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I've been reading ESPN's football blog, Hashmarks, for about a month now, and really enjoy the style of its writer, Matt Mosley. Mosley is knowledgeable about the game, and his friendly style allows him to pass that knowledge along to his readers without coming off as a know-it-all. His posts are generally enjoyable reads.
Today, however, he wrote something that caught my attention. Note the bolded sentence below:
I think [new Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Mike] Heimerdinger will make a significant impact, but my colleague Merril Hoge disagrees. I can't say that I've heard Hoge rail on Young in the past, but he made some pretty strong comments in The Tennessean.
"What they've done is the first indicator of what happens when you make a mistake with the quarterback you drafted in the first round and he starts to erode your organization,'' Hoge said. "Norm Chow was not the problem. He did what his quarterback was capable of doing, which is not very much. And it is much easier to fire the offensive coordinator than to get rid of your quarterback.
"If it's your quarterback you're saying 'We made a mistake.' Now you get rid of the offensive coordinator and say the reason he is not playing well is because of him. What you're doing is buying yourself another year and you avoid the public relations hit of actually fessing up and admitting 'We screwed up.'"
If Matt hasn't heard this song and dance before, he hasn't been paying attention because for awhile there, Hoge made it his life's work to blast the hell out of Vince Young.
Read through those links, watch the videos of Hoge writing off Young's career in its infancy, and those most recent samples in the block quote above don't seem so strange, do they? Quite simply, this is what Hoge does: tear down Young as often as possible. I just don't get it. It's one thing to rip somebody who has been in the league for a few years without really delivering, a la David Carr or Alex Smith (in another couple of years, if he doesn't get it together by then). But to start in on a guy as he's leaving college, and continue through his first two years in the league (as he's winning Offensive Rookie of the Year and taking his team to the playoffs, no less)? That's odd.
I guess the silver lining, however, is this: if Vince is the sort of player who gains motivation from bulletin board material, he should have plenty of material in the coming years.
20 Comments:
I really think that Hoge is at least partially racist. He basically did the exact same thing with McNabb. No matter what the Eagles were doing at the time, he would find a way to run down McNabb.
All Vince Young has done the past two seasons is win games despite the total lack of any playmakers at the receiver and tight end positions. He's still very raw, and he may never be an elite quarterback in the NFL, but he deserves credit for getting the Titans into the playoffs this season no matter what his numbers were like.
Before "experts" like Hoge start throwing him under the bus (especially after only 2 years), they should look at what's around him. Most people probably can't even name a receiver on the Titans. The fact is, Young has a strong arm, the ability to run with the ball, and very good pocket presence. If he ever puts it together and has a reliable target to get the ball to, he might just be danegrous.
Hoge is just pissed that Vince hasn't adopted the 9-button suit look that he's been promoting since the late 90's. He thinks Vince's conservative 5-button suit look is bullshit.
Why is it so illogical that Merrill Hoge has stuck by his guns that he doesn't think Vince Young is a good QB? First of all, I think that Hoge is a very good analyst and comes across extremely well on the NFL Matchup show. Secondly, I find it refreshing when one of the so-called experts stick to their guns on a topic, rather than waffling with the predominant public opinion.
Is it really far fetched to think that VY isn't that good? His 9 TDs/17 INTs ratio from last season isn't too impressive, nor is his career QB rating of under 70. He has a high completion percentage, but throws an inordinate number of screens and dump offs which are taken into account in his low rating. I understand he makes a good number of plays with his feet, but that just isn't enough in today's NFL which relies so heavily on the pass. The Titans do win a good bit, but with their defense, couldn't one argue that they win in spite of Vince Young?
I wonder if there isn't some racism there either. My bias is as a Sooner. I didn't think VY would make it. Bill Simmons wrote that VY's throwing motion was like "flinging a turd off his hand". But I have to acknowledge his athletic and leadership ability have overshadowed throwing mechanics. A consistent deep threat would help.
Hoge is the WORST football commentator out there right now, and considering there's still two Sharpes and some of these other idiots in the same field, that is saying something. Just b/c he played in the NFL doesn't make him an expert. The only thing worse than his 'analysis' is his excruciating announcing on espn radio. Oh, and he's a racist.
I'mIdaho would have a point if Merril just started making these accusations this year. But he's been doing this before Vince ever even took a snap in the NFL. Vince proceeded to pull off Rookie of the Year and almost put a horrible Titans team in 2006 in to the playoffs on his own. During all of last season Merril was still acting like a little bitch every week about Vince. This year Vince has struggled as defenses adjusted for his game, and this allowed Merril to continue to harp on him. Part of the reason for Vince's struggles were because he Vince was trying to become a pocket passer (bad idea) to work with Chow's system, and that's not who he is.
Next year will be different as we have the guy who made McNair in to MVP of league coming back to replace Chow, Mike Heimerdinger.
Merril will have nowhere to hide next year. If Vince starts getting to use his talents more and the Titans defense stays as good as they were this year, they will be back in the playoffs and Merrill will again look like a giant douchnozzle.
I love how you all think he is racist just because he is criticizing a quarterback who happens to be black.
Fact is Vince has not shown the ability to mature within a complex passing system. He can only throw hitches, screens, and flares with some semblance of accuracy.
