“The thing about drafting Vince Young is either he is going to be a colossal bust or he will end up being the best quarterback in the draft.  I don’t see any middle ground with him.”

Good quote right?

I would hope so since I said it after VY was drafting by the Tennessee Titans in 2006.  Three years later my quote is both accurate and inaccurate at the same time.

I still believe Vince is going to either blow up or flame out, but he is now sitting in the middle ground of his career and his next steps both on and off the field will determine his “final destination”.

The first thing I need you to do is clear your mind.  People have jumped on and off the VY bandwagon so much I am surprised they all don’t have sprained ankles.

Then you have those who have “Kobe Syndrome” in regards to Young, that no matter what he does, you are either going to hate him or love him.

If you can separate all of that I will give you a clear vision on the truth about Vince Young.

I equate Vince Young’s early career as a Titans as someone who has never had his heart broken or had the feeling of rejection.

Everyone remembers when they first had their heart broken and no one takes that well.  Some take it as motivation (see Kobe “air balls” against Utah Jazz as a rookie) to make sure it never happens again.

Some take it become a bit jaded and start coming up with sites like BrokenLamps.com *jiggavoice* hold up, anyway the case of Vince Young he didn’t take it very well.  He went through what I call a “football depression”.  He went into a shell; he didn’t want to “fight” his way through it so he curled up into a ball.

The NFL is not a place to feel sorry for yourself especially when you are the Quarterback.  That is why his teammates turned on him not because they didn’t like him or didn’t think he could play but because there just isn’t enough time to babysit a player that is pouting.

I don’t think he was suicidal or anything I just think he was being a baby.  Mainly because he had been babied since his time at Texas and always had things “easy”.  There is nothing easy about being a QB in the National Football League.

At some point it appeared he got the message while riding the bench listening to his IPOD and got it through his head that to be a success at the quarterback position you have to be committed 24/365.

Vince problems though were much more than just mental.  A lot of people like to compare Young to Michael Vick.  It always was and still a horrible comparison.  Vick was an elite runner whereas Young was an elite “QB Scrambler”.  There is a huge difference.

With Vick you had to fear an 80 yard run every snap of the ball.  Young never had that kind of speed or elusiveness.

I always thought for VY to become an elite quarterback he should have studied Steve Young and to a lesser extent Donovan McNabb who used their legs as a final options and to extend plays.

Similar though to Vick when Young entered the league if his 1^st option was cover he would panic and take off. Unlike Vick he wouldn’t get as fair.  Young though always though had a knack of pulling out games in the 4^th quarter, but people would miss that he was the reason they were already in the hole.

I will say this until they put me in the grave you cannot win a Super Bowl with a QB who cannot sit in the pocket survey the field and make the proper read with his arm.

Watch this video:

Look at Ben Roethlisberger go through not one, but four progressions before throwing a perfect pass over three defenders to Santonio Holmes (great catch by the way).

When VY was reinserted into the lineup after the Titans started 0-6 I can’t say I had high expectations.  History shows it is hard with quarterbacks to change them sort of like #nohos, but I digress. 

Either they have it or they don’t.

But the first thing I noticed was that he looked much more comfortable and poised in the pocket.

Don’t get it confused what the Titans are running offensively isn’t anything groundbreaking.  I went back and watch every pass play from the Monday Night Game and amazingly almost every play is in Madden 2010.  Very simple football 101, a deep route, an intermediate routes and a short route.  The Colts offense it is not.

But you don’t have to run a complicated system if it is ran effectively.

What I saw was a QB who went through his reads and if the play broke down he took off.  There is nothing wrong with running if you have exhausted your options. 

The accuracy was there and while the numbers won’t win your any fantasy football games he didn’t make the crucial mistake that would cost his team the game.  Throwing for 300 yards doesn’t mean a lot when you are throwing five interceptions (yes Jay Cutler I am talking to you).

Lastly just when I was ready to say VY had to turn the corner something that Young said in his post game interviewed bothered me.

He was asked what he thought about all the people who doubted him his answer:

“I love y’all too.”

What he really was saying:

“I told you so.”

It was that type of “untouchable” attitude that got him in trouble in the first place.  While he has been a big reason the Titans have won four in a row he isn’t the only reason, so instead of taking jabs at his critics the more humble approach of acknowledging that he had to “check himself” before coming back would have been better.

The criticism of Vince Young was warranted as much as the current praise is warranted, but he still has a long way to go, before his resume is big enough to start puffing his chest out.

If this was a book it would be right in the middle, but the ending will be written by Vince Young and he can only decide if it is a happy or tragic ending.