2008 NFL Football Season: Quarterback Changes and Surprise Starters

I can’t remember a season where there were so many surprise starters at quarterback and permanent quarterback changes during the season. There have really only been a few, but it is still unusual to see such significant changes by multiple teams during the season. Here I talk about three of the more intriguing ones. 

Tennessee Titans: Kerry Collins Replaces Vince Young

The first game of the season for the Titans saw a very bizarre outing by Vince Young. Based on press accounts, Young was booed by Titans fans and sat on the sideline despondent and sulking. He was so despondent that when the Titans were back on offense Jeff Fisher had to force Young to go back into the game! Later he injured his knee running the ball, but it doesn’t sound like the injury was something that would keep him out the following week, but not much information was provided about the injury.

In an even more bizarre twist, the following evening Young disappeared from his home and the Titans sent police to look for him because he was supposedly emotionally downtrodden about Sunday’s events. It turns out he was at a friend’s house watching the Monday Night Football game.

The Titans said the whole situation was blown out of proportion by the press, but you don’t send police to look for someone just because they aren’t at home unless something unusual prompted it. Something is clearly awry in the psyche of Vince Young. Just imagine if he played in New York or Philadelphia where the fans are even less forgiving.

Jeff Fisher made a very gutsy call at this point naming Kerry Collins as the starter and he has remained the starter since. Thus, the highly touted first round draft pick who is supposed to be the future of the franchise was replaced by a 15-year veteran. It was clearly the right call by Fisher as Kerry Collins has played extremely well and the Titans are sitting at 11-1 with the best record in the NFL.

Kerry Collins, now in his 15th season, is clearly not the future of the Titans franchise. But he certainly is the savior of this season, which could have unraveled quickly after such an unusual set of circumstances surrounding the starting quarterback. Collins has had his own demons during his up and down career but he is the steady hand at the wheel for the Titans in 2008.

Will Vince Young get another chance to redeem himself as a starter for the Titans? Undoubtedly he will. Jeff Fisher has already proclaimed that Young is the future of the franchise and he wants him to sit and learn this year. You can’t give up on a promising first round draft pick at quarterback so quickly who you have invested a lot of time and money in.

Will Vince Young ever be an elite quarterback in the NFL? He has all the physical attributes to be one. He is big, has a strong arm, and can run the ball well. What he doesn’t seem to have is the decision making ability and emotional make up it takes to be an elite quarterback.

I’ve seen a lot of Vince Young the past few years and I have never been impressed with his play on the field and his decision making. My prediction is that Young, at best, will be an average quarterback in the NFL. I would not be surprised if he washes out in the next few years, and he definitely will if he doesn’t get his head in the right place.

Minnesota Vikings: Gus Frerotte Replaces Tarvaris Jackson

The only ingredient the Vikings are missing in having a Super Bowl contending team is a decent quarterback. That is why they tried to trade for Brett Favre when he came out of retirement, but there was no way the division rival Green Bay Packers were going to let that happen.

Tarvaris Jackson was a terrible quarterback last year and he was even more abysmal at the start of this season. Every time I see Jackson play I wonder why he is even in an NFL uniform. He is a terrible decision maker in the pocket and I have seen absolutely nothing to make me believe he is a viable starter in the NFL. Thus, after a few awful performances by Jackson, Brad Childress called on another old quarterback, Gus Frerotte, now in his 16th season.

Childress made the move after talking with Jackson, who reportedly said he was playing not to lose.

I have a soft spot for Gus Frerotte. I saw a lot of him his first few years in the league when he started for the Washington Redskins replacing the bust of a first round draft pick Heath Shuler. Here is a late round draft pick that has had a solid, if somewhat unspectacular professi