Young’s future relies on NFL teams’ QB needs
Vince Young was living the dream at Texas. After signing with the university in 2002, he finally broke out on a wide scale in 2004 with an 11-1 sophomore campaign that saw him net 1,849 passing and 1,079 rushing yards with 12 passing and 14 rushing touchdowns.
He didn’t, however, stop there.
The next season, as a junior, Young dominated the competition, passing for 3,036 yards with 26 touchdowns and rushing for 1,050 yards and 12 touchdowns. That summer, Young left college football as a national champion after toppling USC at the 2006 Rose Bowl Game in what is still called by many one of the greatest college football games ever.
When it came to the NFL, though, that was a different story.
After being drafted third overall by the Titans, Young had high expectations as the potential answer at quarterback for Tennessee. His NFL career started out auspiciously with a first season that ended with the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year award. In his first four seasons, he had a 26-13 regular season record when starting. Young brought Tennessee to a Wild Card playoff berth within two seasons of his arrival.
As his stay with the Titans progressed, though, his football talents were overshadowed by incidents happening away from the field.
Young disappeared the night after the first game of the 2008 season against the Jaguars, which had Titans fans booing him as he left injured. There were rumors of suicide and wanting to quit football, but Young dismissed them later. Eventually, he was no longer the unanimous starter and was switched with Kerry Collins.
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Other verbal altercations took place on the field and behind closed doors. It’s been reported that Young and head coach Jeff Fisher had heated arguments during and after games. Things seemed to boil over in Week 11 of the 2010 season after Young was held out of the game due to a hand injury.
After the game ended in a loss to the Redskins, Young threw his shoulder pads into the crowd as he left the field. That would be his last game of 2010 and in a Titans uniform period. After the season ended, owner Bud Adams realized that the quarterback wasn’t worth the headache and confirmed that Young would not be with the Titans for the 2011 season.
So, where does he go from here?
There are always teams looking to upgrade at quarterback, and this offseason is no different. The Dolphins and Cardinals seem to be two of the teams with a major need at the position.
Scott Allen from Cardinals’ blog Raising Zona clearly wouldn’t want Young on the Cardinals, calling him a “quarterback with a poor attitude [and] good skills” who “doesn’t fit the scheme in Arizona”.
“I was very unimpressed with the way Young handled himself in Tennessee,” Allen said.?”He can apologize all he wants, but this is exactly the type of attitude the Cards do not need in their locker room if they want to succeed not only at the position, but as a team in the whole. He will help someone, but is not a good fit for Arizona.”
Phin Phanatic‘s Brian Miller thinks Young could be an innovative weapon for Miami and their notorious wildcat package, although Miller feels that they should abandon that package this point and look for other offensive sets. He’s still not sure whether or not he would support the decision to bring Young to the Dolphins, though.
“VY is an intriguing option, and while I am really on the fence, I can’t help wonder what he might do in Brian Daboll’s offense,” Miller said.?”I suppose the big question is whether or not Jeff Ireland views him as a fix over [Chad] Henne or simply a backup who will run the wildcat. I do think the Dolphins will take a look.”
Will Brinson of CBS Sports‘ Eye On Football sees Young as a capable backup that could create a position battle with other quarterbacks on the team. Brinson thinks Arizona will probably go after Kevin Kolb or Carson Palmer, but sees Young as a way for the Dolphins to stimulate their anemic offense. Owner Stephen Ross would like to see some improvement in scoring, and Young could satisfy that need.
“People seem to think that Young’s still got a ton of upside, but we already know who he is and what he can do; or maybe it’s just Bud Adams’ bizarre infatuation with Young that makes me feel that way,” Brinson said. “Either way, I don’t see him landing in a spot where he’ll be any more successful than he was in Tennessee.”
Brinson doesn’t see it as a question of if Young will be signed to a team. It’s more of a question as to which team will sign him.
“He’ll find a place on an NFL team because there’s a dearth of quality quarterbacks on the NFL,” Brinson said. “But he could definitely be a burden, because there’s a good chance he’ll just assume that he should be the starter regardless of whether or not he actually beats out whatever other quarterback is on the roster. That could lead to QB drama, and that’s never a good thing.”
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