I come not to bury Vince Young, but to praise him.  Well, not really.

 When last we saw our tragic hero, the Titans were winning and VY was getting credit.  As the season has gone along, many commentators have begun to question Vince.  His TD to INT ratio is an ugly 9:17.  The Titans had a run where they lost four out of five games, and are now only barely clinging to a playoff spot that once seemed theirs.  The question is:  is it Vince’s fault?  Through four games we showed that VY’s play had little bearing on the Titans wins or losses, now through almost two full seasons, is our analysis correct?  Let’s check some numbers:

 Titans wins:
Comp             Att                %                Yards        YPA          TDs        INT         Sacks   Rating      

Rushes             Att         YPR           TDs      fumbles       lost

 The Titans were 1-0 when Young didn’t play at all.  They are 8-6 when he does.

Titans losses

   Comp          Att          %                Yards        YPA        TDs          INT        Sacks   Rating

Rushes        Att            YPR            TDs      fumbles      lost

 What does this tell us?  It says that Vince plays BETTER when the Titans lose and worse when they win.  Huh.  So what is the real cause for the Titans success or failure?  Their defense.  When they win, they allow 14.6 PPG, scoring 20.1 (not including their best output of the year when VY didn’t play at Houston and the team put up 38 without him).  When they lose however, they allow 25.8 PPG and average 14.3 on offense.  There is some regression on offense in the losses, but it’s the defense that really falters.

 There is some evidence that Young has actually IMPROVED this year as a quarterback.  To this point, he’s had almost the same number of attempts this year to last year (7 more this year).  He’s completing his passes at a much better percentage (61.5-51.5), his rating is a tad higher (69.5-66.7), and his YPA is up (6.6-6.2). While his DPAR numbers are basically flat, his DVOA on footballoutsiders is much better.  He went from -8.1% per play to 11.9% this year.  In other words, last year he was basically 10% worse per play than the average QB, this year, he’s about 10% better.  

So, why was he praised this last year, and seen as a bust this year?  In fact, the only number to have regressed for Young is his TD to INT ratio which has dropped from 12:13 to 9:17.  The big reason the media is down on him now is that his rushing numbers have dropped from 6.7 YPC and 7 TDs to 4.2 and 3 (just today, a 'scout' declared he must run the ball effectively for the Titans to win).  This is due in part to the quad injury he sustained earlier in the season, but it is also interesting to note that in the Titans losses, Young ran at nearly the same YPC as he did last year.  That is to say on average, Young rushing isn’t affecting the Titans wins and losses.

 Last year he was Rookie of the Year and a Pro Bowler.  This year, he’s crap.  The numbers tell us that he's better now than he was then, but no one seems to care.  All because he isn’t running around so much.  The truth about the Titans is that Vince Young distracts us from the real factor in determining if they will win or lose, the defense.  VY did improve his passing numbers over last season.  He still isn’t much more than an utterly average NFL QB, but he is listing in the right direction. 

Remember, we don't hate Vince Young.  We just weren't convinced that he was the reason the Titans finished 8-8 last year, and we aren't convinced he's why they'll finish 9-7 this year.  His play seems to attract a lot of attention, without really affecting wins and losses.

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