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

Bush is probably the best runner in college football, Mcneal is horrible, he is fast but does not have the vision or cutbacks. He can throw a football though, so this kr/WR/3rd down back stuff is trash

 

I watched it again too. Almost as much fun as the first time.

 

I just watched the replay of the Rose Bowl myself the other night. This time I made it a point to try to watch without a rooting or emotional interest, which is easier to do knowing the outcome. A few thoughts:

1. Vince was still an amazingly calm, cool, and strong leader. And still a sick athlete even on the replay.

2. Vince was still very good at making plays out of whatever USC was showing him.

3. Vince's recievers were WIDE open all night long. That won't happen very often in the NFL. Doesn't mean he can't do it, but it would've been nice to see it happen in the Rose Bowl.

4. Reggie Bush is also full of sick moves even on replay. His touchdown was very Dorsett-like. On a play designed to go up the gut, he sees it plugged up, calmly(at least to the viewer) takes it outside seemingly running fast, and then absolutely explodes around the corner, making UT defenders look like they were stuck in cement.

5. On replay it was more apparent that, while UT was indeed very effective in limiting Bush, he still made several great plays, he still had nice across the board numbers, and ,much like a great pivot man, he opened up things for the rest of his team.

6. As with VY's wide open receivers, I was left wondering and wishing that USC didn't have White so we could've seen what Bush could(or couldn't) do if he had to carry the whole running workload, outside AND inside the tackles.

In summary, if we're looking longer term and are willing to wait a little longer to see a measure of success, I think the pick is Young. If we think Carr is at least OK to good, and look to the shorter term, then the pick is Bush.

After watching this game again, after seeing the four QB's left in the NFL playoffs today(thinking Carr can be at least them), seeing what Denver does every year with less than stellar linemen, believing that the line can be more quickly improved through FA...I gotta be going for Bush and using all my other high picks on defense.

 

Randall was a good QB but not a CHAMPIONSHIP QB. That's the point I was making. In his defense, he went to a team that had a moronic ******* for a coach (Buddy Ryan) and there was really nothing done to help him develop properly because Ryan did not believe in offense which is why his teams never won the Super Bowl with him as head coach. That won't happen with VY because I do believe that he will be given every opportunity to develop especially if Kubiack is his head coach.

No, my point is that if several years down the road he's putting up RC numbers but the team is going nowhere while say Reggie Bush is shining in the playoffs, all of those fans that are screaming for Vince now will turn out in force to cremate him. That's just the way these things work.

 

fair points. i've just heard a lot of people throw randall's name around like criticism. i don't understand that.

let me say this though...i think you're right. if reggie goes somewhere else and the texans lose with vince, the texans will hear it from fans. but i think they'll be FAR more forgiving of that scenario than the texans taking bush...the titans taking VY...and if the texans still aren't contenders...particularly if VY develops and starts winning a few for the titans. if he comes to reliant once a year to show off for the hometown fans..and beats the texans even half of the time...there will be a ton of folks in this town who will be all over this franchise for that.

 

It's damning evidence alright but against Pete Carroll, not Reggie Bush. That game showed why Carroll is no longer in the NFL. BTW, we've all seen this kind of thing before - remember that great Bears Super Bowl team with Walter Payton? Mike Ditka can find time to get William "The Refridgerator" Perry a goal line carry and not future Hall-Of-Famer Walter Payton? Now, would you consider that damning evidence against Payton or Ditka?

 

The Texans face the classic no-win situation: No matter what decision they make (Bush over Young, Young over Bush), it will be the wrong decision. That's the nature of this beast they've created for themselves. Just one of the many perks for being the worse team in the league I suppose...

 

That just pessimism, plain and simple. Most people I've talked to think the Texans are in a no-lose situation since they're in the position to take one of the two most highly rated prospects in recent memory.

 

No, there's no way they can win this one. If they draft Bush, the orangebloods will be pissed and up in arms. If they draft Vince, they create an instant QB controversy and turmoil on this team. You would have to trade Carr. Plus, Vince is at least 2 years away from playing full-time while Reggie can step right in wherever he goes. This whole situation could get bloody really fast.

 

Link: Mcneal wins MVP



SAN ANTONIO — A year after he wowed NFL scouts and football fans everywhere with his mobility, athleticism and passing accuracy, critics have spent the last year taking note mostly of what Reggie McNeal could not do.

