Back in the fall of 2005 while I was living in Nashville, our beloved Tennessee Titans were mired in a godawful year that would see them finish with a 4-12 record and a multitude of questions about the future of the franchise. Steve McNair, the quarterback that led the team to within one yard of the Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000, had limped through the season with a litany of injuries that were piling up to inhuman levels after his many years in the league. He was Wile E. Coyote, and the defenses of the teams from the AFC South were the Acme Corporation. How much more could McNair take, and who would be waiting in the wings when he was done?
Just across town in Music City at the time there was something happening in the world of football that local residents were unprepared for...Vanderbilt University had a pretty decent football team. Vandy would start the season with dramatic wins over Wake Forest and Arkansas, scare the daylights out of perennial Southeastern Conference powerhouse Florida in an overtime loss, and finish with their first win over in-state rival Tennessee since Ronald Reagan was in office. For an egghead school with a history of football ineptitude paired with success in country club sports and women's basketball, the 5-6 record that Vandy posted that fall was cause for celebration.
As the possible end of the line for Steve McNair in Nashville was being pondered by local sports fans, Vanderbilt quarterback Jay Cutler was seeing his stock rise with NFL scouts thanks to his strong showing that fall for the Commodores. There had been seasons when Vanderbilt had seemingly set offensive football back to the days of leather helmets in years past, yet here was Cutler putting up great passing numbers amid speculation that he had moved up to being a possible first round selection. By the time he ended up as the first guy from Vandy in 38 seasons to earn Southeastern Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors, there was a chorus of local sports fans who agreed on one huge thing; we wanted to see Jay Cutler in a Titans uniform.
I was thinking about all of this today as I was watching the final minutes of the game between Denver and San Diego. As Cutler led the Broncos to a dramatic victory over the favored Chargers, memories from the spring of 2006 that involve the former Vanderbilt QB, as well as Vince Young, Matt Leinart, the Tennessee Titans and the Broncos, came to mind.
You see, as the dismal 2005 season for the Titans came to an end and we found out that our team would pick third in the April 2006 NFL draft, quarterback fever struck in Nashville. It seemed as though you could not turn on sports talk radio for even a few minutes without hearing speculation about which top rated signal caller would be coming to town to rescue the Titans. The marquee names were Vine Young of Texas and Matt Leinart of USC, who had just faced each other in an epic Rose Bowl. Young's Longhorns won the game and the national championship, but both men were seen as big time NFL prospects. The name of USC tailback Reggie Bush was tossed around a bit, but we all suspected he would be off the board with the first pick. Anyway, we needed an elite quarterback and either Leinart or Young would be there at number three.
But Cutler's superb senior year across town at Vanderbilt, combined with his excellent daft workouts, now had some scouts ranking him as a top ten pick and a close third to Young and Leinart among available quarterbacks. To those of us who had followed him locally, we were confident he was every bit as good as the two bigger names. Cutler had played for lowly Vandy, yet had put up exceptional numbers while often running for his life behind offensive lines that were often outmatched by the defenses they faced. He was smart, poised and extremely well developed as an athlete and a quarterback. He was going to succeed, and for us it was just a matter of seeing which team was wise enough to choose him.
However, by the time draft day arrived we were pretty sure the Titans were not going to take Cutler. Young and Leinart were still seen as the elite picks with the most upside. Cutler was very good, but was still seen as the third ranked signal caller in the bunch. At least that is what the people paid to forecast the draft were saying.
But I was unfazed. I stood around at Judge Bean's Barbecue, site of Cutler's Nashville draft party, reciting a scenario I had been talking about for weeks. I was certain it would be a winner for our local pro team. Since Cutler was likely to go somewhere between picks 10 and 13, I thought the Titans should trade down a few spots, receiving desperately needed extra picks in the process. They would take Cutler somewhere in the seven to 10 range and then give him an offensive weapon or two with the extra picks from the trade. It made so much sense. Plenty of people agreed with me.
But as you know by now, that didn't happen. The Texans led things off by picking defensive end Mario Williams and the Saints followed with the choice of Reggie Bush. Then the Titans did what many of us had expected by that point when they selected Young to be the QB of the future. Titans team owner Bud Adams lives in Houston. Young had gone to high school in Houston and had brought an NCAA football championship back to the Lone Star State while at the University of Texas. It has been widely assumed that Adams had the final say over Titans scouts on the choice of Young. It was, after all, Adams' money.
