I definitely understand that they have a greater channel to distribute their story and can have greater influence because of that. I was just curious what you guys thought their roles are. I have always had the impression that sports reporters are essentially entertainment reporters. Justice, Fran, Peter King, Reilly are the same thing as dave barry, leon hale, etc. I didn't realize others expected more or something else from them. Everyones got their opinion, theres no right or wrong. (Ric, I forgot you have a website so I see why you would have a different view than me on this)
I see the angle you're coming from--sports isn't the same as world events; as such one shouldn't take it as seriously, and by extension one may not take sports reporting as seriously. Based upon the fact that these guys have degrees in journalism and priviliged access, however, I still expect more from them than an opinion I can get at the water cooler.
There was just no doubt at all who the most impactfull rookie was last year. His position just happens to be the most instrumental one, and the one where the learning curve is the greatest. The difference in the performance of the team between him being on the field and off it is just drammatic. Funny how Pacman and Henry--supposedly last year's difference makers are gone, and same kind of result against a good team on the road. Further, QB rating is a very bad standard to judge player development and impact for a couple of reasons. One, it obsviously flawed by not including rushing yards (probably proportionally more important yard by yard than passing yardage), 2nd, as common to all stats, doesn't consider teammates. Last I checked most of the other highly rated early round drafted QBs from the last few years have bad ratings as well--Leinart (despite 2 all pro WRs), Smith (worse year 1 in passing efficency in year 1, solid year 2, but terrible last week until he but made plays when the game was on the line to his credit). I don't see crys that these guys can't pass and never will--most understand good passing ratings come from guys on good offenses, and good defenses where you don't have to come from behind help too. Cutler is the only one to have consistently better QB stats, but I am sure it has nothing to do with having a running game, all pro receivers, and top level defense--personally from what I have seen on the field I would still rate Cutler at best 3rd QB prospect over this period, maybe 4th behind Leinart, certainly I wouldn't take Cutler over VY or Smith despite the QB ratings. More on point thought, I always thought Bush was overrated as a pro prospect, and still do. I thought Adrian Peterson was the best young RB prospect coming out of college the last few years, still do. I have no problem with Mario over Bush, none at all. I actually thought it was ballsy. What is lost hear is that VY was not seriously concerned because of the David Carr/his contract situation. That was terrible judgement, obvious to all now, no if ands or buts about it. That said, so long as Schaub (appears to be the Falcons blunder perhaps even greater than last years Texans blunder) and Mario W play extremely well, the Texans will do fine in terms of most fans and media. Lots of Ws + those guy playing well will go along way towards erasing a really bungled last offseason, but this is a new season and with what looks like good decisions this offseason.
yep, maurice jones-drew. ohhhhhhh, sorry. you meant jhari evans, didn't you? my bad. i love every single syllable of this sentence; it's the baby vince faction in a nutshell. here's what i found funny: no mention whatsoever of chris brown, you know, the guy who ran for 175 yards sunday... might've buzzed by his name in the box score...? no? btw, on tennessee's game-winning drive, brown gained 35 yards; baby vince - passing and running, mind you - 19, including the final two, so, yes; let's coronate baby vince. neither do the baby vince supporters... and that's my single biggest complaint - far too many of you (here and beyond) think that young operates in a vaccum. and i'm not trying to push the standard-issue "his lineman block for him" stuff. i mean, there have been games where young was a TOTAL non-factor, but the W gets posted and the legend grows. this past weekend would be a perfect example: 100 yards of total offense, 1 TD, 1 INT, and his accomplishments were dwarfed and saved by brown. and how does tom jackson end the highlights on primetime? "vince young just wins..." vomit. there are few, if any QBs who would rate that kind of praise for such an otherwise mediocre performance. it's so disigenious. it's also, btw, awfully dismissive of fisher, who's been a top-tier coach for more than a decade now. you're right; that's NEVER been brought up before. who's this david carr character you reference...?