He didn't have that strong an arm, they said. (It looked plenty strong on that 66-yard bomb to Jason Carter on Saturday.)

He wasn't a diligent student of the game. (His coach said he was a smart player who soaks up everything in meetings.)

And foremost, he wasn't a leader. (Well, two out of three ain't bad.)

Thank goodness McNeal didn't have a fifth year of eligibility as Texas A&M's quarterback. The way he was being panned, he wouldn't have even made the Aggies' roster.

Interestingly, at this time a year ago, McNeal was considered a better passer and more complete quarterback than Texas' Vince Young. He finished his junior season on a high note, leading the Aggies to a Cotton Bowl appearance, and was primed to raise his stock even higher.

By September, he was rated as the No. 2 quarterback on Mel Kiper Jr.'s draft board, behind only Southern California's Matt Leinart.

Now, if Young were any hotter, he'd have to wear a fire extinguisher on his belt. He could possibly become the first pick of the NFL draft, while you can hardly find McNeal's name. Kiper listed his top six quarterbacks this week, and McNeal didn't crack the list.

Behind Leinart and Young were Vanderbilt's Jay Cutler, Alabama's Brodie Croyle, Clemson's Charlie Whitehurst and Bowling Green's Omar Jacobs.

"I hope I boosted (his stock) up," McNeal said Saturday after being named the MVP of the 81st annual Shrine Game. "Maybe I answered some questions about throwing the deep ball."

He looked every bit the MVP, hitting 9 of 11 passes for 211 yards, scrambling for 32 yards and directing two final scoring drives to give the West a 35-31 victory in the Alamodome.

"Write this down," said NFL evaluator Dan Shonka, a former scout with three NFL teams. "Reggie McNeal will be a better pro quarterback than Vince Young. Vince is a good athlete, but he could be a $50 million mistake."

Shonka loves McNeal's arm strength, decision-making and his ability to throw into tight spots, something he's not sure Young can do. Shonka's Ourlads.com Web site raved about Kurt Warner when he was stocking groceries, and he begged the Eagles to take a Longhorn rookie named Priest Holmes before recommending him to the Ravens.

The truth is, McNeal is a much better NFL prospect than most give him credit for, but he needed a strong game here and could use an equally good performance at the NFL combine.

"I thought he was the best quarterback here this week," said A&M Coach Dennis Franchione, who coached the West.

McNeal may have done more this week than anyone to improve his draft position, NFL guru Gil Brandt told the Associated Press. "He just looks good," Brandt said. "I think he was the biggest surprise there, coming off this year, which was not the best."

McNeal took a lot of heat in 2005. The bottom line is he is a solid but flawed quarterback with 34 college starts and a dubious 16-18 record.

The Aggies' latest 5-6 season could hardly be blamed entirely on McNeal, what with injuries to five wide receivers and a horrible defense. After all, he threw for 1,963 yards, but Baylor's Shawn Bell passed for 1,964. McNeal ranked just seventh in the Big 12 and 56th nationally in passing efficiency. Young, meanwhile, ranked third.

Some insiders also say McNeal sulked at times, not so much disrupting the team as doing nothing to bring it together.

"He could have been a better leader," one A&M athletics official said.

In fact, the introverted McNeal wasn't voted one of the team's permanent captains at season's end, a telling statement. And he wasn't voted by his teammates to the leadership council until his final season, when a player at each position serves on the group. The quarterback rep for McNeal's junior season was walk-on Ty Brannon.

Franchione denies that he had any rift with McNeal and strongly defends him.

McNeal turned down the Senior Bowl's invitation to play as a wide receiver. He's no Matt Jones.

"Some think because a guy's fast and athletic, he can't be a good quarterback," Franchione said. "But Reggie is that and he understands coverages and has great awareness."

More performances like Saturday's, and more NFL teams are going to be aware of him.

"He'll definitely be a first-round pick," Shonka said. "There'll be 32 stupid teams if he isn't."

kbohls@statesman.com

 

Agree with Rocketman95. The Texans are in a can't lose situation. The only smudge will be the PR hit if they don't take the "local" guy.

The team with the most to lose will be the Saints. They NEED a QB and may very well find themselves having to choose between the two. What if they do take the more proven, safer bet over the one with the much higher ceiling and it blows up in their face? They only win if they correctly pick the eventually better one or if the Texans make the choice for them.

