Vince Young or Matt Leinhart

[Reality]

Completely agreed.  No way Young gets this dream scenario of defeating a historic team like USC.  His value cannot get any higher, if he were to stay he would be expected to be great so the only thing he could do is damage his stock.

Youngs value will never be higher.  Complete concurance.  To expect Young, or really Texas to pull off another undefeated season is a stretch.  

$$ wise we need look no further then Leinart himself.

Would have gotten the $24 million signing bonus that Utah qb got instead.
Leinart now looking at *only* a 13 mil or so boner.  Poor baby.

[SPURSX3]

Young may have higher draft stock now, Leinart is the better quarterback.  Young's going to have work to do before he translates to the NFL.  All you hope is that he adapts.  Because one a quarterback's 40 time is going to go from a 4.3 to a 4.5 due to the wear and tear on his body.  Then he's shot if he hasn't developed himself.

didnt they have a stat during the rose bowl that said Young was the best percentage in the country for pass and completions? I can't remember the stat but they did talk about that during the game.  
 

[Wolverine]

Negative fan reaction will prevent this, but what if the Texans traded the #1 for more picks and spent them on defense and the O line?  Can anyone really say David Carr is the problem or Dom Davis should be on the bench when the O line is, in the words of Homer S. "the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked?"  Just some food for thought.

To be honest I think criticism of Leinart may be a case of him suffering for the sins of guys like Danny Wurerful and Gino Torretta.

And jn gets the award for Most Intelligent Observation!

Number one, Matt Leinert is, in my opinion, the best quarterback prospect to come out since Manning in 1998.  The guy is spectacular in almost every area.  He has above average arm strength, terrific accuracy on his throws, size, the ability to make quick decisions, and comes from a winning program.  If I had a draft board, he's number one.  That's right, folks!  Ahead of Mr. Overrated, Reggie Bush, AND Vince Young.

The Texans will take Bush number one, the Saints like Leinert at two, and Young will go three to the Titans.  At this point, that's the way it looks.

Personally, I think the Texans are complete and utter morons for not trading down to three or four, stockpiling a bunch of picks from that deal (because, boy, do they need help in practically every area), and taking the best LT in the draft, D'Brickashaw Ferguson.  Their offensive line is THE WORST IN THE LEAGUE.  David Carr doesn't produce because he hurries his decisions and rushes his throws.  Why?  Because the offensive can't block my 84-year-old Grandma!  They are PUTRID!  Domanick Davis is a good running back who could excel behind a halfway-decent OL.  Carr hasn't really had a GOOD chance to showcase his abilities.  The answer isn't Reggie Bush or Vince Young, people.  It's the offensive line.  It's D'Brickashaw Ferguson.  It's several draft picks.  UGH!

Okay, rant over.

But jn, you're absolutely right.  Their fans would storm the offices and hang the executives for making the intelligent decision detailed above.  They'll take Reggie Bush, he won't do much better than Dom Davis, David Carr will sacked another 70 times, they'll lose a bunch of games, and, in the end, blame the majority of the failures on David Carr.  Mark my words.  Just watch.

[Lurker]

And jn gets the award for Most Intelligent Observation!

Number one, Matt Leinert is, in my opinion, the best quarterback prospect to come out since Manning in 1998.  The guy is spectacular in almost every area.  He has above average arm strength, terrific accuracy on his throws, size, the ability to make quick decisions, and comes from a winning program.  If I had a draft board, he's number one.  That's right, folks!  Ahead of Mr. Overrated, Reggie Bush, AND Vince Young.

The Texans will take Bush number one, the Saints like Leinert at two, and Young will go three to the Titans.  At this point, that's the way it looks.

Personally, I think the Texans are complete and utter morons for not trading down to three or four, stockpiling a bunch of picks from that deal (because, boy, do they need help in practically every area), and taking the best LT in the draft, D'Brickashaw Ferguson.  Their offensive line is THE WORST IN THE LEAGUE.  David Carr doesn't produce because he hurries his decisions and rushes his throws.  Why?  Because the offensive can't block my 84-year-old Grandma!  They are PUTRID!  Domanick Davis is a good running back who could excel behind a halfway-decent OL.  Carr hasn't really had a GOOD chance to showcase his abilities.  The answer isn't Reggie Bush or Vince Young, people.  It's the offensive line.  It's D'Brickashaw Ferguson.  It's several draft picks.  UGH!

Okay, rant over.

But jn, you're absolutely right.  Their fans would storm the offices and hang the executives for making the intelligent decision detailed above.  They'll take Reggie Bush, he won't do much better than Dom Davis, David Carr will sacked another 70 times, they'll lose a bunch of games, and, in the end, blame the majority of the failures on David Carr.  Mark my words.  Just watch.

