SoCalTrjn wrote:Vince Young = Charlie Ward?
Vince doesn't play basketball but if he did
Vince Young = Michael Jordan
Would probably be closer to the truth.
This article should make you feel better about losing to Charlie Ward
Article published Jan 8, 2006
MIKE DETILLIER'S FOOTBALL WORLD
Leinart or Young: Who is the better quarterback?
I have scouted college football for the past 21 years, and I must say what I saw Wednesday night between USC and Texas will go down in my book as the most exciting college football game I have ever seen.
Before Wednesday, the two most exciting college games I ever witnessed were the 1973 Sugar Bowl between Notre Dame and Alabama, in which the Irish won in the closing seconds, 24-23, and the 1984 Orange Bowl when the Miami Hurricanes beat Nebraska 31-30 for the national title.
In the 1973 Sugar Bowl, it was a gutsy third-down pass late in the fourth quarter called by then-Irish coach Ara Parseghian, and perfectly executed by quarterback Tom Clements to tight end Robin Weber, that sealed the national championship for Notre Dame.
In the 1984 Orange Bowl, Nebraska coach Tom Osborne could have settled on a game-tying extra-point, but decided to go for the two-point conversion, and quarterback Turner Gill’s throw went off the hands of halfback Jeff Smith to preserve the Miami victory.
Those two games were special, but the 2006 Rose Bowl topped them both. It had two teams with great football traditions fighting to preserve their winning streaks, and it included three of the best college football players you will ever see on the same field in USC’s Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart and Texas’ Vince Young.
But as good as Bush and Leinart, along with their teammate Lendale White, were, it was Young who stole the show.
I can say that Young’s performance in Texas’ 41-38 victory was the single best effort I have ever seen put forth by a college football player.
If you think about that pressure and the grand stage these athletes were on, you just have to marvel at the football efforts of Young. Against a team that had a 34-game winning streak and a host of future NFL stars on it, Young accounted for 467 yards of total offense -- 200 rushing and 267 yards passing.
I must admit that when I put my head down on my pillow that night I truly thanked the man above for letting me witness one of the greatest football games and one of the greatest football performances possibly ever.
CLARK ON LEINART
While we are still waiting on Young to decide if he will return to Texas for his senior season or come out early for the NFL draft, there is one very strong voice that has already made an evaluation of both Young and Leinart.
Mathews resident Joe Clark, who coached in the NFL, NFL Europe and the college ranks for over 40 years, and has tutored the likes of Kurt Warner, Jake Delhomme, Don Majkowski, Jim Miller and Jay Fiedler, gives us his take on the two top quarterbacks in college football.
"Leinart is a very intelligent quarterback, well versed in the pro-style offense and he has seen a variety of different defensive sets to go against and produced a super-high rate," Clark said. "You can tell he has been well coached by his ability to check off at the line of scrimmage and adjust to the changes made by a defense on a given play. Matt has excellent height, and he sees the field very well and that is very important in the NFL."
Clark said Leinart is versatile in the passing game.
"Leinart has a good arm, not a howitzer-type arm, but a good arm and he can make all the throws in the book from the touch passes, to the rifle-ones downfield and he throws a good mortar-type pass," Clark said. "There is no comparing him to a Steve Walsh or a Danny Wuerffel. He has a much better arm than either of them and he is a better athlete. Those comparisons are completely off base. He is not a runner or a scrambling type quarterback, but he does a good job moving his feet and avoiding the sack, similar to Tom Brady in New England. He does a much better job throwing to his left than to his right, but I saw a few times he threw the ball well moving to the right against Texas. Now if the Saints selected him that would be great because their best lineman, Jammal Brown, plays on the right side, Leinart’s blind side."
Leinart’s release point is high and accurate.
"Matt has a high release point on his throws, and he is very accurate," Leinart said. "He is a very poised young man and he has an air of confidence about him. At the NFL level, I think he will get stronger after working in a more accelerated weight-training program. He is a little high with some of his throws, but for the most part he is right on the money with most of his tosses, but if he is off center it is mostly high.
