There's no doubt that Madden 2008 coverboy Vince Young has had a rough go of it this year. Young's literally had to fight his way through injuries for the better part of this season just to play in 15 of the 16 scheduled games for the Titans. Now I'm sure we're all well aware of how injuries and coverboys go hand in hand in Madden. However, despite the injuries and the inconsistent play, Young has the Tennessee Titans' franchise back in the playoffs once again. Let's take a closer look at VY's season.
Young's completion percentage improved by nearly 11 percent in 2007.
The first thing many people are eager to point out is the negative touchdown to interception ratio. This stat would seemingly mean that Young is regressing instead of progressing in the offense since he threw more touchdowns and less interceptions the year before. Upon closer look though, you can actually see that Young's completion percentage has gone from 52% in 2006 to 62% in 2007. So the question would be is Young actually making better or worse decisions on the field?
Strengthening Young's case for a positive year even more is the fact that his total passing yards, yards per attempt, and passer rating all improved from the previous season. If you combine all of these statistical improvements with the fact that Young was battling injuries it's actually somewhat impressive. Obviously, these numbers will need to continue to go up if he's to be mentioned among the game's elite players. However, keep in mind that Young was setup to fail possibly more than any other Madden coverboy ever.
The reason I say that Young was setup to fail is because for starters he's only a second year quarterback. There's a reason why the term "Sophomore Slump" is common among sports. Typically, players need 3-4 years before they are really able to settle in and totally understand an offensive scheme. Furthermore, Young has almost nothing to work with on offense. How does this team ever score? Young is the only player on the team that most people would consider to be a playmaking threat. Unfortunately, even his playmaking abilities on the ground took a drop in production from 552 yards in 2006 down to 395 yards in 2007. Still, Young's 395 yards was tops among all NFL quarterbacks, despite running on a bad wheel.
Perhaps the most important factor to consider when judging whether or not Young avoided the "Madden Curse" is the success of the team. Well, the Titans finished 10-6 (9-6 under Young) and are finally headed back to the playoffs once again. Much of this year's team success should be credited to the defense. However, even last season when Young took over the starting quarterback position after the team started 0-5, he lead Tennessee to an 8-3 record (8-8 overall) the rest of the way. Young and the Titans didn't make the playoffs last season when he wasn't on the cover, but they did reach that accomplishment this season. For those of you who are still on the fence about what to believe about the "Curse", then maybe Young's opening round performance in the playoffs against San Diego will be the measuring stick for you.....if he plays that is.
