Talk begins on a Vince "sophomore slump"

Misleading stats as far as Drew. In 2005, we ranked #9 in passing, but Drew was not McNair's favorite target. In fact he could not really get him the ball deep, as Volek could. In 2006, we ranked 30th in the league in passing, so no one was going to have big numbers averaging 162 yards a game. Drew was never meant to be a #1, and as Sox pointed out, he hasn't exactly had a great supporting cast, or a pure passer at QB. Let's be fair.

 

Yea, McNair was in decline and never practiced with the team - his deep ball improved at the end of his time here, but it still wasn't great. Young has some more work to develop a deep ball, but it appears he at least has the arm strength to do it. IMO his biggest issue right now is timing - sooo many balls came out a hair too late last year. But that is also a pretty good sign for possible improvement this year - I think he was doing ok seeing the field and choosing the right receiver but was probably thinking through it too much and not able to pull the trigger instinctively. That will come as the game slows down, and as he develops chemistry with his TEs and WRs.

 

And several of those teams were getting chewed up by Vince. In 83 rushing attempts last year, he had 31 1st downs... 7 of which were TDs. That's going to take a lot of pressure off your RB. Especially in the IND, BAL and BUF games. In the PHI game, Henry had 113 yards on 2 long carries (43 and 70)... then 30 more yards on his remaining 16 carries. And in NE all his yards were in the 1st half - got completely shut down in the 2nd.

 

You have to figure in our complete lack of a passing game that could stretch the defense. Everyone keeps thinking VY helped some how open holes for Henry but having a running QB might hinder a RB because the defense is going to keep more guys up for the run. Be honest, defenses were not exactly scared of VY throwing a 50 yard bomb so their S were playing closer to the line and the defense wasn't going to go nickel or dime nearly as much. Those things make it much harder on the running game over all. When your passing game is averageing maybe a 150 yards per game at best what do you guys think the defense is going to be geared to stop?

 

I'm not a Henry fan, but most nfl players have their best games against the weaker teams. That's just normal. You normally hit your averages against the tougher teams.

 

True about the safeties... that might cancel the other effect out.

Maybe, but playing the run is pretty different than playing for containment of a running QB... it's more about gap fits and getting good initial movement on the line. The typical defensive plans to contain a running QB involve either 1) assigning a LB or maybe a S as a spy - which would mean an occasional empty gap for the RB, or 2) a pass rush that involves collapsing the pocket in a more controlled manner and not providing a back-door lane - which often means softer B gaps off the guard.

I'm not sure if either of those applied to Vince/Henry last year. It's hard to separate the plays, I guess - I'm sure Henry benefited from LBs not biting on a handoff immediately and making sure Vince wasn't running the bootleg. And I'm sure Vince also benefited from safeties coming up to play the run and leaving the middle of the field wide open.

 

You can sum this season up pretty easy. We have to find help to replace Pac and LT, we need a RDE, and Vince really has to step up his passing game. If those things happen, we will at least be competitive. It would take some instant chemistry for the playoffs, but considering what a mess last season was early on, hopefully we can start the season ready to play.

 

well its kinda hard to have a sophmore slump off the numbers he put up last season, if bironas doesnt hit the game winning field goal, if we dont score 24 pts in the 4th against New York, if any of the texans could tackle, and if the Jaguars wouldnt turn the ball over so much, Vince Young woulda been the worst quarterback in the NFL. his numbers were awful, you cant get much worse, and without a half decent player on offense with him, i can expect the numbers to get any better.

 

When McNair was at his worst numerically, we went to the superbowl. Why, because he was a football player. He made plays. When he was MVP, we floundered. This should only solidfy that Vince gets it. He is playmaker first. Not a one dimensional passer.