Austinist: Hey, Hoge, Want Some Crow with that Foot?

Anon

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 09:34:13 -0600

He is definetely getting better. He still needs to learn to pass though. They run too much and eventually that will catch up to them. With that said, he will become a QB by next year, he'll start getting the ball down field and that will help VY and Henry even more. I just can't put him in the Hall of Fame quite yet.

odam

Sun, 03 Dec 2006 17:06:30 -0600

where are the vince young doubters/haters now that he brought the titans back from trailing to beat the best (regular season) team in the AFC? uh huh

odam

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 14:48:10 -0600

Declan, If you have not heard the Michael Irvin interview from the Dan Patrick show earlier this week, wherein he speculates that Tony Romo's grea great great great grandmother must have "gone over into the hood or gotten with one of those bucks in the stable", hence the reason he is such a gifted athlete, you need to. Hilarious. It alone is worth the price of ESPN Insider. For the record, I cheer for no NFL team, either.

Declan McManus

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 13:38:30 -0600

Odam, I've never been a fan of Eli Manning and thought the trade on draft day was a bad move. I also thought the Plaxico pick up was suspect. I do think Brandon Jacobs will be an above to great average running back beginning next year. I would say I barely root for the Giants though. I'm a tangential NFL fan in that I don't really root for any team in particular enough to truly give a shit when they lose... but I'll watch football all day on a Sunday because I find it entertaining even if its a Niners or Cardinals game. I also admit I actively root against the Cowboys, mostly because I can't stand Michael Irving (though his suits are fucking awesome).

odam

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 10:37:47 -0600

declan, i think your allegiances to New York are making you a bit of a bitterman in this case. ps. i'd take vince over eli. and so would a lot of folks at this point. i bet you guys would probably take phillip rivers now, too.

Scott M.

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 10:33:10 -0600

Merril Hoge is an idiot, plain and simple. He makes outlandish statements to get his mug on camera and his name quoted, but there's a reason he's only an occasional fill in on NFL Live (or making an appearance on ESPNews). He's a bag of hot air and he shouldn't be advising a pee wee football team, let alone be an NFL commentator.

Declan McManus

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 09:45:05 -0600

jshuler43, There are 'mistakes' and there are 'collapses'. The Giants didn't just make mistakes in the 4th quarter, they collapsed. Vince was a nonentity for 3+ quarters in that game and the Giants were rolling. VY didn't have 1 great game; He had I wasn't aware that VY was the reason Pacman Jones and the Titans Defense picked off a couple of passes. Maybe Vince got inside of Eli Manning's head? Maybe VY was the reason Plaxico dogged it? Steve McNair has lead the Ravens to the top of the AFC, including a complete dismantling of the Super Bowl Champs. This is almost the same Ravens team that was as bad as the Titans for large portions of last season.. except McNair is taking the snaps, not Kyle Boller. Don't ride Vince and the Titan's jock. The Titans are not a "good team". They are a lucky team and VY is helping facilitate SOME of that luck.

Observer

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 09:33:02 -0600

I don't think Vince's performance is the issue here. Why is Hoge such a dick? I think Vince fucked his daughter.

greg

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 08:35:39 -0600

Vince was an amazing college athlete. I won't say an amazing college QB because he wasn't that good as one. But he could do it all and he had a great team backing him. He will never be anything more than a mediocre pro. Sure he had one good game. He will probably have a few but that doesn't make him a great pro QB. He just doesn't have a game that is styled for the pros. Maybe they should switch him to RB or reveiver. I think he'd do great at either of those.

jshuler43

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 08:19:54 -0600

Face it, no team wins unless the other team makes mistakes. We could pick apart every game last weekend and find the mistakes that allowed the other team to capitalize. Good teams are able to capitalize. The Titans last year were third from the bottom with Steve McNair as their QB. This year they are 50/50 with Vince leading the team. The difference between Matt Lienert and Vince is that Vince makes everyone around him better - and he wins.

odam

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 18:47:13 -0600

I posted this because I thought Hoge was idiotic for criticizing Vince so soon, and to give praise to Al Gore’s invention of the internet, which allows footage liked this to be found. It is too early to tell how good Vince will be; he undoubtedly has a long way to go and the Giants obviously gave that game away. Regardless, Young is a born leader and an amazing competitor. He will be fine. Hoge will still be a blowhard. Oh, I also posted it to see if people would comment.

