Who Is Vince Young?: Titans QB Puts Team in a Bind with Enigmatic Ways

Ten games into the 2009 season, we are faced with a perplexing question: Who exactly is Vince Young?

Is he the one-man offensive machine that led Texas to a national championship? Or is he the struggling whiner who became increasingly arrogant when his on and off the field issues were compounding?

The truth probably lies somewhere in between, but how can we really know?

Young’s dominance at the collegiate level was well documented. He was a nice passer who made defenses pay if they left a receiver open, but his true threat to opponents originated in his legs, not his arm.

Young is certainly one of the greatest running quarterbacks in the history of college football. Just go back to the way he ended his career to see that. He single-handedly torched an excellent USC defense on Texas’s final drive of the Rose Bowl by creating plays when none were available.

Of course, it turns out that Young’s athletic skill set doesn’t transfer to the NFL quarterback position all that well—something that many people realized from the get-go.

The cold hard reality is that a scrambling quarterback will not last in the National Football League. The defenders are faster, stronger, and smarter. Do you really think that Young is going to burn Ray Lewis the same way he burned some freshman linebacker at Baylor? Not a chance.

Sure, it’s nice to have a quarterback who can make plays with his legs, but not necessary. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady are probably the two slowest quarterbacks in the League—but they are the best. Move down the ranks of other good quarterbacks, and you will find that they all make a living by throwing the football, not by running it.

This leads us to Young’s second major problem. Watch him play and you can’t help but notice his extremely unconventional throwing motion. The awkward sidearm release is the last thing he needs to deal with in a division where Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney will be breathing down his neck twice a year.

Then there is the matter of Young’s attitude problems. He has had a problem coping with the booing of his own fans. He ran his mouth in the offseason, claiming that he would make the Hall of Fame, among other things. Despite doing nothing to help his team in 2008, Young still couldn’t help boasting his way into the headlines during the offseason. Not the qualities one hopes to see from a quarterback.

Needless to say, Young’s deficiencies haven’t led to the greatest production. He has thrown 25 touchdowns and 34 interceptions in 33 starts. His career completion percentage remains below 60.

All of his statistics are extremely underwhelming.

Except one: his record.

Vince Young is a winner, plain and simple. When he is on the field, his teams win.

What magical influence he has is beyond my understanding. He isn’t a leader, isn’t a great passer, and isn’t a great runner at the NFL level. His primary function seems to be turning around and handing the ball to Chris Johnson, one of the best running backs in football.

But when Kerry Collins did the same thing, Tennessee lost. Every time.

Yes, he has the benefit of a good defense, but didn't the 0-6 Collins? I know that the Titans were banged up early on, but Young’s first start in 2009 did not lead to the miraculous healing of every member of the defense.

Furthermore, Young won in 2006 and 2007 without Johnson to carry the workload on offense. While solid, the defense was nowhere near its 2008 level in either of those years. Definitely not so strong that one would expect the Titans to win regardless of the quarterback.

It is a strange case. Young is most definitely not an ideal quarterback. It is debatable if he is even a good one. He tends to make more mistakes than big plays.

This scenario must be leaving Tennessee management, coaches, and fans in quite a bind. Do you convince yourself that Young is the quarterback of the future, hoping that his mysterious winning ways will continue to thrive?

Do you look at his issues and decide that he cannot possibly keep winning playing the way he does?

It will be curious to see how these questions are answered by the Titans in the offseason. Maybe Young can dig down deep and remold himself into a more conventional and trustworthy passer. Maybe he will finally reshape his image into that of a leader. Maybe he will keep winning.

Or maybe none of the above will happen. Young’s future likely relies on his play and, more importantly, Tennessee’s record in the final six games of the regular season.

Hopefully we will better understand by then exactly who Vince Young is.