Whether Titans owner Bud Adams had some input on the use of rookie quarterback Vince Young, head coach Jeff Fisher is making a very smart move in making sure Young plays two or three series in the season opener against the New York Jets.
Young and new starter Billy Volek are two totally different quarterbacks. Volek prefers to take a deep drop because he is not that mobile. Young is a freakish talent who can throw on the run and if there’s nothing there, has the strength to possibly run for a first down. He has running back skills. Despite his odd release, Young is a very accurate passer and can pull the trigger quickly. He simply needs to be smarter about sliding and ducking defenders.
Deep down, Fisher knows that Young could be the difference between a winning or losing season in Tennessee. Volek is a five-win quarterback at best. But by playing Young, too, the rookie will be putting tremendous pressure on opposing defenses with the extra preparation time necessary to deal with two entirely different quarterbacks.
Tennessee, regardless of the running back, could have a decent running game. But if Fisher starts losing early, look for him to extend the use of Young until he becomes a starter this season. It makes sense.
If Fisher loses this season, there’s a chance Adams could fire him, which may not be a bad career move for the coach. He is a co-chairman of the NFL Competition Committee and respected league-wide as one of the game’s finest coaches. He will find work easily, and on his terms.
There could be two major openings.
San Diego’s Dean Spanos is unhappy with Marty Schottenheimer and could make a change regardless of how well the Chargers do this season. The other opening could be in Dallas. If the season goes poorly in Big D, Bill Parcells could elect to retire. It’s anybody’s guess what could happen there, considering Parcells reportedly has a good walking-away income - another year’s worth of pay - should he elect to retire. Fisher would be at the top of the list for Jerry Jones.
Not so fast, Raiders
Art Shell and the Oakland Raiders may be 2-0 in the preseason, but that undefeated record is a mirage. The Raiders continue to have trouble on offense. New quarterback Aaron Brooks hasn’t looked good in two consecutive starts, especially against the opposition’s first-team defenses.
The Raiders have also been disappointed with the progress of second-year quarterback Andrew Walter in training camp. Against the Vikings, Walter connected on a beautifully thrown deep ball to Johnnie Morant, a player who has the ability to supplant Jerry Porter as a starter. If not that, Mora
But after his great touchdown pass, Walter threw an awful interception and was greeted on the sideline by Shell’s glare. Right now, the Raiders can’t protect the immobile Walter, who may have more upside than Brooks.
Shell, one of the game’s all-time tackles, can’t be pleased with the play of Robert Gallery and Langston Walker, his two starting offensive tackles. It may be time to move Walker back to guard and guard Barry Sims back to tackle. And what’s with Gallery’s hair? If he was a great player it may be interesting, but right now he looks pretty silly with those long, curly locks.
Let's get physical
In my recent training camp column, I overlooked the very physical practices that rookie head coach Brad Childress has been operating in Mankato, Minn. this summer. Some of the veteran players have been upset with the edict to actually tackle and drop players in drills. Of course, this is the style Childress learned under Andy Reid with the Philadelphia Eagles.
“This is the most physical camp I’ve ever been associated with,” said prized cornerback Antoine Winfield, an eight-year veteran. “I’ve been tackling people to the ground. It’s a long season and I’m only 185 pounds. I can only take so many hits. I’m trying to last the entire season.”
To which Childress said: “I don’t know what Antoine Winfield has been through. But I know what it takes to win.”
I’ll say this about the Vikings. They looked good against the Raiders and the left side of their offensive line will do a lot of damage this season.
Running on empty
The Jets returned running back Lee Suggs to Cleveland when he failed his physical. But the Jets will still be looking, considering the potential retirement of Curtis Martin. There’s a good chance that the 49ers could consider trading Kevan Barlow, especially if they name Frank Gore as their starting tailback. Barlow would help the Jets. Another team that could be interested in Barlow is Denver. Coach Mike Shanahan really liked Barlow coming out of Pittsburgh.
Mascot mayhem
Remember the story of the Titans’ mascot T-Rac running over Saints quarterback Adrian McPherson? Well, guess who owns McPherson’s rights in the Arena League? Well, none other than the Nashville Kats.
