http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5363342
Young could drop to Raiders at No. 7
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John Czarnecki / FOXSports.com
'/nugget/200002_' + leagueId + '|||' + fanid; } INDIANAPOLIS - What if the Oakland Raiders are in position to draft Texas quarterback Vince Young, the hero of this season's national championship game?
It may sound ludicrous, considering Oakland picks seventh in the first round, but it's not a far-fetched scenario, primarily if Tennessee and the New York Jets pass on the talented Texan.
If that happens, Young could easily slip to the Raiders because it doesn't make sense that the Packers and 49ers would draft a quarterback, either. Well, the Jets are looking at drafting a quarterback, considering their pending divorce with good-guy, bad-shoulder Chad Pennington, but they apparently are eying Vanderbilt quarterback Jay Cutler, who is described by many as the next coming of Brett Favre.
Cutler wowed the scouts by bench-pressing 225 pounds 28 times here at the scouting combine and won many admirers by basically challenging Young and Matt Leinart to come out and throw with him. They declined, of course.
Here's how Young could end up being available to the Raiders. Houston takes Reggie Bush with the first pick and New Orleans, desperate for a franchise quarterback, selects 2004 Heisman winner Leinart of USC, with the second choice. No drama there.
The Titans own the third pick and seem to be in need of a new franchise quarterback, plus Young and Steve McNair have become good friends. Young said he would love the opportunity to play and learn under McNair's wing. But the Titans aren't totally sold on Young right now. They could be in another month or so, but they claim to have plenty of work to do on big right-hander.
Vince Young and Al Davis? That would be quite the pairing. (Lisa Blumenfeld / Getty Images)
The Titans are worried that Young has taken as few as eight snaps a season from under center. He has excelled in a shotgun offense with a running back positioned next to him. Young's game has been almost as much running as it has been throwing. And this week he has made it clear that he has won enough, played well enough at Texas, that he doesn't see why any NFL team would change his shotgun style and his unorthodox throwing motion.
The other word is that Tennessee offensive coordinator Norm Chow also has serious reservations about Young's ability to run his system. There also are rumblings about a low Wonderlic test grade.
The Titans could opt for Cutler, too, considering he's the hometown kid having played his college ball in Nashville.
Still, it sounds strange that someone like Young could slip that far, but then Daunte Culpepper was the 11th overall choice in the 1999 draft and three quarterbacks were drafted before him, including Tim Couch (first overall by Cleveland) and Akili Smith (third overall by Cincinnati) who are no longer in the league.
Obviously, stranger things have definitely happened. Yes, despite all the months of scouting and interviewing, NFL teams are prone to making huge personnel blunders. Everyone is human.
This being said, it isn't a slam dunk that the Raiders would even pick Young, those are the concerns about his deep-ball accuracy (an Al Davis demand) and his penchant for simply running (although quite effectively) too much.
The Raiders, like the Dolphins and some others, are keeping an ear to the rumor mill here that both Drew Brees and Culpepper will be available very soon because of their contractual demands. The Chargers continue to talk to Brees, who recently had a torn labrum repaired in his throwing shoulder, but don't sound confident that they can convince him to take a contract with little guaranteed money. The Chargers are also convinced that the Vikings won't pay Culpepper a $6 million roster bonus on March 6, thus allowing him to shop his talents anywhere without any compensation to Zygi Wilf's franchise.
"Who would have ever thought that the Vikings would deal Randy Moss one year and then get rid of Culpepper the next?" said a Charger executive on Sunday.
Notes and thoughts
The Raiders believe that Bucs GM Bruce Allen will make a hard run at unemployed CB Charles Woodson, although Tampa Bay doesn't have the money right now to make a splashy offer when free agency begins. ...
San Francisco personnel director Scott McCloughan called tails when the league flipped a quarter on Friday to decide whether the 49ers or Raiders would own the sixth overall choice in the first round. The quarter came up tails. ...
Seattle head coach Mike Holmgren, who was so upset with the officiating in Super Bowl XL, has quit the league's prestigious competition committee. Atlanta GM Rich McKay, co-chair of the committee, said he didn't believe Holmgren quit over what the coach thought were questionable calls against his team in the Super Bowl. Holmgren also expects to be fined heavily for his derogatory comments made after the game, primarily before thousands of Seahawk fans when the team returned to Seattle the day after the game. ...
Giants GM Ernie Accorsi said that it was difficult for him to release versatile offensive lineman Jason Whittle, who was a personal favorite of the late Giant owner Wellington Mara. Accorsi told the story that prior to the final cuts last September that Mara let him know that he "wouldn't be very happy" if Whittle was cut. ...
What a poignant scene it was on Saturday in the RCA Dome to see Colts head coach Tony Dungy with one of his young sons, Eric, at the combine. Dungy said that he and his family is coping as well as to be expected since the death of his oldest son, James. On football matters, Dungy said that despite their so-called blocking problems against the Steelers, the team likes its offensive linemen and won't be making that position a draft need in April. ...
A lot of teams were hoping that LSU running back Joseph Addai might slip to the third or fourth round, but that won't happen now after he ran a 4.37 40-yard dash on Saturday. ...
The Bucs will definitely keep DE Simeon Rice even if they are unable to restructure his contract before the cap is in place on Wednesday. Teams are expecting the 2006 salary cap to come in somewhere between $92 and $95 million. ...
The Bears are in the market for a quarterback, but don't seem to have any interest in Brees or Culpepper. And that's why they are the Bears, a team unwilling to pay big money for a big-time quarterback.
