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NFL
by Kyle Smith on December 11, 2007

Very few athletes get free passes from the ubiquitous media. The sheer volume of the industry suggests that saying something different is necessary to make your voice heard. But so far, nobody has taken that route concerning Titans quarterback Vince Young. Most fans and media have been quick to sing his praises.
Let's compare Young to another quarterback who was recently drafted with a top five pick. Keep in mind that this is a player who has already been called "bust of the decade." It should be noted that Young is 24, and this QB is 23. See if you can figure out from the numbers which QB is Young, and which is the aforementioned bust.
Completion Percentage
A) 56.5%
B) 54.4%
Yards
A) 4,231
B) 4,679
Touchdown Passes
A) 19
B) 19
Interceptions
A) 29
B) 31
Passer Rating
A) 66.8
B) 63.5
Quarterback A? Vince Young. Quarterback B? San Francisco 49er Alex Smith, who is going to have a hard time ever playing for that club again, at least if Mike Nolan is the coach. Their feud has now gone public, with Smith calling Nolan out for, among other things, purposefully destroying the QB's reputation in the locker room.
There is something else to consider, of course - rushing. Young has a career total of 895 rushing yards and ten rushing TD's, to Smith's 339 and two, respectively. However, Young has only about 340 of those yards this year, and just three rushing TD's, as running back LenDale White has emerged as the goal line threat.
Another thing to consider is this: Although Smith has not played well this year, at least part of that is due to a separated shoulder that has ended his season, and he was also on his third different offensive coordinator in three years.
Still, Smith got appreciably better in his second year, throwing 16 TD passes and 16 interceptions, completing 58 percent of his passes and ending up with a QB rating of 74.8. Strictly for comparison's sake, in his second year as a starter, Packers QB Brett Favre threw 19 TD's, 24 INT's, completed 60.9% of his passes and had a QB rating of 72.2. In his second season, Young has regressed, with 7 TD passes, 16 interceptions and a passer rating of 66.9.
Nobody's suggesting Alex Smith will be Brett Favre or that Vince Young is a bust. It's just curious that when you look a the two situations with a discerning eye, 550 rushing yards seem to be the difference between bust and Pro Bowler.
(Photo: Flickr)
Permalink: Vince Young Sure Is Great ... Right?
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Mr Wong
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Rating: 10.00 out of 3 vote(s) cast.
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Response from:
Rick
(12/11/07 2:15pm)
Another major factor being that Vince Young wins more games than Alex Smith. The Titans are 14-13 when Young plays while the 49ers are 11-20 when Smith plays. The Titans have a better team, but Smith is doing much less to improve his team than Vince Young is.
Response from:
Kyle
(12/11/07 2:39pm)
That's true to an extent, but I wonder how each would perform if they switched teams.
Response from:
Tim
(12/11/07 3:04pm)
Clearly the media is racist.
Response from:
Kyle
(12/11/07 3:23pm)
You nailed it, Tim. They hate that damned Alex Smith for his whiteness.
Response from:
Steve
(12/11/07 7:28pm)
It looks to me like Vince's quad injury has never fully healed, thus cutting down his ability to move and scramble.
Also, I wonder if Norm Chow and Jeff Fisher really trust Vince. Running on 1st down 10 straight times in the latter stages of the San Diego game?
In the four games before the Chargers Vince has passed for almost 1,000 yards. Don't know if the Titans are trying to force a round peg into a square hole, or if Vince is trying to prove that he can play the drop-back NFL game, but somebody needs to decide if the Titans are willing to "Let Vince be Vince."
Also, I wonder if Norm Chow and Jeff Fisher really trust Vince. Running on 1st down 10 straight times in the latter stages of the San Diego game?
In the four games before the Chargers Vince has passed for almost 1,000 yards. Don't know if the Titans are trying to force a round peg into a square hole, or if Vince is trying to prove that he can play the drop-back NFL game, but somebody needs to decide if the Titans are willing to "Let Vince be Vince."
Response from:
HL
(12/12/07 10:59am)
Vince has been pretty bad this year. But anyone who has watched the Titans this year can see that it's not all his fault. He's thrown some bad picks, to be sure, but he has NO receivers to throw to. Nobody has hands. I've seen more drops than I can count. And the commitment to the run is a little puzzling to me too. Lendale White is not the answer. He's overweight, slow, and can't outrun anyone, plus he has a knack for fumbles. But Norm Chow is emnamored with the guy. He's putting up steady, decent numbers, but this is a product of the offensive line. A guy like Chris Henry I think would be much more effective, with White as a third down back (actually I think he'd be perfect as a fullback). The offense has become very predictable . . . run, run, short pass. Chow won't open up the offense and let Vince throw the ball down the field or let him tuck it and run, which is what he was doing last year. That's what made him effective. If he started doing that again, I think Vince would have a much easier time completing passes. Of course, having some good WRs would certainly help things as well.
Response from:
Kyle
(12/13/07 10:04am)
All valid points, HL (Chow was White's offensive coordinator at USC, so I'm sure he likes him). Still, the numbers are what they are. But they do need wideouts. Gage has been okay lately but that's pretty much it.
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