Bet on Bruschi
The word with the Patriots is that linebacker Tedy Bruschi will definitely play in the season opener against Buffalo. He will simply tape up the cast on his broken wrist. Bruschi broke the scaphoid, a peanut-sized bone under the thumb.
Vince young is an intriguing prospect even more so then Reggie Bush. I have never seen a player dominate games like Vince Young did in college. I feel that what most people fail to realize is that Vince was also a product of his college system. It was the perfect system for his talents. The problem is NFL coaches rarely change their systems in the NFL to fit a player especially rookie QB's. When they have its because they try to scale down the offense so the rookie doesnt mess up rather then give him the freedom like Vince enjoyed at Texas. Im not saying that the system Young ran in college would always work in the NFL but why not try? I hope that at some point in time NFL coaches will let their ego's slide so the Vince Youngs and Michael Vick's of the world can play to their talents and not their coaches system. Yeah it will create turnovers and there will be mistakes and they will lose games but they will also score touchdowns and win games. Imagine if in the future a player could dominate a game in the pros like Vince did in college? It is possible. We dont know because no one has ever been given the chance with talents like Vick or Young. So what if they get hurt its better to go down fighting for something good rather then sitting in a pocket waiting for something good to happen.
seriously, vince young will be just another michael vick... a tremendous athlete that at the NFL level would probably make a better WR than QB. Both of them have cannons for arms, but the NFL level is so much faster than the college arena where they were simply men playing with boys. Both played inrespected conferences and had good players on the other side of the ball, but nobody that had 4.4 or 4.5 speed on the defensive line like dwight freeny, no linebackers in college with the size and speed of a jonathan Vilma or a derrick brooks, or the hitting power of a troy polamalu in the secondary... these guys are tremendous athletes, don't get me wrong, but i feel that their talents aren't as limitless at this level as some people feel. Vince will face an even larger obstacle than Vick did because teams have been prepping for vick for a few years now, and they already have a lot of the systems in place to contain a talent like Vince. the best talent from this draft in ten years will most definately be reggie bush, and the best quarterback from this draft will most likely be Leinert. Nuff said
The NFL is not college! Over half of the players Vince Young played against last year will never play football past college. Every player in the NFL is the best of the college allstars. This is why its so hard for players to duplicate their "dominance" in the NFL. Vince will try to run around the end on a scramble like he did against a Texas Elpaso and instead will get crushed by a Ray Lewis or a 300lbs+ lineman running a 4.5/40. Not quite the same result. I wish him well though, I want to see him sucseed. I hope he is good, but for a player to dominate the NFL like in college is almost unherd of.
what you dont take into concideration is young is 6'5" 230 lbs. where vick is 6' in cleats and barely 200 lbs. his body can take the abuse of the nfl, unlike vick
Im not saying that I think Vince Young can run all over defenses in the NFL like he did in college. He could only do it in college because he was a superior athelete AND because he ran a system that took advantage of his athletic abilities. Why not try a system in the NFL that takes advantage of his talents? If he gets hurt or it doesnt work then ditch it and try something new. Am I the only person that thinks Michael Vick looks uncomfortable in the pocket? I bet you that if you gave him a green light and more freedom he would excell and not to mention what Young would do. All these players lives they ran and threw their way to wins just like Peyton Mannings has always been a drop back passer. If you had a 250 pound running back would you run him inside or outside? I bet you would run him inside if you wanted to win so why not put a Vince Young out in space and let him make plays to win.
Yo Jarad,
I hear you on some of the stuff that you were saying, but I don't think that Matt Leinart is the best QB from the draft. The reason why is because he has ruined his chances in learning the system of the Cardinals due to him holding-out! I don't care for him even more because he did that, rather than just play the game. He'd rather ####-off his team, coach, and owner. It will be hard for him to adjust to the plays and speed of the game, and for his teammates to respect him in the lockroom, some of them just plain and simply not care for him. That the Bottom Line!
I'll take Vince over Lienart any day, because Matt is not mobile and I think that he is selfish, Vince just wants to win games!