It would be a travesty if Young slips to 7 in my opinion
Young could drop to Raiders at No. 7
function BlogThisStoryTools() { var headline = "Young could drop to Raiders at No. 7"; var url = document.location.href; var destination = "http://blogs.foxsports.com/BlogThis.aspx?r_title=" + escape
John Czarnecki / FOXSports.com
'/nugget/200002_' + leagueId + '|||' + fanid; } INDIANAPOLIS - What if the Oakland Raiders are in position to draft Texas quarterback Vince Young, the hero of this season's national championship game?
It may sound ludicrous, considering Oakland picks seventh in the first round, but it's not a far-fetched scenario, primarily if Tennessee and the New York Jets pass on the talented Texan.
If that happens, Young could easily slip to the Raiders because it doesn't make sense that the Packers and 49ers would draft a quarterback, either. Well, the Jets are looking at drafting a quarterback, considering their pending divorce with good-guy, bad-shoulder Chad Pennington, but they apparently are eying Vanderbilt quarterback Jay Cutler, who is described by many as the next coming of Brett Favre.
Cutler wowed the scouts by bench-pressing 225 pounds 28 times here at the scouting combine and won many admirers by basically challenging Young and Matt Leinart to come out and throw with him. They declined, of course.
Here's how Young could end up being available to the Raiders. Houston takes Reggie Bush with the first pick and New Orleans, desperate for a franchise quarterback, selects 2004 Heisman winner Leinart of USC, with the second choice. No drama there.
The Titans own the third pick and seem to be in need of a new franchise quarterback, plus Young and Steve McNair have become good friends. Young said he would love the opportunity to play and learn under McNair's wing. But the Titans aren't totally sold on Young right now. They could be in another month or so, but they claim to have plenty of work to do on big right-hander.
The Titans are worried that Young has taken as few as eight snaps a season from under center. He has excelled in a shotgun offense with a running back positioned next to him. Young's game has been almost as much running as it has been throwing. And this week he has made it clear that he has won enough, played well enough at Texas, that he doesn't see why any NFL team would change his shotgun style and his unorthodox throwing motion.
The other word is that Tennessee offensive coordinator Norm Chow also has serious reservations about Young's ability to run his system. There also are rumblings about a low Wonderlic test grade.
The Titans could opt for Cutler, too, considering he's the hometown kid having played his college ball in Nashville.
Still, it sounds strange that someone like Young could slip that far, but then Daunte Culpepper was the 11th overall choice in the 1999 draft and three quarterbacks were drafted before him, including Tim Couch (first overall by Cleveland) and Akili Smith (third overall by Cincinnati) who are no longer in the league.
Obviously, stranger things have definitely happened. Yes, despite all the months of scouting and interviewing, NFL teams are prone to making huge personnel blunders. Everyone is human.
This being said, it isn't a slam dunk that the Raiders would even pick Young, those are the concerns about his deep-ball accuracy (an Al Davis demand) and his penchant for simply running (although quite effectively) too much.
The Raiders, like the Dolphins and some others, are keeping an ear to the rumor mill here that both Drew Brees and Culpepper will be available very soon because of their contractual demands. The Chargers continue to talk to Brees, who recently had a torn labrum repaired in his throwing shoulder, but don't sound confident that they can convince him to take a contract with little guaranteed money. The Chargers are also convinced that the Vikings won't pay Culpepper a $6 million roster bonus on March 6, thus allowing him to shop his talents anywhere without any compensation to Zygi Wilf's franchise.
"Who would have ever thought that the Vikings would deal Randy Moss one year and then get rid of Culpepper the next?" said a Charger executive on Sunday.
Notes and thoughts
The Raiders believe that Bucs GM Bruce Allen will make a hard run at unemployed CB Charles Woodson, although Tampa Bay doesn't have the money right now to make a splashy offer when free agency begins. ...
San Francisco personnel director Scott McCloughan called tails when the league flipped a quarter on Friday to decide whether the 49ers or Raiders would own the sixth overall choice in the first round. The quarter came up tails. ...
Seattle head coach Mike Holmgren, who was so upset with the officiating in Super Bowl XL, has quit the league's prestigious competition committee. Atlanta GM Rich McKay, co-chair of the committee, said he didn't believe Holmgren quit over what the coach thought were questionable calls against his team in the Super Bowl. Holmgren also expects to be fined heavily for his derogatory comments made after the game, primarily before thousands of Seahawk fans when the team returned to Seattle the day after the game. ...
Giants GM Ernie Accorsi said that it was difficult for him to release versatile offensive lineman Jason Whittle, who was a personal favorite of the late Giant owner Wellington Mara. Accorsi told the story that prior to the final cuts last September that Mara let him know that he "wouldn't be very happy" if Whittle was cut. ...
What a poignant scene it was on Saturday in the RCA Dome to see Colts head coach Tony Dungy with one of his young sons, Eric, at the combine. Dungy said that he and his family is coping as well as to be expected since the death of his oldest son, James. On football matters, Dungy said that despite their so-called blocking problems against the Steelers, the team likes its offensive linemen and won't be making that position a draft need in April. ...
A lot of teams were hoping that LSU running back Joseph Addai might slip to the third or fourth round, but that won't happen now after he ran a 4.37 40-yard dash on Saturday. ...
The Bucs will definitely keep DE Simeon Rice even if they are unable to restructure his contract before the cap is in place on Wednesday. Teams are expecting the 2006 salary cap to come in somewhere between $92 and $95 million. ...
The Bears are in the market for a quarterback, but don't seem to have any interest in Brees or Culpepper. And that's why they are the Bears, a team unwilling to pay big money for a big-time quarterback.
It would be a travesty if Young slips to 7 in my opinion