The Titans are in the safest position. They simply wait and take whatever is left of the QB's or Bush(if he's there).

 

I think the Texans can lose.

Say they take Bush...and he is a good NFL player.

Then if Young goes to the Titans at the 3rd pick and develops into that all world QB and whups the Texans butt year after year....the franchise will be hammered by that.

The safest bet, IMHO, is to trade or Franchise Carr and take Young.

At the very least if Carr steps it up due to the new coach and competition, then you can trade Young the next year.

I just can't imaging drafting Bush and hoping he develops into an every down back.

DD

 

*sigh*

The "hope he can develop into a every down back" argument is tired. Neither Ronnie Brown nor Cadillac Williams were "every down" backs at Auburn - they split carries - and both went in the top five last season. Both also had terrific seasons as starting running backs in the NFL carrying extremely heavy loads. If anything, you guys should be thankful Bush didn't get more carries at USC... means he has less wear and tear on his legs and means his NFL career might be a bit longer.

Oh, and thanks for posting that article IC... that's the last time I'll take anything Dan Shonka says seriously.

 

OR

They take Young, he is a total bust. He throws countless interceptions, can't handle the blitz and gets injured.

Bush becomes the most exciting and dominant player in the NFl, opens up the offense for his team and becomes the face of the nfl.

 

The article was from a newspaper in Austin!! So since Shonka was impressed by Mcneal (as were all the scouts there), and said something you don't agree with you will no longer take him seriously. Whatever, I still think its funny that you are also biased.

 

I find it somewhat funny that every time someone talks about the Texans failing in this situation, is that they take Bush while Young becomes great.

They lose just as much, or maybe even more so, if they take the "local boy", he is a bust, and Bush goes off to be the next Walter Payton. Then, they will be eventually be hated for going for the PR or popular angle to decide who to draft.

It doesn't matter who we draft, even if both become hall-of-famers, many will still believe we should have picked the other guy.

 

Actually they don't...re-read my post....by taking Young and having him learn behind Carr, they can still package Young next year in a slam bang deal if Carr develops.

They already have a good running back in D Davis...Bush may be the next great thing.....but give me a guy who has proven to put a team on his shoulders, and LEAD them over one that is a great player on a great team.

The Longhorns without Young would have probably lost 3 or 4 games this year.

USC without Bush, IMHO, is still in the Rose Bowl.

DD

 

What does the fact that it was written by a newspaper in Austin have to do with anything? It could be in the Austin paper, the College Station paper, the New York paper, the LA paper... it has zero relevance to what I was talking about. It's the quote from the scout.

There's a difference between the words could and will that prognosticators need to learn. Yes, it's possible Reggie McNeal could be better than Vince Young. Is it likely? That's a different story. McNeal certainly has talent, but he had an incredibly mediocre senior season at A&M and the overall offensive talent was not all that bad. Young had one of the greatest seasons anyone has ever seen in the history of college football. And when it was all on the line, he delivered what most analysts dubbed the most amazing and incredible big game performance that they had ever seen.

Nevertheless, McNeal does have talent, and his throwing motion is a bit more natural than what Vince has. But, even if you believe that McNeal is more talented, results matter too. Vince has one of the most amazing single seasons in the history of the sport under his belt, along with several player of the year awards, a national championship and back-to-back Rose Bowl wins.

Reggie had... a pretty decent junior season, a home win over OU as a freshman and led them to the Cotton Bowl. Yes, his talent is better than that, and he had a good week this week, and I could accept that he could be better than Vince. Anything is possible. But to act, given the evidence, like there's no doubt (use of the word will) that Reggie will be better than Vince, either shows an blatant ignorance of results or a blatant bias... either way, it's hard to take him seriously afterward.

 

He had a "decent junior year", go look at his stats. As for this year, I guarantee you did not watch the games so you did not see him play. He was pretty good this year, but was trying to do too much and had more dropped balls this year than I have ever seen. As for Vince ,he proved he was better in college (I think he had the benefit of playing with better players anc coaches). All of his past performances no longer mean anything as to who will be a better PRO. I think the scout was confident in what he believed in and wanted to get his point across. He is going out on a huge limb, but it could happen. Vince is a better player/prospect now, but Reggie is right behind him in my eyes. Remember he was also a heisman candidate going into the season.

 

False.