USC had All-Americans accross the board, and Vince made it look like child's play. Not saying that USC had pro caliber athletes, but you can not ignore Vince's ability to dodge the hard hits. Most of America saw Vince in the USC game, however as a UT fan(s), we saw him make play after play after play that is hard to imitate. There was a reason why he went before the other QBs in the draft, now I hope that Jeff will only utilize his gift. And while in UT, many of us had doubts about Young, but he kept proving us wrong. It will carry on for the rest of his career. But he has nothing but his future ahead of him, and I believe everyone wants to side with him, cause he is such a team player and the guy that could easily be a human highlight film.
Last edited by RiceSquatter on August 16th at 1:23 PM.
Vince Young will be a bust in the NFL but the Titans will have to play him because he makes to much money. He will never move to WR where he belongs. Young is big, which will hurt more than help. He is a big target and will get DESTROYED several times this year. His brain still wants to keep plays alive like he did in college. Get to the corner and turn up field. Only problem is in the NFL there are LBs faster than he is, and safeties (Taylor,Williams,Polamalu, etc) that will break parts off him off. Jay Cutler will be the best QB in this draft in a couple of years, and it won't be close. Bush(if healthy) will be amazing as well. Fisher is a great coach. I hate to see Tenn get set back several years with this draft pick. It happens though, just ask San Diego...
Cutler may indeed become the best QB in this draft but that has more to do with Mike Shanahan then Jay Cutler. Shanahan is an offensive genuis and will take advantage of his players athletic ability's unlike most coaches in the NFL. Since he has had Jake Plummer he uses more rollout passes compared to when he had Griese or even Elway. Not to mention that he was Steve Young's offensive cordinator when he was dominating defensses with his feet and arm. That of course is what I have been trying to say all along! Change your offense to suit a special talent. Does anyone think that NO will run Reggie Bush up the middle every play? I bet they do their best to get him out in space to make plays or otherwise those 350 pound d-lineman will just annihilate him.
Leinart and Cutler will have better pro careers than Young. Look how much Vick has struggled and I don't believe Young plays at the same speed that Vick does. It is early still, especially for quarterbacks but the early signs look like Denver got the best player. So much for my Chargers...again. Just reaed the previous blog. If they put Young outside, the size and speed of the linebackers and saftys in the NFL will kill him.
Vince Young is pure GARBAGE. He has no zip on the ball when he throws...thus he will throw numerous interceptions. He is the worst quarterback in the league. I guarantee failure. He did poorly against the Saints and he will be just as garbage in his next preseason game. And stop comparing him to Michael Vick. Vick is MUCH faster and MUCH more agile and throws with higher velocity and has more accuracy....the latter isn't saying much.
Marcus Vick is better than Vince Young...but he has Clarett syndrome.
NFLCzar It will be great to see how well Young will do this year in the league. I feel that he'll do very well under Norm Chow's tutelage and Fisher's coaching skills.
The Titans are a team that I think will be back in its ascendancy once again.
As for the Raiders you're right they're doing it with smoking mirrors and not much else. Brooks clearly isn't the answer at quarterback and I'm still not convinced with Andrew Walters . He looks the part at times but there seems to be a great deal of trepidation in his play.
Ya redifer, just like all the concussions Steve Young got. At least think about the facts of running qb's before you enter your remarks, or are those not important?
Some of you guys truly crack me up. Have you not ever watched a JEFF FISHER coached team. He always game plans around a players strenghts and the teams strenghts. If you will notice in the first preseason game young took 50% of his snaps out of the shotgun, hmmm why would that be. MAybe because he took almost all his college snaps out of the shotgun and that is his comfort zone. Young will be great in the TITANS offense. He has 3 capable running backs behind him, a good young line in front of him and a very athletic TE and FB (troupe and flemming). As far as the better QB of the draft that is something you will have to wait 3 or 4 years to determine. As far as the best prepared to play right now... CULTER no ifs ands or buts about it.
But before we start calling Young a bust lets at least watch the guy develope and the offense develope with him. I being a titans fan and glad to have Young on our team.
How Young is going to work out is hard to say. But I can't describe how much I HATE running quarterbacks. I'm not sure why I feel so strongly about it, and it does make a lot of sense bec it adds such depth to the offense and makes the opposing defenses have to practice in completely different styles.