Thanks Wolverine...saved me a bunch of typing.  Pretty much sums up my feelings on the Texans well.

Only thing I would add is that Tennessee could be a very good place for Young.  He can learn a few things about the NFL from McNair and then take over in a year or two.

[Laker Fan]

Do you REALLY think Leinhart will go before Young???


The Houston is SHOULD draft Young and trade Carr for some O-Line Help...but no, they want to Keep Carr and get Bush so they can TWO good players getting the Snot knocked out of them. 


Young will go before Leinhart in the draft, no knocking Leinhart or anything, but Young has the skill, the height, the frame, the speed, to be a real difference maker.  At 6-5 he can see whats coming his way, so while he may still sacked on a team in the draft, he could probably se whats coming and avoid it more so than Leinhart could.  Thats just my opinion.

I don't see how Matt Leinhart would go above Young after what Vince was able to do last week in a high pressure game.  Aside from him being great all year I think that score or lose the championship drive said alot about his ability to handle pressure....something that is magnified in the pro setting.

If anything Bush will go before Leinhart because any team that NEEDS a QB is going with Young.  I don't think the next pick is going to pass up Reggie Bush.

Matt should go before Young for 1 reason, 3 STRAIGHT shots at a National Championship, back to back successful. No knock on Young, but one stellar performance against a pathetic defensive effort does not a number 2 pick make. Leinart hardly had a bad game, he drove his team at will, and scored virtually at will, had a very good game, and a tremendous second half, he did not lose that game, USC's defense did, that and IMHO Reggie Bush's inexplicable 1st quarter lateral/fumble. Matt has proved over the last 3 years to be a very smart, very tough quarterback, as good a performance as Young had in Pasadena, he has not accomplished the same thing, he is number 3 IMO, not number 2, and that is certainly nothing to sneeze at.

As a side note, Houston would be STUPID not to pick Bush number 1, same reasoning, 1 incredibly stupid play does not negate what this kid is capable of.

[Guest_Randy]

I like Bush a lot but let's be serious -- the guy ISN'T going to be the Savior of any team.  I think he will be a good NFL running back but he isn't going to be marked among the best, IMO.

I think the Texans would be in a WHOLE lot better shape trading this pick and getting some help on offensive line and defense and letting somebody else pick up the hype.  Right now, I think Bush and Young are BOTH riding on a parade of hype that is ushering them down to high expectations that I don't think either can deliver -- immediately and possibly not even longterm.  

Leinart would be my first choice but it depends a great deal on the team, their current roster and their needs.  I'd LOVE to see Leinart go to the Rams -- but then again, I'd like to see the Rams beef up their offensive line and defensive secondary as well.

[Reality]

qbs and rbs translating college success into NFL success depends on a lot of factors.

1 2 3
Bush could be good, but also consider history along with the help he had at USC.

1. History: Only five running backs have been the No. 1 pick the past 40 NFL drafts, and they have had varying degrees of success. Ki-Jana Carter, the last runner to be the top pick, in 1995, blew out his knee in his rookie preseason and did little in six pro seasons. Billy Sims had a big rookie year in Detroit after being drafted in 1980, but he had only three good seasons. Earl Campbell became an immediate star as a rookie in 1978, but he had joined a Houston team that was already decent, having gone 8-6 the previous season. Ricky Bell went to the dreadful Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1977, and had only one good season (his third) in six seasons before his death. O.J. Simpson's status was much like Bush's is now when Simpson was taken first in 1969 -- a can't-miss speedster out of USC. Yet Simpson had three mediocre seasons with a lousy Buffalo Bills team before emerging with five standout years.

2. Offensive line: USC's offensive line may be the best in the country. "They're arguably one of the best offensive lines, not just in the nation, but in the history of college football," Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said. Although Bush's 8.9 yards per carry is mind-boggling, it should be noted that the other USC tailback, LenDale White, averages 6.7 yards a pop, the second best average among the 44 players who have 1,000 yards rushing. USC's No. 3 tailback, Desmond Reed, averaged 7.2 yards a carry. Often Bush was into the secondary before he had to initiate one of his ankle-breaking moves.

3. Other weapons: Defenses can't focus on stopping Bush because quarterback Matt Leinart was the Heisman Trophy winner last year, wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett is a first-team All-American and White is a third-team All-American. "If it was just Reggie, we could torque the defense to handle him, but that would be a sure way to lose," Texas linebacker Rashad Bobino said. Texas defensive tackle Frank Okam notes the case of Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson, who rushed for 1,925 yards with a 5.7 average and was the Heisman runner-up last season, when 2003 Heisman winner Jason White was the Sooners quarterback. Peterson had 1,108 yards (5.0 average) this season with the Sooners breaking in a redshirt freshman quarterback.