Faceoff - QB Vince Young, Tennessee Titans

Posted 6/23, exclusive to Footballguys.com

Upside - by Marc Faletti

Last year wasn't pretty, but Vince Young still ranked as the #19 QB in most fantasy systems. Coincidentally, that's about where he's chosen this year, meaning Young is being drafted at his floor price. And because of all the signs Young will improve, he's the biggest QB value of 2008.

The primary knock on Vince Young has been accuracy. But in a season for which he was universally panned, Young raised his accuracy from 51.5% as a rookie to 62.3%. It took John Elway 10 years to hit a number like that, and Young's poor stable of receivers dropped plenty of passes, making his completion percentage even more impressive. For young QBs, the most important thing to track is whether they are learning and improving. This particular Young made a huge leap in his single biggest area of weakness, and that suggests that he's still on a rapid ascent as an NFL QB.

Will VY ever throw for 30 TDs? Probably not. But last season's dismal 9-17 ratio likely won't be seen again. Consider:

• The Titans fired Norm Chow in part because he failed to connect with Young and tailor the offense to him. Now the team returns Mike Heimerdinger to OC, he who mentored Steve McNair from raw talent to co-MVP. He'll have quite a positive impact on Young's numbers.
• While the team didn't add WR talent, they gave Young more weapons. Alge Crumpler is the reliable red zone target the team lacked and could be the reason Young vaults closer to 20 TDs this year. Also, rookie Chris Johnson will play in the slot and in space; expect several of his long runs on short passes to pad Young's totals.
• Young confessed to a trying 2007 and admitted football wasn't as much fun as it had been. But he also explained how and why he changed all of that. While Young still has a lot to learn about what not to confess to the media, by all accounts he's back to his enthusiastic self. That means his head is in the right place for a big rebound.

And then we come to the gravy, Young's legs. After being banged up by Tampa Bay in week 6, Young's legs didn't recover until week 11... when the Broncos hammered him on a play that had been blown dead. In other words, two injuries at two different critical moments robbed Young of the leg power he needed to be a scrambling threat. Injuries are always possible, especially with running QBs, but nobody should expect Young to be hobbled nearly as much in 2008 as he was last year. That could translate to 700 yards and 5+ TDs on the ground.

Take him as a cheap backup, and you might be very surprised at the solid starter he becomes.

Downside - by Jeff Pasquino

Right now Vince Young is plummeting down the ADP charts. Just a month ago many wanted him as a borderline fantasy starter (QB12), and now we find him at QB17 -- not a good sign. Still, let's try and take an objective view and see if Young is even worth consideration as a committee quarterback that can give you some quality starts this year.

We can start with Young's statistics form 2007. He had only nine passing touchdowns compared to 17 interceptions -- tied for last among regular starters with Tarvaris Jackson (whose ADP is 198 while Young is #111 -- think about that for a minute). Fans of Young will say that his skill as a runner adds an extra dimension to his game. Now take a longer look at his rushing numbers. Young's rushing yards went down in 2007 from 2006 to less than 400 yards and barely over four yards per carry -- a decent number for a running back, but a poor number for a scrambling QB.

Tennessee has struggled to surround Young with talent. That was certainly part of the problem last year, as the Titans had the less than formidable starting WR duo of Justin Gage and Roydell Williams. Young relied on his TEs more than many other quarterbacks, but the addition of Alge Crumpler -- who was cut from Atlanta, a terrible offensive team -- is hardly an upgrade over Bo Scaife. Young was given no favors by the Titans in the NFL Draft either as they passed over many WR prospects in April, waiting to take Lavelle Hawkins in Round 4.

Picking a QB2 for your fantasy team usually means either selecting a stable backup or a player with a big upside. Looking at Vince Young, I see neither of those things (aside from him remaining the starter all year). I would strongly advise you to look elsewhere for your backup or committee quarterback this season.