Most people who know football said the same things when he was drafted. Vince will never be a Brady or Manning, or even a Hasselbeck or Delhomme.
Stop calling Hodge racist. It only serves to highlight how Vince's supporters only like Vince Young because he is a quarterback who is black.
I guess you can't criticize a black QB.
Must be against the rules of the PC terrorists.
will i am is a racist. He criticizes Vince Young. Also, he only sings with white chicks.
I think people are calling Hoge racist because his hatred for Young is completely irrational.
Granted, Young's numbers did suck this year but the Titans still won 10 games and made the playoffs. I'm a huge Vince Young fan and think that with the right coaches he could revolutionize the QB position. Obviously Chow wasn't the right choice for O.C. since he took away Young's greatest threat, his legs. If you watch the Pats-Jags game last week you know that a QB doesn't have to throw the ball downfield to be effective. Give VY a line and weapons like Brady has and I guarantee you he would be effective. It's near impossible to stop a running QB -- last year proved that.
I think it's crazy that people don't think that Young can be effective in the NFL. The Patriots ran the spread last week (minus the QB runs) and it was extremely effective. There isn't a good reason why Young couldn't do that. That's why Chow got fired, he tried to get Young to adapt to him, rather then the other way around.
Hey, at least Hoge is consistent with his opinion on Young. Given how scrambled his brain evidently is (I'm assuming he was smarter before all the concussions), it's surprising that he even remembers that he doesn't like Vince.
his stuff on mcnabb is more about the fact that he hates the eagles. go back and find the "nfl countdown" tapes for 2003-2004 when the eagles made the super bowl. i think hoge had them winning about 4 games.
i will say that he has become a bit less biased. the vince young thing seems to be more about him saying it so much that he can't ever let it go.
I don't think it's as simple as "Merrill is racist" or "Vince Young is terrible." Like most things, it's somewhere in-between.
When Hoge first began harping on VY before the draft, he actually said Young, Cutler and Leinert looked horrible and the best QB prospect was Kellen Clemens (Glad that worked out for the Jets).
That said, I think it's easier for Hoge to hate on Young because they have nothing in common except for football. Which isn't cross-burning racist, but more along the lines of racial ignorance. It happens both ways. As a black guy, I've seen black commentators on NBA shows not give Nash or Nowitski their due because they don't fit the mold of what an NBA legend looks like.
As for Young, I think it's too soon to judge, even after his horrendous year. Yes, his mechanics look horrible, but my favorite QB of all-time, Brett Favre, has poor mechanics (throws off the back foot, off-balance, not with enough touch, etc) by QB standards and Lord knows he's had years where's he's thrown more stupid INT's than TD's (like his 2nd year and 2005).
My point is that Hoge, a man who once made his living running head first into linebackers, isn't some white hater on VY because VY is black and Hoge can't stand to live in a world where black QB's thrive. He's probably just a stickler for mechanics because anything outside the norm would give him his 22nd concussion, causing permanent brain damage.
Do you people realize that the Titans made the playoffs IN SPITE of Vince Young? The guy is basically the next Vick. He'll continue to get coordinators and coaches fired because everyone will blame them instead of VY. This guy could have Jerry Rice and Jesus at receiver and he still wouldn't be able to get the ball to them downfield.
Fact: Texas had to dumb down there playbook so Vince could understand it.
Hoge has a weekly segment on one of the morning radio shows in Pittsburgh, so I've had the chance to hear quite a bit of Vince-bashing that probably doesn't get the same airtime nationally. However, I will say that Merrill has never come across as racist, and moreover, seems to be equal opportunity offender. He's been harder on Matt Leinart than on Young.
In writing this, I tried very hard to avoid bringing the race issue into the discussion. That's a hell of a charge to level at somebody I don't even know.
I'll accuse him of being a bad analyst, or a stubborn SOB, but it's hard to label someone a racist just because they're white and they don't like the way a guy who happens to be black plays his position.
I'mIdaho and Tman both had good points. No, it isn't a bad thing for an analyst to stick to his guns on an issue. But, like Tman said, for Hoge to hammer Young, and Young to respond by winning the ROY award and leading his team to the playoffs in his second season is silly.
I'll be interested to see how Young progresses next year under Heimerdinger, who not only coached McNair but is also, I read, more of a taskmaster/disciplinarian type. If Young fails in this system for the next year or two, maybe I'll concede Hoge's point. Otherwise, I think Merril will eventually have to eat some crow and admit he was wrong about Vince.
On a more meta note, thanks to everyone for commenting. 18 comments may not seem like much, but that is the most I've ever received on a post. The discussion has been interesting.
Is Merrill Hoge Rush Limbaugh's illegiti-
mate brother?(racist,that is.)
I'm Mexican and I'll admit Merril is a racist and a hater! Vince is 18 - 11 as a starter and Merril rather look at QB rating. Read'um and weep is what I tell Hoge when Vince starts to win Super Bowls. What he did so wrong this year I'll never know. It was the first game of the season and what everyone loves to remember is that he had 2 Int's and 1 TD rec. that game. What they tend to forget is that Vince and the Titans were leading when he went out with an injury with 5 minutes left in the game. The funny thing is that Jake Delhomme throws 5 interceptions in a playoff game but they just go to the next subject. Vince is a winner and his actions will speak louder than words very soon!!!
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