09-07-2007, 10:00 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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Both of them
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 10,225
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Young aims to keep star on rise
Ultimate Jaguars Newsroom: Young aims to keep star on rise
Quote:
For Vince Young, anticipation for the fall seems to be the byproduct of his success.
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The countdown to collapse began a month into the offseason, when his top receivers - Drew Bennett and Bobby Wade - signed with other teams and Tennessee's leading rusher (Travis Henry) bolted for Denver.
Doom and gloom, pundits proclaimed. Young doesn't have enough help around him.
But a sophomore slump isn't in the cards for Young, the 2006 NFL Rookie of the Year. He hopes to prove it Sunday when the Titans meet the Jaguars at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.
"People say it is all about me," Young said. "It's about the whole team."
But to a large extent, a football team's success is determined by the play of its trigger man. So it's no surprise that Young took 110 snaps - the most of any projected starting quarterback in the league - during the preseason. It's also not surprising that during the offseason, Young began film study of Tennessee's first few opponents.
"I'm very pleased with his offseason and what he did throughout the offseason, through the OTAs, even through the off time," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. "He's way ahead of where he was last year."
That's especially promising for Tennessee when considering his wildly successful rookie campaign.
Young was the first rookie to throw three touchdown passes of 20 yards or more, in addition to running for three more TDs of 20 yards or more. He won the fifth-most games of any rookie quarterback since 1970 and became the first rookie in the Super Bowl era to rush for at least 500 yards.
"He's been able to win everywhere he's been," Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio said.
Interestingly, none of Young's rookie success came against the Jaguars. In two games against the Jaguars, he completed less than 50 percent of his passes and rushed for a combined 18 yards. He also threw three interceptions; Scott Starks returned one 55 yards for a touchdown.
"I got to him a couple of times [last year]," defensive end Bobby McCray said. "But once he gets outside, he's gone. We give him more credit now than last year. Last year, he was a rookie. He was just getting into the mix of things. But he's played us twice now and has gotten one win. He's more familiar with us. So he tends to be a bigger threat now."
He's a bigger star, too.
Young's rookie of the year and Pro Bowl selection in 2006 garnered endorsement deals, which included the coveted cover of the video game Madden NFL 08, not to mention lofty expectations for the upcoming season. Young doesn't subscribe to theories of a possible Madden jinx or sophomore slump.
Like his Black Entertainment Television reality show, Young expects to take his game to the Next Level in 2007.
"To me, I don't look [at his second season] as pressure. I really feel like I have a great group of guys that have my back. They give me confidence every week to go out there and perform and I'm just going to leave it at that," he said.
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Young aims to keep star on rise
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