Nice to know that there is at least one other person out there who realizes that Vince Young is every bit as overhyped as Reggie Bush is at this point. This is really starting to become a joke. Vince Young musters an impressive QB Rating of 47.9 (his career rating is even more amazing - 65.8!), throws for an unprecedented 78 yards, and the gods of football knowledge on ESPN tell us how "Vince Young just wins". It's even more amazing considering how pathetic the Jaguars' defense was on Sunday. Just look at power rankings across various sports web sites this week. I hope y'all are already polishing the great VY's statue for Canton, because he should've been inducted this year - shame on the voters. Sorry for the rant ... but I'm just really sick and tired of all this hysteria we've had to endure for over a year now since the 2006 draft. The other day I was listening to 610 and Wex (who I usually have a ton of respect for because he seems to know his stuff) has the gall to tell us that Mario shouldn't be doing his "Shhhh" celebration in front of the fans because Houston fans have always supported him through all the criticism. Seriously, how disingenuous do you have to be to make a statement like that? For 16 months now I've heard nothing but fans calling radio stations to complain about how the Texans made the biggest draft mistake ever in history, Mario is a bust, Vince Young this, Vince Young that. I've had the utter displeasure of watching so-called fans sit there in Reliant Stadium wearing Titans jerseys and jubilating when Young scores a winning touchdown. I'm just sick of it all. I was a fan of Young when he was at Texas, but I owe no allegiances to UT. I'm a Houston fan, and I want to see MY team's players do well. And I have nothing but disdain for people who call themselves Texans fans and root for Vince Young when he plays against their own team. Pfft. I'm tired of seeing media talking heads and so-called fans ragging on Mario and then turning around and trying to pretend like they weren't condemning him a couple of weeks ago. Bah.
In 04 Tenn went 5-11. In 05 Tenn went 4-12. In 06 before VY took over they were 0-3. Since then they are 9-5 despite an exodus of talent for one reason or another (McNair, Hanyesworth, Pacman, Henry, etc), not to mention a lot of injuries to skill players. I don't deny Fisher is a good coach, despite the 9-28 stretch. You seem trouble acknowledging VY's positive impact (9-5 since). Hell, even if VY is only 1/3rd of the reason they went from terrible (maybe the worst team int he league at that stretch) to mediocre (I really don't think they are better than this)--that is a heck of accomplishent for a guy in his 1st game of season two. And again, QB rating is really misleading to judge a running QB. It would ignore nearly 600 rushing yards (and in fact team rushing yards are more correlated to success yard per yard than team passing) and 8 rushing TDs in less than 16 games as the starter. As for "few, if any QBs who would rate that kind of praise for such an otherwise mediocre performance"--see Mike Vick. Despite his below average QB rating, Atl has been a lot better team with him than without him--the record in very clear on this. QB rating would also suggest San Francisco should find a new QB over Alex Smith (same career rating as VY). No one is saying VY is the best QB today. But if you think there are 10 QBs or any other young QB (with the possible exception of Alex Smith) who if placed on that Tenn team would get as many Ws as they got I think you are misguided (let's not pretend VY had a Jay Cutler cast, Denver was winning at the same clip with Plummer performing horribly). The Titans recent results with McNair, Collins, and Volek at the helm were not just bad, but brutal. Why weren't the running game, special teams, coaching staff and defense winning games before if VY's presence is so insignificant?
Not in this thread in the context of the Texans decision making. The reason the Texan's didn't consider drafting a QB was because of David Carr. They had to trade a draft pick this year to help correct the mistake. I like the move for Williams over Bush once this was decided, but the initial decision (thinking they had a franchise QB) was bad. But the Texans look like they made excellent decisions this year. If Schaub, Williams and the Texans play well most will be forgotten about the year before. No need to try to denigrate VY and how he was helped Tenn though.
Of all of your bad VY manlove posts, this one takes the cake. Rushing yardage is more important yard for yard than passing yardage? I bet in the previous breath you were dismissing David Carr's completion percentage last year because they were all dump-offs for short yardage. Freaking hilarious. It's more important to measure how much a QB runs than how much he throws. That is awesome. Let's bring Tiki Barber back and make him our QB. He's probably as accurate as VY.