But aside from that, lets say they do let Young do his thing with the offense. He's extremely talented, he's fast, strong, and knows football, but so does everyone else in the league. What makes the great ones, esp QBs are the intangibles. Will he be a good leader, how will he hold up in pressure, will he be able to adapt as def learn to defend him, and can he win the big ones? Vick is talented too, in slightly different ways but still and I'm confident he'll never win a super bowl. The surrounding team has a lot to do with it too, but the Titans as a team aren't there either.
What people don't know about Vince Young is that he is a fierce competitor and will learn what it takes to be the best at what he does. He is coachable and a team player and has been a natural leader at every level of competition. Some people have the "it factor" like Michael Jordan, Joe Montana, etc., and he has shown that time after time since he was a kid. He may not end up being the best quarterback of all time but I can guarantee you he will be a winner.
Last edited by CrazyTexan on August 17th at 12:05 PM.
redifer You seem to forget that Young will have an individual by the name of Norm Chow that'll teach Young some new tricks so don't get so wrapped up in all that rhetoric. He'll be OK ! Lest anyone forget Chow was the one who made Leinart what he is today as he was under his tutelage at USC, likewise so was Carson Palmer.
There are far worse quarterbacks in the league at present than Young and that've been around longer also.
Hey Crazy Texan...aren't we getting a little ahead of ourselves? Do you really think that Young's "it" factor puts him remotely close to names like Montana and Jordan. It is horribly wrong to even put his name in the same sentence as those two. I'll agree with you that he does have some leadership skills; but comparing him to living legends is just plain dumb at this point in Young's career. Let the kid develop and we'll see how he does.
Also I hesitantly commend the Titans for coming up with some plays to put Young into shotgun, but where is the line that says enough is enough. You can't tell a head coach to change his offensive philosophy because a quarterback has a set of skills that wouldn't mesh as well into the established system. I don't think the Titans picked the best QB, just the most athletic one.
Last edited by Saluki05 on August 17th at 12:48 PM.
First off I'm defending Vince Young!! Second I have never been a USC fan so I have always naturally disliked Norm Chow. I didnt get to see the Titans game that Vince played in but if its true that they used in him a shotgun formation then I applaud the Titans staff. I think the biggest reason Michael Vick hasn't shined in the NFL is because they dont scheme for him to get out into space and make plays. They have tried to turn him into a drop back passer. All the reports I have read say that Vick will run more this year so we will see. As good is Vick is I feel Vince is better. Vince Young is a larger, stronger and faster version of Randall Cunningham. I think if given the chance he could be the guy that changes the way the QB position is played (but their will always be dropback passers). It sounds like the Titans will try but I need to see it to believe it.
redifer Young will adapt to the rigours of the NFL much in the same way that Bush has already impressed those that've seen him play so far.
It's a pity that Lendale White isn't taking notice rather than making a complete #### of himself.
Check out my post Fearful and Dismayed All In One ......and let me know what you think of the subject matter. I'll await your comments.
I disagree about Bush he hasnt impressed me the least bit (must be that he played at USC LOL). I think he will be a good back but for some reason NO has never been able to turn it around and until they do Bush will suffer. Things might change now that they got a former Parcell's protege in Sean Payton.
redifer Bush wil prove the naysayers wrong.
But a lot of this'll be dependent on the O line of the Saints but he'll have his carries and make the catches out of the backfield.
He'll run for at least 1200 yds in his first season and score 6-8 touchdowns. I'm guessing at maybe 1800 all purpose yards with maybe another 3 receiving touchdowns.
Thereby repaying the Saints' faith in him.
redifer..you are just so cool. I loved watching Steve Young play, but hall of fame or serious health problems. It doesn't take much to figure out what you would chose. Sports are not more important than most things in life and I am sure Steve would tell you the same. You wouldn't listen anyway, from your comments you only listen to yourself. Must be tough not having a life.....
Hey ejw you need a hug bro? You are leaving blog messages on the same site as me pimp, so lay of the insults savy? Have you ever played football? Anytime you put on some shoulder pads and a helmet you can get a concussion. Do you wanna know why most QB's go down with concussions? Cause they are standing in the pocket and get blind sided!!!
P.S. You need to chill out and take this for what it is and thats a place to leave your opinion on sports topics. If your going to insult people for doing the same thing your doing then get lost cause your a hypocrit and an ####.
