[Official] Reggie Bush or Someone else -- Vince Young out of running

I have some idea, not much but just a little...

I need to watch the last two Rose Bowl games again... things are getting fuzzy

 

Bad myth: Peyton Manning has performed poorly in the postseason.

Manning's playoff statistics

* 322 passes attempted
* 193 passes completed
* 2,461 passing yards
* 15 passing touchdowns
* 8 passes intercepted
* 3-6 postseason record
* 52.8 passing attempts per interception in the postseason

His postseason record is not the best. So be it. 4 out of the 6 teams he lost to in the playoffs went on to play in the Superbowl. 3 out of the 4 went on the win the superbowl. He has also played in 2 AFC Championship games, something Warren Moon never accomplished. He's competed nearly 60% of his passes and has a near 2 to 1 TD to INT ratio. He's a 2-time NFL MVP and will go down as one of the top 5 QB's of all time. I'm pretty sure Peyton Manning is not the primary reason the Colts have failed to win a championship.

And he has also posted two of the greatest postseason performances of all time in 2003 and 2004. He completed 22 of 26 for 377 yards and 5 td's in 2003. He completed 27 of 33 for 457 yards and 4 td's in 2004.

 

Great college performances don't neccessairly translate into great performances in the pros. I hope VY does well but I'm not ready to annoit him a superstar before he's taken a snap.

I'm more concerned about Reggie because that's who we're taking. Let's hope he's the bigger superstar of the two.

 

Have you ever watched him in the clutch? Quote numbers all you'd like, and I'm quite a stat-happy fellow myself, but it's tough to argue that he doesn't shrivel when the heat is on in the postseason..

 

Everyone has moments where they haven't shined in the postseason. Did you see Brett Favre in the 1998 Superbowl against the Broncos during the 4th quarter? Shaky performance. Did you see John Elway in his first 3 superbowls? Terrible performances in 1986,1987, and 1989.

 

I am not saying a better player, but better leader. VY was certainly a better leader than Peyton in college. Peyton was on lots of teams with future pros and never won a major/BCS type bowl or SEC championship if I recall (maybe 1/5 or so).

I distinguish leadership from overall talent. So far, in the pros, Manning has not shown the leadership of Brady in the 2nd season (playoffs), or perhaps McNabb.

Overall statistics are misleading. Manning had some great games in blowouts (Denver) and against terrible defenses (KC). One major "myth" is the Colts defense sucks. If you look at most of the Colts recent playoff exits, it has not been their defense that failed them. It has been their offense that has failed them, and who is their leader?

Peyton Manning is a great player. But his leadership record when most QBs are judged has not been great--college or pro (what 10 years of evidence). Moon is a great example. It is the reason Moon is not mentioned with Elway or Montana. Moon and Manning have had great players around them on both sides of the ball as well. Unless Manning wins superbowls (particularly considering the level of pro bowlers around him, let's not pretent he has Archie Manning's supporting cast)--he will not be mentioned with Montana or Elway at the top of the best ever list.

I am not even saying Manning is the "primary reason" the Colts have not made it to a superbowl. But nor can I say they Colts keep on losing in the playoffs despite Manning's and his side of the ball's great playoff performances in those losses.

 

Rose-colored lenses?

 

When evaluating any player, we need to evaluate a player based on his body of work. We can't single out one or two games and make a fair evaulations. Fact is, Manning has played in 9 playoff games, and he has had good production. Leadership is such a qualitative thing that is hard to quantify. It makes no sense for us to say this guy is a great leader, yet this guy is an average leader. Trent Dilfer, Jeff Hostetler, Troy Aikman, Ben Roslithberger, Tom Brady, Jim McMahon, Doug Williams, Mark Rypien, Joe Montana, and John Elway have all led teams to Super Bowl wins. Does that make them this elusive "great leader"?

 

I simply used Peyton because I did not want to fade the heat of saying Vince is the best leader to come out of college since Joe Montana.

 

Will Lendale White be performing in this Saturday's USC Pro-day?

