Is this the end of line for VY?
This pastweekend one of darkest for Horns in any offseason.
After the Cleveland Browns selected Oklahoma State cornerback Justin Gilbert with the eighth pick of the draft Thursday, I tweeted: “Somewhere, new Cleveland QB Vince Young is smiling. #nojohnny”
Well, a few of my Twitter followers were quick to point out that I’d tweeted too soon after the Browns selected Manziel 14 picks later.
Then this: The Browns opened up business on Monday by unceremoniously dumping VY two weeks after signing him as a free agent. All-time Longhorn good guy Fozzy Whittaker also got caught up in the mix with a visit from the Cleveland Turk.
I’m not sure what’s more disheartening for Vince — the fact that the Browns didn’t think enough of him to allow him to participate in training camp, or that they thought so much more of Brian Hoyer, free-agent signee Tyler Thigpen and undrafted free agent Connor Shaw. Just call it the latest setback in a career that’s starting to be defined by the word.
Go ahead, Texas fans. It’s OK to label the past weekend as one of the darkest in Longhorns offseason history. No draft picks in seven rounds.
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Then the best quarterback ever to play here gets shown the door — by Cleveland, of all teams — before he could barely get through it.
Young hasn’t played since 2011 and has now been released five times in less than three years. Never say never in the NFL, but I’m starting to wonder if his playing days are at an end.
I hope that’s not the case because he still has some NFL ability in that body. The questions that have to be asked moving forward are:
Why are these teams so quickly turned off by Young?
And when will he finally say “enough is enough” and start polishing up his ambassador skills at Texas?
MANZIEL is apparently bringing sexy back to Cleveland. That is, if you believe the news out of league retail circles. His Browns rookie jersey has outperformed the weekend rookie jersey postings of Tim Tebow, Robert Griffin III and Andrew Luck combined, according to NFLShop.com.
In case you’re wondering about the pre-training camp pecking order, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam has already said that Hoyer is the starter going in and Manziel is the backup.
I wonder how Hoyer’s jersey is selling. ...
JACKSON Jeffcoat surprised us when he chose not to lift at Texas’ pro timing day, after throwing up just 18 reps of 225 pounds at the NFL scouting combine, which tied for the fifth-lowest among defensive ends at the league’s annual rookie meat market. Scouts might have been turned off by his declining to improve upon that number in his home gym, but it still doesn’t explain how an All-America defensive end with 13 sacks and some of the best agility times at the combine can go undrafted.
Could be the two surgeries on torn pectoral muscles had them concerned, especially with the increased weight work that comes with the move up to the pros. Either way, he did land in a good spot in Seattle, but only if he can earn a roster spot on one of the league’s deepest clubs.
That’s no given for a free agent.
THE Oklahoma City Thunder would be nowhere without Kevin Durant, but the most glaring holes in his game were exposed down the stretch of that Game 4 loss in Los Angeles that knotted up the Western Conference semifinals at two games each. Durant, despite a gamehigh 40 points, committed eight turnovers, and three of those came down the stretch, coinciding with the Clippers erasing what had been a double-digit deficit.
Even more frustrating was Durant strug- gling in the fourth quarter with Chris Paul guarding him. KD has 10 inches of height on the parttime insurance agent but appeared uncomfortable when the two were matched up. He did hit one incredibly difficult midrange jumper over Paul, but it just shouldn’t be that tough, given the size disparity.
Durant not only must improve his passing out of double teams, but also must develop more of an inside attack. He would be smart to follow the lead of his buddy LeBron James, who worked with Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon three years ago to add some post moves to his offensive repertoire.
Olajuwon is one of the most underrated teachers of interior play in the game, and his effect on LeBron’s arsenal showed in the numbers. Since being tutored by The Dream, James has posted consecutive regular-season field goal percentages of .565 and .567, the two highest of his career.
Durant, who loves spending time in Austin when he can, should spend a few days in the gym (and in the lane) with Olajuwon in Houston this offseason.