Vince Young might look like a QB this year folks. |
Vince Young has sucked as an NFL QB the first two years of his pro career. There's no denying that, and any attempt to sugar coat his crappy play is nothing more than Kool-Aid drinking. We've talked about ole Vince many times here at Stampede Blue, mainly because we enjoy being right. All the things we said about Vince (he's lazy, he can't throw from the pocket, he's dumb, he has character issues, and he whines like a sissy Mary when he doesn't get his way) were all true. Some NFL scouts pointed out these very flaws before he was drafted, but no one listened. The Titans won 10 games in 2007 in spite of his horrid play, with one of those games a mailed-in job by the Colts in Week 17 because they had locked up their playoff seeding. The Titans were then hosed by San Diego in the playoffs the next week.
And, of course, Vince played terrible in that playoff game.
Laziness at the QB position has been a hallmark of the Titans for many years. But this year, we might actually see something different from Captain Patron. We might actually see him... gasp!... read a defense! Maybe even... OMFG!... throw a pass accurately from the pocket! Why do we suspect this? Pete Prisco offers his insights from Titans camp:
In his two seasons in the league as the Tennessee Titans quarterback, [Vince Young] has been much more media-made creation than the star he's perceived to be. His magical athletic ability made fans and media members alike drool about his improvisational skills, forgetting his inability to scan the field and make all the reads -- the true job of a quarterback.
Yes, yes, yes. We know that Pete. Vince sucks and was an over-hyped, ESPN chump who couldn't play the QB position at the pro level, despite morons like Tom Jackson and Tony Kornheiser vomiting on us all the time that he was a "winner." Tell us something we don't know.
So I came here to Nashville to see the Titans work with the St. Louis Rams for two days, wondering what Young would do. I came with the same feelings I've had about him: Until he shows he can play like a conventional quarterback he's never going to get to an elite level, despite the slobber of other media members on his shoes.I left drooling, too -- but not for the same reasons.
Young put on a passing display in the two practices I saw against the Rams that made him look like a different player. In the morning workout, he completed 22 of 26 passes and then followed that up by hitting nine in a row in the afternoon workout.
What?
Really?
Vince is... throwing accurately?
Did I step into some weird, Twilight Zone-like universe after I got back from lunch at the burrito stand? Is this Bizarro World? Is up down? Is black white? Is the dollar stronger than the Euro? What's going on? How can this be?
This camp has been different. Although he got off to a slow start, the practices against the Rams seemed to bring out the best in him."He's had his best camp by far," Fisher said. "The focus and the concentration is all there. It's about knowing where to go with the football."
...
Young is spending more time in the film room, doing more work on the mental side of things.
Wow. Dare I say it folks? The Titans may actually have a real quarterback in 2008.
Look, I personally never doubted Vince Young's talent. The guy is amazing, physically. But professional football is not college football. You actually have to know what you're going here with the big boys. Matching wits against Pete Carroll (a known idiot chased out of the NFL because he sucks) is not the same thing as matching wits with Tony Dungy. Hard work and dedication are vital to success in the pros. It now seems that Vince Young might have figured that out. It only took 3 years.
I actually think this is a good thing, folks. Please understand, I respect Vince Young's talent, but I'm not scared of the Titans. If the Colts can smack around Tom Brady on a consistent basis, an improved Vince Young does not intimidate me. Does it make beating the Titans harder? Yes, but there are no freebies in the NFL. The one thing we all stated Vince had to learn to do (throw accurately from the pocket) is exactly the thing the Titans are making him work on. So, all this crap we got from Titans and blindly loyal Longhorns fans about how the Titans need to let "Vince be Vince" was just typical, ignorant bile from people who don't know or understand football. Heck, I still get crap from Titans fans for simply stating the truth (check out these comments).
Prisco ends his column with a statement that reflects what we have trumpeted for two years:
It was the type of throw that great passers make. Young has always had the arm; nobody doubted that. It appears the work in the film room is what's about to pay off....
That could put a damper on some of the highlight-show stuff, which might anger those Vince Young worshipers who love it. But the reality is if he throws the ball anywhere near the way he threw it that day against the Rams, he will be on his way to possibly joining the elite of the league.
Maybe Vince has turned a corner. We'll see. Somehow, I doubt Titans fans will say "BBS was right" if Vince indeed becomes a good pocket passer.