 

I'm sure he will.

 

regggggggggie bush

 

In the Eyes of a Longhorn Fan it would be great to see Vince Young Revive the Football Fan base here in houston, namely the Longhorn Alumni and Texas Ex's. Yes, the luxury is ours to have first draft pick and I am betting Reggie Bush has a better chance than Vince Young because than what are we goona do with Carr? Are we going to Re - Form and re-train the entire offensive Line? If so, vince has a chance, if our pockets are that deep, we have seen major changes in a Head Coach and many more surprises are likely from the Texan Organization this Year!

Hook Em
Kho Raja

 

In the Eyes of a Longhorn Fan it would be great to see Vince Young Revive the Football Fan base here in houston, namely the Longhorn Alumni and Texas Ex's. Yes, the luxury is ours to have first draft pick and I am betting Reggie Bush has a better chance than Vince Young because than what are we goona do with Carr? Are we going to Re - Form and re-train the entire offensive Line? If so, vince has a chance, if our pockets are that deep, we have seen major changes in a Head Coach and many more surprises are likely from the Texan Organization this Year!

Hook Em
Kho Raja

 

In the Eyes of a Longhorn Fan it would be great to see Vince Young Revive the Football Fan base here in houston, namely the Longhorn Alumni and Texas Ex's. Yes, the luxury is ours to have first draft pick and I am betting Reggie Bush has a better chance than Vince Young because than what are we goona do with Carr? Are we going to Re - Form and re-train the entire offensive Line? If so, vince has a chance, if our pockets are that deep, we have seen major changes in a Head Coach and many more surprises are likely from the Texan Organization this Year!

Hook Em
Kho Raja

 

Interesting article on why teams are afraid to take Young (and no, it's not the typical ignorant "Akili Smith-can't throw-blah blah-blah" crap)

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/bill_syken/03/30/vince/index.html

 

Dr. Z from CNNSi today:

It's not personal ... it's personnel
A league source gives the real scoop on top prospects
Posted: Friday March 31, 2006 11:45AM; Updated: Friday March 31, 2006 11:50AM


During the league meetings in Orlando I sat down for a deep-cover type of conversation with my favorite NFL executive. His first name is A. His last name is Personnel Man. We call him in print "A Personnel Man," because if you use his real name he won't talk to you anymore and then I won't be able to write this kind of column.

He doesn't like his name used because most of what he has to say is negative, or at least it is this year. I've never known him to gush, which is great because I hate gushing. He finds things wrong. So do I. I asked him what he thought of the unbridled riches available for free agents these days. He smiled because he liked this question.

"Too much money. Not enough players," he said.

"An agent told me," he added, "'You can't go by last year's contracts. Look at the way the cap went up.' I told him the cap went up but the players' ability didn't."

I told him I wanted to know who the top potential draft choices are. "I'm having trouble finding 10 elite ones," I said.

"Not easy this year," he said.

First, one must sort out the quarterbacks. We're assuming that Tennessee, in the No. 3 spot, will go for a QB. I've been told that the Titans' offensive coordinator, Norm Chow, who coached Matt Leinart at USC, lines them up in this order: Leinart, Jay Cutler of Vanderbilt, Vince Young of Texas. The rest of the staff is split between Leinart and Young at No. 1.

New Orleans, which drafts second, already has signed ex-Charger Drew Brees to a high-paying contract. "It's unrealistic to think that the Saints could draft a quarterback at No. 2 and tie up $40 or $50 million in guaranteed money for two players," our source says.

But someone always could trade into that spot for a QB. Or use it to leapfrog into the Texans' spot at No. 1, since it's no secret that Houston's coach, Gary Kubiak, wants to draft a runner, Reggie Bush. It would make a lot of sense for the Texans to move down one spot, provided they were sure that the new No. 1 team would draft a QB. Houston would get its guy, plus an extra draft. But Houston couldn't move lower than No. 2 for fear of losing Bush.

