Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Hannan / Sports Hey Vince Young, Listen to the Blogger
Posted by Caleb Hannan on Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 12:24 PM
"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."Hey, maybe Young was smiling when he said all this. Who are we to judge? In typically level-headed fashion, though, Kuharsky has the right response to all this pre-season boat-rocking: Young should fire his agent, Major Adams, a family friend from Houston who only has one client in the NFL. Young is still an, errrr, young man. He needs good advice, not lackeys. It's the same thing Kuharsky, and others, have been preaching since day one. And to that effect, Kuharsky lists a handful of proven names who can steer him in the right direction. It's funny that, of all the people who should offer guidance to Young, Kuharsky is leading the charge. (Not that writing a blog post is anything like real, face-to-face guidance. We're talking about strictly within the realm of the internet here.) There are still a legion of very vocal, very annoyed Young apologists who absolutely kill Kuharsky whenever he, in their eyes, speaks ill of their hero. (These people being near chromosomal matches for the types that line up outside of the courtroom during the latest celebrity trial, ready to bravely stand in support of the rich guy whose hired half of Dershowitz & Cochran for his defense.) Anyway, we're rambling here. Point is, Young should heed the blogger's advice. At the very least, it's better than the self-serving counsel we were ready to offer: join Twitter. Rich athletes shouldn't have to wait for a televised interview to publicize one of their hallmark mood swings? Let the world know in real-time!
Comments (8)
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What's wrong with what VY said? He's only saying that if the Titans aren't going to play him, they should let him go. Vince should agree to jigger his contract or whatever so the Titans can trade him. Personally, I think he's getting a raw deal. He's better than Collins. He would give the Titans another offensive weapon, which they desperately need. It's obvious they don't want to pass because they won't go out and get a good receiver. So if they're going to run all the time, it would definitely help to have Vince in the backfield.
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"It's obvious they don't want to pass because they won't go out and get a good receiver."
Really? In the same off-season where the Titans took a wideout in the first round (Kenny Britt from Rutgers) for the first time in a decade and signed a free agent from the Super Bowl winner (Nate Washington, formerly of the Steelers) it's "obvious" that they won't go out and get a good receiver?
Maybe you're not sold on the talent, Woods, but if anything, what's obvious is that the Titans HAVE been working to upgrade their passing game, not the other way around.
Here we go again...
"What's wrong with what VY said?"
It's childish and shows no respect for the TEAM.
"Personally, I think he's getting a raw deal. He's better than Collins."
Really? How'd that work out for you last season?
"It's obvious they don't want to pass because they won't go out and get a good receiver."
2 words: Nate Washington
"So if they're going to run all the time, it would definitely help to have Vince in the backfield. "
Wildcat would be interesting, but having Collins & Young in the backfield is a liability.
Looking forward to game 1, and enjoying that 6th trophy. Maybe you'll get one someday! I think Titans' last season was a fluke but we'll find out soon enough.
The Titans did attempt to address a need at WR, at least more than they've done in most years. But let's not forget that they also lost a WR to free agency, so partly they are just filling a vacancy. In some ways I can't blame them for not going after a high-profile WR like Anquain Boldin. The Titans have had some bad luck in the past with that approach, as anyone who remembers Carl Pickens and Yancey Thigpen can attest. They also didn't have a lot of luck the other time they used a first-round pick on a WR, since Kevin Dyson never did that much here other than run the last 70 yards of the Immaculate Deception against Buffalo and nearly score on the last play of the Super Bowl. The very promising WR they took from MTSU (2nd or 3rd round, if I recall) was a bust.
But I do agree with Woods that Vince has gotten a raw deal, at least to the extent that most of the media toadies have written him off as a head case and that the Titans front office has actually abetted that perception.
The kid obviously has talent. He won rookie of the year and put the team on a winning track when he won the job in his first season. Then he gets injured, and then he has to make an adjustment to a new offensive coordinator. All of those can affect the learning curve of a young QB, and most NFL QBs don't really start clicking on all cylinders until they've had several seasons to learn the game.
Personally, I think that in his heart of hearts, Jeff Fisher is uncomfortable with "X factor" players like Steve McNair and Vince Young. He likes to wear teams down with a power running game, complemented by a QB who can make a play on third down. He never really let McNair be Air McNair except for the season when injuries to Eddie George forced him to start using 4-wide formations. (Not coincidentally, that was the year McNair shared the MVP award and might have taken the Titans to another Super Bowl had Drew Whatshisname not dropped that pass in New England).
I put a lot of the responsibility for Young's development on the team. My biggest knock on him is that he quit running like he did that first year. A lot of fans thought this was by design. Some in the Titans' front office say they were encouraging Vince to run, but he was staying in the pocket and trying to throw. Maybe his injury made him reluctant to take off as much as he did in his first season. I don't know which theory is right -- that's a question for someone like Kuharsky -- but I do think that it's the crux of the issue. Unless he's a constant threat to pull down the ball and take off, Young cannot keep teams off balance the way he needs to.
Kerry Collins won the job fair and square and performed very well. But obviously he is not the long-term answer. He might -- might -- have one more year in him after this. The Titans understandably are reluctant to part with Young, because it would mean writing off a No. 3 draft pick as a mistake, and at the moment they can't trade him for anything remotely close to the value he represented when they chose him. The catch-22 is that he won't regain that value unless they play him, and they don't seem to be making him a serious part of their planning, given the effort they've made in getting additional backups at QB. They seem to think they can light a competitive fire under Young by demoting him to third-team. That works with some players, but not with others, and Young looks like he falls into that latter category. That doesn't make him a head case, and it doesn't make him wrong to want to go somewhere else if he isn't wanted here. The Nashville fans and media have behaved toward Young more like I would expect from assholes in NYC or Filthadelphia.
Finally, on a random "homer" note, it's interesting to see how some NFL clubs develop pipelines to college programs. It has been noted how the Bears have taken so many Vandy players. The Titans like the talent from UT. Can't help but wonder how the Titans' future might look right now had they had the guts to look like homers and pick Jay Cutler three years ago. Look for the Bears to make a big jump this season with Cutler, a terrific young RB and Devin Hester.
Just a thought. Suppose Young were to play in the backfield simultaneously with Kerry Collins. Perhaps with Collins under center and Young lining up at fullback. That combination would open up a whole passell of plays, with Young's ability to run and two backs with passing ability.
I don't recall Kuharsky covering the Titans before they came here from Houston. He was an improvement over Jeff Legwald, but so would Daffy Duck have been. Kuharsky is not hard-edged as you imply, he is merely your typical, brassy Yankee.
Listen, when you "quit" on your team as Young did, you don't come back making demands. If you really want to see the reality of the situation think pre-players' union. Young would already be released in those days. He's received around 26 mil guaranteed and the Titans, unlike some other teams, can't just sever ties and move on; they want to somehow make the separation favor them. Easy prediction. He's gone after this year and gone soon after entirely from the NFL.
Young should not have been offensive rookie of the year. Two or three other players were more deserving.
Of course, Young has poor representation. Who else listens to someone with the last name of a mythical, Pacific island?