So you don't know rushing yardage is a better predictor of success that passing yardage. No biggie. And keep on ignoring wins and loses, and looking to a metric to judge QBs that ignores a way to make 1st downs and TDs even when the defense has made the right call. Ignore how frustrating and deflating DLs and defenses will publically admitt when the QB beats them in the right position. Ignore the 4th quarter execution with the game on the line. Keep on ignoring all that. Really, please do keep ignoring all that, keep that hate alive and keep your head buried in the sand.
If y'all want to say VY doesn't have great stats then I fully agree with you. However, it's kind of silly to say his presence on the field doesn't translate to wins. Check the teams records before and after he was in the line-up (the seasons before last season, last season, and this one going forward). David Carr was a solid QB statistically. Hell, he even set a record or two last year...but he sucked and so did the team with him under center. I am amazed that any Texans fan can't note the impact a QB (good or bad stats) can have on a teams record. Half of you are the same folks noting the difference in Schuab standing in the pocket or feeling pressure (things that aren't necessarily related to "stats"). With all that being said I hope Mario continues to improve....
No, what's funny is that people don't (more like don't want to) see the impact a dual threat QB has on the running game. Did you see the game? Of course not. How do you think Brown had all those holes to run through? Let me guess - the all-world Titans OL. I'm sure we'll hear all about them if this continues, even though there was no talk of them prior to the season. Actually it's already happening - Peter King was hyping them up on the radio yesterday. Of course the most likely scenario I'm sure is that Chris Brown, the guy who couldn't beat out Lendale White, is suddenly an all-pro back capable of performances like Sunday against good defenses.
I don't want to get involved with the Vince stuff, but seriously... is Jacksonville a good team? This is the same team that the David Carr-led Texans SWEPT last year, and some people in this thread are acting like the Titans beat the Colts or something. Hell, J-ville was even ahead for most of the game.
Muhahahahahaaaaaa Sorry, but you're cackling at the wrong rooster here. I'm *not* the guy that says "VY sucks" or that he is mediocre or sub-par. He's an outstanding QB in terms of athletic ability, with a lot of room to grow in terms of accuracy and decision-making. And an amazing runner. No, I'm not the "Vince sucks" guy; I'm the "stop-crowning-him-the-MJ-of-the-NFL-before-he-can-even-complete-60-freaking-percent" guy. As far as this "Vince just wins" crap, his *team* won. Sure, he had an impact on that--but put Wali Lundy in there (or worse--Jonathan Wells) instead of the RB he had and I guarantee you "Vince doesn't win" then. What was Vince's record against Indy last year? (no, that doesn't prove anything; just a fun little cheap shot)
it was the same record before lendale white got there, too; hmmmm… you know what? he won A LOT at usc, so i'm going to arbitrarily assign this impossible –to-quantify intangible to white's presence. he's taught everyone there how to win. well, first of all, baby vince is FAR from a dual threat. yes, he technically throws and runs the football, but he doesn't throw particularly well, and certainly not well enough to scare teams into keeping nickel and dime packages on the field for 60 minutes. otherwise, care to expound on this further; explain yourself? i've not had the thrill of rooting for a dual-threat QB, but i would assume their biggest impact would be on the passing game as it would seem to follow that a QB who can run would keep safeties closer to the line of scrimmage; force linebackers to clog lanes and open up the middle of the field, etc. i still remember, and always will, john elway's 4Q 4th down completion in the '91 playoffs against the oilers being a component of him scrambling, which the CB bit on, leaving the WR behind him wide open. i fail to see what you're talking about; sounds about as fishy as the running game being a "better predictor of success."
are any of us THAT guy? i'm certainly not. like you, i just want some of the coverage to be a little more objective. this idea that all vince does is win... i mean... that's just not something that translates. matt leinart won a HELL of a lot more than baby vince in college (and a whole host of other college QBs, for that matter) - where's that "magic" in arizona? why hasn't his presence meant instant success for the cardinals? it's a team game, and until some of the baby vince faction learns this, it's a drum i guess we'll have to continue to beat. uhm... msn? 1-1... and i think the loss was, like, by a touchdown in baby vince's 1st or 2nd start...
