bubba9497
April-28th-2008, 11:33 PM
http://timesfreepress.com/news/2008/apr/29/nashville-seemingly-titans-didnt-help-young/
Click link for entire article
Nashville: Seemingly, Titans didn’t help Young
By: Darren Epps
You can’t judge an NFL draft for several years, which means labeling David Carr and Joey Harrington — the first two quarterbacks taken in 2002 — as busts is perfectly reasonable.
But the so-called experts handing out grades and criticizing teams before their draft picks can even get their hats fitted is a little unfair. Remember the Mario Williams/Reggie Bush debate?
Even ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. seems hesitant to assign winners and losers in this year’s draft. He gave 30 of the 32 teams overall grades from B-plus to C. The Chiefs got an “A” — rare for Kiper — and the Jaguars received (gasp!) a C-minus. That’s the worst grade you’ll ever see from him.
If Kiper had been my professor in college, Mom and Dad would be far less ashamed of me.
You can, however, decipher a team’s philosophy by the positions of the players they draft. And that’s my problem with the Tennessee Titans’ draft over the weekend: It just seems like they’re abandoning quarterback Vince Young instead of working to help him.
Let’s look at three teams with young quarterbacks who are teetering between holding trophies and holding clipboards: Denver and Jay Cutler, Washington and Jason Campbell, and Tennessee and Young.
The first three picks for the Broncos were left tackle Ryan Clady, receiver Eddie Royal and center Kory Lichtensteiger. Will Cutler be taking the snap from Lichtensteiger, rolling left behind a block from Clady and throwing to Royal five years from now? No one knows. But you can see how the Broncos are committed to helping Cutler.
The Redskins are a playoff team who recognize where they need help to get past the wild-card round. Their first four picks were receiver Devin Thomas, tight end Fred Davis, receiver Malcolm Kelly and offensive guard Chad Rinehart. The Redskins will be receiving a Hallmark card from Campbell’s address this week.
You have to wonder what Young was thinking as he pored over the draft results. The Titans selected 197-pound running back Chris Johnson — a kick returner and likely third-down back due to the current stable of runners already on the roster. They have selected a running back in the first two rounds for the third straight year.
The Titans took tight end Craig Stevens in the third round and didn’t select a wide receiver until the fourth, when they drafted Cal’s Lavelle Hawkins. And that was it.
“You can see that the Broncos are trying to help Jay Cutler be more consistent,” Kiper said Monday. “They’re not abandoning a young quarterback like they’re doing with Vince Young in Tennessee. The Broncos are saying, ‘We have our franchise; we’re going to help this guy out and not put him on a island.’”
Young resides on an island where he couldn’t even signal for help, because no one would be around to receive it. Get it? Receive? Sorry.
Selecting receivers early in the draft would not only boost Young’s options on the field, it would also boost his mental state. He would know the Titans are committed to helping him achieve his maximum potential. Now he just has to wonder.
And so will we. Maybe the Titans can, with a little creativity, use Johnson’s speed in the passing game. Maybe Hawkins, who looked awful in the rivalry game against Stanford but played well at the Senior Bowl, will help Young immediately. Maybe Stevens will stop dropping so many passes.
“I’ll try to defend it this way — Lavelle Hawkins is a guy I like. He’s one player who could be a difference-maker,” Kiper said. “He’ll help them. Craig Stevens is a good blocker who doesn’t always catch the ball. So they did some things. But they didn’t get the numbers at receiver to help them make a difference right away.”
But that’s the draft — the difference isn’t usually made right away. And that makes Young’s situation equally questionable, both now and in the future.
Click link for entire article
Nashville: Seemingly, Titans didn’t help Young
By: Darren Epps
You can’t judge an NFL draft for several years, which means labeling David Carr and Joey Harrington — the first two quarterbacks taken in 2002 — as busts is perfectly reasonable.
But the so-called experts handing out grades and criticizing teams before their draft picks can even get their hats fitted is a little unfair. Remember the Mario Williams/Reggie Bush debate?
Even ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. seems hesitant to assign winners and losers in this year’s draft. He gave 30 of the 32 teams overall grades from B-plus to C. The Chiefs got an “A” — rare for Kiper — and the Jaguars received (gasp!) a C-minus. That’s the worst grade you’ll ever see from him.
If Kiper had been my professor in college, Mom and Dad would be far less ashamed of me.
You can, however, decipher a team’s philosophy by the positions of the players they draft. And that’s my problem with the Tennessee Titans’ draft over the weekend: It just seems like they’re abandoning quarterback Vince Young instead of working to help him.
Let’s look at three teams with young quarterbacks who are teetering between holding trophies and holding clipboards: Denver and Jay Cutler, Washington and Jason Campbell, and Tennessee and Young.
The first three picks for the Broncos were left tackle Ryan Clady, receiver Eddie Royal and center Kory Lichtensteiger. Will Cutler be taking the snap from Lichtensteiger, rolling left behind a block from Clady and throwing to Royal five years from now? No one knows. But you can see how the Broncos are committed to helping Cutler.
The Redskins are a playoff team who recognize where they need help to get past the wild-card round. Their first four picks were receiver Devin Thomas, tight end Fred Davis, receiver Malcolm Kelly and offensive guard Chad Rinehart. The Redskins will be receiving a Hallmark card from Campbell’s address this week.
You have to wonder what Young was thinking as he pored over the draft results. The Titans selected 197-pound running back Chris Johnson — a kick returner and likely third-down back due to the current stable of runners already on the roster. They have selected a running back in the first two rounds for the third straight year.
The Titans took tight end Craig Stevens in the third round and didn’t select a wide receiver until the fourth, when they drafted Cal’s Lavelle Hawkins. And that was it.
“You can see that the Broncos are trying to help Jay Cutler be more consistent,” Kiper said Monday. “They’re not abandoning a young quarterback like they’re doing with Vince Young in Tennessee. The Broncos are saying, ‘We have our franchise; we’re going to help this guy out and not put him on a island.’”
Young resides on an island where he couldn’t even signal for help, because no one would be around to receive it. Get it? Receive? Sorry.
Selecting receivers early in the draft would not only boost Young’s options on the field, it would also boost his mental state. He would know the Titans are committed to helping him achieve his maximum potential. Now he just has to wonder.
And so will we. Maybe the Titans can, with a little creativity, use Johnson’s speed in the passing game. Maybe Hawkins, who looked awful in the rivalry game against Stanford but played well at the Senior Bowl, will help Young immediately. Maybe Stevens will stop dropping so many passes.
“I’ll try to defend it this way — Lavelle Hawkins is a guy I like. He’s one player who could be a difference-maker,” Kiper said. “He’ll help them. Craig Stevens is a good blocker who doesn’t always catch the ball. So they did some things. But they didn’t get the numbers at receiver to help them make a difference right away.”
But that’s the draft — the difference isn’t usually made right away. And that makes Young’s situation equally questionable, both now and in the future.