Last edited by redifer on August 17th at 10:50 PM.
redifer I think he may well just prove us wrong and go on to 'rookie of the year' with his performances.
The Saints do have problems but the team reminds me of the Chiefs who had the offense but a weak defense put still put up some numbers.
They'll not win their division this year because that'll be won by the Panthers. They're my sleeper in the NFC to make it to the 'big dance' .
And how did I insult you? By giving you some facts and then asking for you to give me some more! Bro Im sorry I tryed to enlighten you with a fact and you took offense to it I'll never do that again. Are we square now?
redifer,
absolutly! I do know football though, and Steve Young is the one player I pulled for the most. I just think it is sad to see most football players physical condition even in their 50's. A big price is paid for the chance to play when you are young. By the way I did play college football, even though I didn't make it out of JC ball. LOL is a insult I think. My brother played 4 years of college ball at qb, the last 3 at Eastern Washington, was a running qb, had 4 knee surgerys, and in his mid 50s walking is more difficult than for those of us who didn't make it so far, so maybe I have a differn't point of view.. added this part after I thought about our opinion differnce. Just one more thought, you study all this a lot and are probably right more than not, but calling yourself a pimp that is not a good thing... Just joking with you.
ejw A lot will be dependent upon the play of their O lines but all should have solid careers within the NFL. Young has the ideal tutor in Norm Chow who'll lay the groundwork for his overall play and gradual improvement as a player. People tend to forget he was the man behind the careers of Leinart and Palmer who were also back to back Heismann trophy winners. And you can't get any better than that.
Last edited by tophatal on August 18th at 11:09 AM.
tophatal,
I agree. The talent of the rookie qbs seems to be better than most years. I do think Young will make it, maybe not as soon, I just question putting any qb outside on most throwing plays, while they might be more effective the hits they take seem more vicious. Maybe the extra speed, both moving towards each other. The plus is they can see the hit comming and protect themselves a little better.
ejw With Young's dexterity, speed and athleticism I don't see him having that much of a problem. He's got a great tutor in Norm Chow who'll show him the ropes much in the same way he showed Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart. Two of his previous proteges at USC. And we all know how things turned out for those two don't we ?
I'm not dissagreeing about Chow I think he is the best, I think having Chow to teach Young is one of the reasons the drafted him over the more polished guys comming out of college. just about protecting Young from too many hard hits. I think it will take some convincing because Young is such a competitor. People criticize Alexander up here for stepping out of bounds instead of taking on the defender for a extra yard or two, but I think he will have a longer productive career because of it.
ejw It'll undoubtedly serve Young well to adhere to Chow's teachings as it'll make him a better allround player. I'm looking for him to have a productive career.
Vick has been in this league for five years and still hasn't learnt anything whatsoever. Thus I lay the blame squarely on the shoulders of his quarterback's coach. And also on the fact perhaps that Vick himself isn't prepared to listen to the sound advice that he's been given.
this is just incredible,
all i have seen from the Raiders is a tremendous improvement
Dont forget that Art Shell has become the head coach of a team that went 4-12. He's not a #### magician who just has a magic wand that replaces the less competiteive players and boost their skill levels. We are a team that is in a building process and i have to say that construction is going pretty well as far as pre-season is concerned. Lets just wait and watch and see what level get to. Even though after a couple of series in a pre-season game, when the second string rosters come out and play we have fared pretty well. Nobody wants to give the Raiders some credit and if they do, its sercastic, but what ever we have a long way to go and a i am very #### sure that we have started that trip already.
But i can Garuntee you this, that next season is definately not going to be like the last three and dont forget to stick your foot in your mouth when that happens
Peace
Last edited by titusraider on August 28th at 11:55 AM.
John Czarnecki, a former sportswriter with over 20 years experience covering the NFL, has been the editorial consultant for the Emmy Award-winning FOX NFL Sunday since its 1994 inception. Prior, he provided exclusive information to CBS Sports' The NFL Today program from 1991 to 1993, holding a similar position.
Prior to joining CBS Sports, Czarnecki was a pro football writer for The National Sports Daily (1989-91), The Dallas Morning News (1989), and The Los Angeles Herald-Examin er. An archive of work can be found here.
