The Vince Young Files, Vol. II:  The Hype Rolls On

8-2-2007  
This ongoing feature will take on life whenever anyone starts to slobber over supposed Wunderkind Vince Young.  Today we take on the bizarre opinions of Coldhardfootballfacts.com.  Recently they stated that:

“It is the inestimable conclusion of the Cold, Hard Football Facts that the public has yet to truly grip the greatness – or budding greatness – that is Vince Young.”

http://coldhardfootballfacts.com/Article.php?Page=1522

Their insane conclusion was supported by the following ‘facts’: 
 

1.  Young is a ‘physical marvel’ who has great size and speed:

“The truth is that Young is one of the great physical marvels in the history of football or any other sport. You’d be hard-pressed to find an athlete anywhere at any time who’s that tall (6-5), who’s that big (240 pounds) and who runs that fast (4.5 to 4.6 in the 40, according to various reports” 
 

2.  He ‘wins’- his record in college and high school was great.

3.  The Titans ppg improved 11 points under Young as the Titans went 8-5 with him as the starter.

4.  That traditional stats (also known as facts) don’t adequately measure Young’s greatness.

 
Let’s dissect the arguments one by one: 
 

1.  Young’s physical gifts do not guarantee him a great NFL career- CHFF states that we’d be hard pressed to find another athlete built like Young.  In fact, it’s not hard at all.  Check out the stats on Daunte Culpepper:

Height:  6’ 4” (Young is exactly 1 inch taller)

Weight:  265 lb (Young is 240, 25 lbs lighter)

40 time:  4.6 sec (http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:nasWfcRTqTsJ:daunte.ucf.edu/+daunte+culpepper+40+time&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1) 
So basically, Vince Young is a lighter version of Daunte Culpepper.  This is the same Daunte Culpepper who is now out of a job.  Granted, he put up great numbers in Minnesota with Randy Moss, but the inevitable happened.  HE GOT HURT.  Running quarterbacks take more and bigger hits than do other QBs.  Once their ability to run is taken away, they have to live or die as a passer.  Some can transition (Randal Cunningham, Donovan McNabb), but many can’t.  Young may be a physical freak, but he’s not unprecedented and that precedent is a dicey one at this juncture.  Vince Young is big and fast, but big and fast don’t guarantee a great NFL career. 
 

2.  Winning in college does not always translate to winning in the pros-

“Young’s record at Texas was a remarkable 30-3, with two of those losses as a redshirt freshman back in 2003.” 
 

Eric Crouch won a Heisman trophy and was 35-6 as a starter at Nebraska
Chris Weinke was 32-2 with FSU
Charlie Ward was 22-2 with FSU

I could have looked up more, but it’s really too easy.  The point is this: winning games as a QB in college DOES NOT mean that you can win games as a QB in the pros. Vince Young won in college, but winning in college does not mean much when it comes to playing in the big time. 
 

3.  The Titans spike in PPG had little to do with Vince Young:

“The Titans scored just 18.7 PPG in 2005, before Young's arrival. They scored just 11.0 PPG in the first three games of 2006, with Young in a backup role. They scored 22.4 PPG during his 13 starts.” 
 

We already showed in the previous article that Young’s performance didn’t actually correlate into victories for the Titans.  Here’s why:

In weeks 1-3 of the 2006 season (the three games Young didn’t start), the Titans had zero returns for touchdowns. 

In weeks 4-17, the Titans had 8 returns for touchdowns as well as 2 safeties on defense.  In other words, in the 13 games Young started, he was aided by 60 points handed to him by his defense and special teams.  That translates out to about 4.6 ppg that the Titans improved that NOTHING to do with Vince Young.  Vince Young was basically responsible for a touchdown more per game than an offense led by Kerry Collins with 2 weeks to prepare for the season.  That’s not really high praise.

They scored 3 more TDs and 1 more safety in 2006 than they did in 2005, that means that of the 3.7 ppg improvement by the Titans, 1.4 points of that had nothing to do with Young.  He generated less than a field goal a game more than an offense led by Steve McNair and Billy Volek. 
 

4.  Just because the traditional stats say that Young sucks, doesn’t mean they are wrong.

“Passer rating does not – even by the admission of its creators – take into account other skills like forwarding the football on the ground, let alone intangible skills like the
elusive “leadership.” 

Ah, so now we come to the crux of the issue.  Opinions.  Once again the Cold Hard Football facts guys have shown themselves to be frauds.  They love their opinions and like to twist facts and ignore context so that they can pontificate.  Vince Young is currently a below average NFL quarterback.  The games the Titans won were not all because of his genius.  He is an unusual player, but then again, so is Mike Vick.  He wins some games because of his feet, but loses others because of his arm.  So far, Vince Young looks to be about the same.  Facts are facts.

 

Ah, so now we come to the crux of the issue.  Opinions.  Once again the Cold Hard Football facts guys have shown themselves to be frauds.  They love their opinions and like to twist facts and ignore context so that they can pontificate.  Vince Young is currently a below average NFL quarterback.  The games the Titans won were not all because of his genius.  He is an unusual player, but then again, so is Mike Vick.  He wins some games because of his feet, but loses others because of his arm.  So far, Vince Young looks to be about the same.  Facts are facts.

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