Young is slightly ahead of Cutler, behind Leinart. The stories of Young's supposed score of 2 in the Wonderlic IQ test are not true, we were told. Seven, and then 15 on a re-test, are the correct numbers.

"Is Leinart another Peyton Manning in 1998?" I asked my man. "The safest pick among the quarterbacks?"

"Except for one thing that makes me nervous about him," he said. "Manning had an intense work ethic on and off the field, and I don't sense it about Leinart, the lifting, etc. Of course that could change by the time camp starts."

I told you this guy was inclined to be negative. How about Young? Is it fair to say he's a young Randall Cunningham?

"Well, I never saw Cunningham in college," he said, "and the best person right now to ask about Randall's rookie year with the Eagles would be Ron Jaworski. He was his teammate then."

As the draft approaches, I'll talk to Jaws.

OK, let's give away Bush, Young and Leinart to somebody in the first three picks. That leaves Cutler at No. 4 if the Jets would be interested. Which would mean that they re-signed their starter, Chad Pennington, they traded for Patrick Ramsey and then they would draft a third one, which would give them the trifecta. Hard to see that happening.

So here are a few potential top-10 names. D'Brickashaw Ferguson, the tackle for Virginia. That might not be a bad choice for New Orleans, either.

"A good player," my man says, "but not in the class of a Tony Boselli. I'd say more on the level of a Levi Jones."

It can be a mystifying position at times. The surest left tackle bet since Boselli was Robert Gallery of Iowa and look at him now, struggling at RT for the Raiders.

"The only thing I can think of," says our super-scout, "is that those Iowa tackles are so well coached, so well drilled, that their excellence of technique masks their athletic ability."

The second-best tackle projection is Winston Justice of USC. Potentially a top 10 selection?

"A risk," says my man. "Great ability, but his performance depended on which game you watched him in. He didn't play in 2004 and he absolutely should have stayed in school another year. He really would have helped himself. He has athletic ability, he'll look great in workouts, he's just inconsistent."

OK, I'll do it this way. I'll shoot out the names, followed by Deep Throat's capsule comments and hopefully we'll find a top 10 choice or two.

Ohio State LB A.J. Hawk and Maryland TE Vernon Davis:

"Both should be top 10. When's the last time you saw a tight end run in the 4.3s? I don't remember ever seeing one."

Jimmy Williams of Virginia Tech, supposedly the best cornerback:

"An enigma. Played much better in '04 than '05. More of a cover two corner. Maybe they could move him inside."

How about Max Jean-Gilles, the 355-pound Georgia guard, plus another serious jumbo, Haloti Ngata, the 338-pound Oregon DT?

"Jean-Gilles is a road grader type. When you see him live, he's more athletic than he looks on tape. But he's got a weight problem, and the percentage of guys who overcome that isn't good. Ngata is a man, a huge physical guy. If he wants to he can really stack things up at the point, but he didn't play hard all the time. There wasn't a lot of production. I'm afraid he's more hype than substance."

OK, here's a guy whose stock is soaring right now. He could be a safetyman or a corner projection. His combine speed was 4.34, which you seldom see for strong safeties. I'm talking about Michael Huff of Texas.

"Look, I'm really sorry to be so negative, but here's what I see here. I see a guy who has trained very hard to run the 40 at the combine. He runs it too effectively. Everybody's getting better at this speed thing. They're learning how to train for it very efficiently. The trick is not to get fooled by this. Huff is a guy who runs fast but doesn't play fast."

OK, Mr. A, could you please give me one sleeper, a guy who's not projected near the top of the board but might slip in?

"Ernie Sims, outside linebacker from Florida State. I see him listed as fourth- or fifth-best on some charts. He's a lot better than that. An undersized guy with tremendous athletic ability."

 

So now the rumored score is down to 2? What's next, are haters going to be saying he scored a -4?

 

norm has jay ahead of vince. smart man

 

I don't get where the 2 came from.. but it does make sense that if they graded it wrong the score would only be off slightly. 6 to a 7