maybe a fluke, but he also got 2 years to watch before becoming a starter. Tony Romo? How would Vince have done with that team around him...think he'd a won a playoff game by now? My point is, be careful what you wish for, and appreciate what could be coming...

5 comments:

Chicago Rick said...

I wish you and your callers would admit to being unabashed Vince Young homers. As a lifelong Bears fan I consider myself an expert on "quarterbacks I would rather have" and there are several in the NFL I would rather have than Vince.

The obvious:
Brady
Manning
Brees
McNabb

The not so obvious (apparently)
Big Ben -- you think VY "just wins?" How about winning a super bowl in your 2nd year?

Eli -- it doesn't matter that he was about to be run out of town at the BEGINNING of last year. How did he end the season again?

Romo -- the onus isn't only him for a lack of a playoff win over the last two years

Garrard -- I don't care that he's 30. He hasn't been a starter for very long so he probably has more years left than your average 30 year old QB. He's exactly the kind of QB that would flourish on a Jeff Fisher team.

Carson Palmer -- he fell off a bit last year but he has a big time arm with good accuracy.

Jason Campbell -- made huge strides last year.

Matt Hasselbeck

If I were a Titans fan I would take any of the above QBs if I could convince their respective teams to take VY straight up. I would include Marc Bulger, but he's getting up there in age.

The fact that Vince is as high on this list as he is, is not a testament to his qb prowess, but rather an indictment of the state of QBs in the NFL today. With Vince, it's not just about what he has around him. He still has to learn how to make good decisions and make good throws consistently. Bottom line is Vince has a lot of growing up to do both on and off the field. Yes, we all feel very bad for him that he was considering retirement at the ripe old age of 22. I'm sure he had no idea he would be facing media scrutiny on the level he did coming from a big college like Texas. He chose this profession and knew, or should've known, what he was getting himself into. The aspect of this that seems to go unmentioned is he could have retired after his rookie season and never worked another day in his life. Cry me a river Vince.

Anonymous said...

I'm not sold on VY myself, but it is hard to accurately judge him when the weapons he's been given to work with shot mostly blanks.

Anonymous said...

Thom, If you're a realist you'd know that you're a VY apologist. Quit after his first year? If it had been any other player on any other team you'd hammer him. I know you feel the need to cozy up to VY & the organization but grow a pair & have an opinion for chrissakes. You loose all credibility as a sports talk show host when you don't.

'Facts are stubborn things.'- John Adams

Anonymous said...

I just can't give up on a guy after 2 years. Not after I've seen what he CAN do. I have crushed him for bad decisions...the school thing, the party, SAYING he was thinking of bailing out...I'm just not ready to say he's a bust...

Anonymous said...

I'm with ya Dawg! Unfortunately anything positive said about VY gets you labeled as a homer.

But you're right, Eli was the second coming of Ryan Leaf until they got hot at the end of the year. He was the whiner that refused to go to San Diego. Add Plaxico, Smith amd a strong ground attack and everyone forgets about that and calls him an "elite" QB.

VY's upside is way too big to ignore. If he dedicates himself to the offseason program and works as hard as he told Fisher he's willing to, then there's no reason he shouldn't get another shot.