Vince Young Sure Is Great ... Right?
Filed in archive 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)
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