In a Young State of Mind

As the 2008 NFL season progresses, it becomes painfully obvious that Matt Schaub is not the answer in Houston. Although Schaub has more polish, he is still the same model as the Carr the Texans used to drive.

Indeed Houston, we do have a problem, and it starts with the anemic offense the Texans place on the field every Sunday. There is no running game to speak of, a quarterback who is looking over his shoulder because he knows that fans are losing their patients, calling for his backup, who uses every opportunity he can to outshine his [Schaub’s] list of lack luster achievements, and an All Pro receiver who is tired of losing.

However, it does not take a room full of rocket scientist to solve this problem, just a couple a savvy GMs willing to make a deal. 

850 miles away, the Tennessee Titians are off to their best start in their history, including the days when they were know as the Oilers of Houston. However, as magical as this season seems to be, the Titians have already gone through growing pains and difficult decisions. 

No matter what your feelings about Vince Young’s ordeal, it is easy to see that Vince is no longer happy in Tennessee, and the fans have turned on him. Even coach Jeff Fisher has opted to go with the ancient Kerry Collins as his starter, stating that Collins will be in this position for the time being.  

Vince Young is a native of Houston; he lead the Texas Longhorns to their first Nation championship since 1970 and his two of his top five best statistical NFL games have been played in Houston.

This may be just a coincidence, but I believe it is more of a correlation. Vince Young needs to be in Houston, where he is still worshiped as a god by the thousands that saw him play in high school, and the millions of Texans (minus Aggies) that watched him single-handedly destroy the Big-12 and out finesse the "undefeatable" USC Trojans.

It is apparent that the Titians are looking to go another route without Young, but I’m not sure they would accept a one-for-one trade of quarterbacks. Though Schaub would make an excellent midseason backup to Collins, I think that another player would need to be offered to sweeten the pot, in order to coax the Titians to part with Young—possible the No. 1 receiver they have been looking for? 

Personally, I love the dedication to the Texans Andre Johnson has shown, and I think, if we were to trade him to a contending team such as the Titians, this would repay him for all the years a futility we have put him through. So my offer would look like this:  Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson for Vince Young and Lavelle Hawkins. Seems workable.

Houston would keep Sage Rosenfels, letting him take over the starting role, and using Vince young in spots to spark the offensive running game or just give them a shot in the arm when they get bogged down.

Being back in Houston, Young could work with Kubiak, a very good quarterback coach, during the offseason, to learn the offense and mature into the role of the new leader of the Texans' offense. This would give Texans fans something to be happy about and help Vince out of his depression and be back in a place that he is loved.