Declan McManus

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 18:39:07 -0600

Let's be fair: VY has a RB who has posted quite a few 100 yard games lately in Travis Henry, but no real recieving threats. His O-line is mediocre, but somehow doing the job. Plus, having VY behind center means having no recievers isn't so crucial because VY just runs around until someone is open for a 5-15 yard toss. Leinart has two of the best vertical recieving threats in the NFL and, in theory, one of the best RBs in Edge James. But, since the Cardinals O-line sucks completely and James can't rush more than 12 inches per carry, its a miracle that Leinart is able to even get a pass off at all. It's 6 and 1/2 dozen of the other in terms of who has a better situation right now. But Leinart has looked pretty solid overall and, with a real O-line, the Cardinals could be great. Unfortunately, they're the Cardinals and will continue to suck for eternity.

Steve

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 18:28:24 -0600

Everyone knows you don't start rookie QB's in the first year unless you have to. Hoge knows this, and yet here he is criticsizing him after a preseason game. What a dork. ESPN and the media in general always want to look bold by making what they think is are easy generalized comments, but they usually don't do their homework so it comes back to smack them in the ass. Hoge should have paid more attention to Young's greatest quality: leadership. Everyone in Tennessee is amazed at how some rookie was able to come in and lead, inspire, and get the repect of grown professional NFL players. This is Young's best intangible ability.

Anon

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 18:11:12 -0600

Agreed. Its a little too early to say VY is doing great things. Last week was a gimme from the Giants. Ask yourself if you would have posted this topic if they 1. hadn't let VY go when they had him sacked on 4th down and 2. if Plaxico doesn't give up on the ball at the end. Regardless, if #1 doesn't happen, Titans lose. VY also has some good talent carrying him along and playing horrible teams doesn't hurt either. Using the word comeback is out of line here. If you really want to talk about rookie QB's doing well with little to no help around them, look no further than Leinart. I'm a big UT and VY fan, but honestly, Matt is the better right now. He's dealing with better teams, less talent on his team and the neverending dramas that go on with the Cardinals. Hype is always good though. Austin doesn't have much to grasp onto these days other than the fading memories of VY and the thoughts of what could have been if he'd stayed.

Declan McManus

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 17:22:49 -0600

Let's be honest, the Titans schedule this year isn't exactly filled with superbowl contenders. He didn't start til week 4, so we'll disregard the fact that the Titans played 2 crap teams at that point (Jets, Dolphins). Vince got to match up against Washington, Houston, Philly, and the Giants since then; All are mediocre, horrible, defensively challenged, and/or injured beyond belief. His QB ratings against Indy (34.4), Jacksonville (30.2), and Baltimore (63.9) -- the three strong teams he played against -- are pretty awful. His strongest QB rating against the Giants last week (107.9) hides the fact that the Giants shat the bed completely on defense in the 4th quarter. Was it because VY is so great that Plaxico didn't give a fuck and/or the rookie defender failed to lay VY out like a lump of cold meat? Or was it because the Giants have been an embarassment the past 3 or so weeks? Regardless, VY has a long way to go. Having a surprisingly strong running game (Travis Henry) definitely has helped a lot. Maybe if he had some legitimate WRs, he'd be even better. I think he'll turn out to be pretty good for a handful of years. If you look at guys like Daunte Culpepper, Michael Vick, Randall Cunningham, Donovan McNabb, you'll notice that they get banged up nonstop until they become useless (like 3 of those 4 were after a few years... and where Vick is enroute it appears). The only QB who ever really managed to transition from a running QB to a throwing QB and still be a stud was Steve Young. Maybe Vince will learn a thing or two from the other Young, right?