Leinart fell a bit in the draft that day, thanks in part to some late doubts about his arm strength and also the fact that the teams picking three through nine either didn't need a quarterback or wanted one other than him. Picking in the 10th spot, the forever snake-bitten Arizona Cardinals franchise took Leinart. Immediately after that pick, Denver head coach Mike Shanahan was said to have called Titans coach Jeff Fisher for a scouting report on Cutler. Fisher says that he told Shanahan he had absolutely no doubts about Cutler, and Denver traded up to the 11 spot to take him. I was sitting at the bar of the barbecue joint in Nashville pounding beers when Cutler's name was announced. When Cutler entered the room to a huge round of applause, I told a friend that he was going to be a huge success in Denver and that all of us in Nashville would likely end up regretting that we hadn't gotten him.
Okay, so fast-forward to the games today, and there was Cutler doing exactly what many of us in Nashville figured he would do...playing as an elite level NFL quarterback for Denver. After San Diego scored to take the lead with less than five minutes to go, Denver's chances of winning were in Cutler's hands. Legendary Denver quarterback John Elway, the man whose legacy Cutler has had to live up to, made a name for himself with game-winning drives as time was running out. Today was Cutler's chance to show he can do the same thing. The Chargers have been picked by many to win the AFC, and they had roared back from a 14 point halftime deficit to take the lead. What did Cutler do? He calmly led his team down the field for what appeared to be the game tying touchdown. But after his scoring pass to rookie Eddie Royal, Shanahan, demonstrating his confidence in his signal caller, sent his offense back out for a two point conversion attempt that was literally a win/lose choice. Cutler found Royal again, this time in heavy coverage. Denver 39, San Diego 38. Final.
So where were Young and Leinart today?
Vince Young- All of us in Nashville told ourselves that we were getting the guy who beat USC, and that his style of play, unorthodox by NFL standards, could be molded with proper coaching. Yes, he seemed to want to run the ball right away if the first receiver in his progression was covered, and his throwing motion was a bit odd. But the guy was a winner, we said, and that is all that matters. And after his first year, when he was named the league's top offensive rookie, we believed that the sky was the limit. However, Young's second year in the league showed signs of serious regression. When he ran, he wasn't nearly as effective as he had been in college or as a rookie. And his accuracy was atrocious, with over-throws and interceptions happening far too often. Also, the red zone offense with him at the controls was woeful. Were it not for an improved defense, the team would likely have been awful. We were hopeful for improvement this year. But in recent weeks, NFL fans have read about Young leaving the field during the week one match up against the Jaguars, having to be urged back onto the field by Fisher after he was booed for tossing his second interception of the day. He is also said to have scared friends and family with threats of suicide the following day. Denials have been issued, and it is hard to tell what to believe. But I am very much of the "where there is smoke, there is fire" opinion. Young has serious problems on and off the field. I am a devoted Titans fan, and it pains me to say the two things that follow:
1. If and when he returns to the starting lineup this year, Young will not make any significant contributions towards team success beyond what was achieved last year. In other words, a Young quarterbacked Titans team will not make it past the first round of the playoffs this year.
2. Unless Young makes absolutely enormous changes in his game and his mindset, he will never come close to leading the Titans to a Super Bowl victory.
Matt Leinart- The easy knock on Leinart is to say that he is so wrapped up in the celebrity of his occupation that he has lost touch with what got him there in the first place. You can base this conclusion on the Internet photos and rumors about him that have been widely circulated. But if you believe what his coaches say, this isn't true. The guy lives in the film room, is admired by his team mates, and has great work habits. So they say. And last year was lost to injuries for Leinart, which wasn't his fault. Assuming his coaches are correct and that Leinart his doing everything he is supposed to do, then the remaining conclusion is that he simply isn't as good as the Cardinals thought he was when they drafted him. He had his shot to beat our Kurt Warner in the preseason this year, and he couldn't do it. Frankly, it wasn't even close. Is Leinart doomed to Ryan Leaf comparisons as a result? It's too early to say at this point. Warner can't play forever, and too much money has been spent on Leinart to just ditch him without another shot. But the Cardinals coaches have made it clear that they are going with the QB that gives them the best chance to win.
So that leaves Cutler from the big three of the 2006 draft as the guy who is living up to and surpassing the hype. His brilliant game today is just the begining. He will establish himself during this year as one of the best quarterbacks in the league. He will put up exceptional numbers and demonstrate great leadership. And remember that I said it here...Jay Cutler will lead Denver to at least one Super Bowl win before he is done.
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