"Leinart has a toughness and competitive spirit I really like. There is no hidden agenda to his makeup. I see the same qualities in Vince Young. They both just want to win for the team. This may sound old fashion, but I lived in an era of Sammy Baugh and Norm Van Brocklin, and they had a certain meanness to their game out on the field. Leinart has that. Tom Brady has that in New England and Jake Delhomme has that in Carolina. They are great guys off the field, but they don’t feel very good after they lose. Some people may feel different and talk about them being poor sports, but I like that in a player a lot more than the hugging and laughing with opponents you see after the game like a church social. You can see the competitive spirit in Leinart’s eyes, just like Vince Young. "
CLARK ON YOUNG
Clark also gave his opinion on Young.
"Vince is a tremendous athlete and a great competitor. He surprised me on just how accurate he is throwing the ball over the middle. To be honest he is a more accurate passer than Daunte Culpepper, Steve McNair, Donovan McNabb or Mike Vick were when they came out of college and those are the quarterbacks most people compare him to. He’s a very smart football player also. You saw that he made the hot reads when they tried to blitz him, and he dumped the ball off correctly to the back or the tight end. Vince is a very strong guy and he has the arm strength to make all the throws downfield. (USC coach) Pete Carroll threw every defense in the world at him, and he made good on almost every throw. You could clearly see that he grew in stature as a passer all season long. You don’t lead the NCAA in passing efficiency by not being a good passer and having good touch. The thing that jumps out at you is that he is not rifling the ball like a bullet on the shorter throws, but instead he is putting good touch and a tight spiral on those throws. When he needs to put some real steam on the ball he can do that also."
Young can also run the ball.
"Vince is an outstanding open-field runner and he is very difficult to bring down on the field," Clark said, "With his speed he will buy himself a ton of extra time to throw in the NFL, and he will make a lot of big plays with his legs. He is in my opinion just as fast as Mike Vick, but he isn’t as quick.
Young is an effective pocket passer.
"Young can throw the ball just as effective in the pocket as on the move. He has great size, and he sees the whole field so well. Everyone compares him to Mike Vick, but the big difference is that he is over 6-foot-4, and Mike Vick is barely 6-0. I tell people all the time that throwing the ball in the NFL is like looking through a picket fence. If you are a shorter quarterback you are looking through the picket fence, and while you can see the receiver through the openings, you also are blinded a bit by the obstructions. If you are a taller quarterback like Vince Young, it is like you are looking over the fence and there are no obstructions to your view of the field. A lot of the problems with Mike Vick have nothing to do with his reads or his accuracy skills, but it is for the most part his inability to see the field well because of his lack of height.
But Young will need to tweak a few things.
"Everyone has some faults to their game," Clark said. "Every college and NFL player does, and the two things that Young will need work on is taking snaps from under center and putting a better arch on his mortar-type throws. It takes three times as long to get in the proper place for throws under center than in the shotgun. That means you have an extra second or a second and a half to read and adjust to coverages in the shotgun than under center. It’s not a huge thing, but it is something he will need to get accustomed to and get perfected. Young has a bit of a hitch in his delivery, but he is so strong and that ball comes out like a whip so I wouldn’t mess with the delivery. He is very flexible in the wrists and that increases the velocity of his throws. Now on the mortar passes, he throws the ball flat and it doesn’t come out nose-down on the deeper throws. He throws a nice rifle pass, but he will need some work on the arch-type throws and getting a better trajectory on those type throws to make it easier on the receiver to catch. He will need to show a little more patience in the pocket and not take off running as much in the NFL. It’s a brutal league on quarterbacks and if you look at the four running-style quarterbacks out of the pocket, Mike Vick, Daunte Culpepper, Steve McNair and Donovan McNabb, three of those guys are recovering from recent surgeries."
THE CHOICE IS YOUNG
Clark said it is a tough choice between the two, but he would pick Young over Leinart if he were running an NFL team.
"If I had my choice between the two I would take Young because of his mobility skills and his ability to put extreme pressure on a defense with not just his arm, but also with his legs," Clark said. "To be perfectly honest I would feel very good if I had Matt Leinart also. I believe his skills are just as good as, say, Peyton or Eli Manning when they came out of college. These are two great players that I believe have the physical skills, football talents, smarts and the competitive drive to be Super Bowl championship-type quarterbacks. Both will need some time to develop their overall skills and get accustomed to the speed of the pro game, but these guys are very special players. USC halfback Reggie Bush is a terrific football player, but I would take either one over him."
Mike Detillier is an NFL analyst based in Raceland.
