Parker: Franchise QB not as advertised

After battling out numerous debates with friends and fellow football lovers for the last two seasons, it's starting to look like my original diagnosis of Vince Young was correct.

One friend and fellow journalist said Young would be hoisting either an MVP trophy or Vince Lombardi Trophy within his first five years.

Stop laughing. I know, I know.

I said his talents would be negated by the speed of the NFL, he would be without a job as a starter within that same time frame, and could very well be out of the league altogether.

Truth be told, his status of being such a high draft choice and his marketability are about all Young has going for him at this point.

Shh...nobody tell Reebok.

For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why the Titans didn't save some money, trade down and select Vanderbilt product Jay Cutler in the '06 draft. That, or go after free agent QB Drew Brees and draft more of a can't-miss kind of player like linebacker A.J. Hawk.

Neither of my choices ever seemed to be an option. They seemed bent on either taking Young or USC star Matt Leinart, who I liken to former Bear draft bust Cade McNown without as much athletic ability.

What do you expect from a team that's now selected eight receivers in the last four drafts combined? How many of those eight started in the season opener on Sunday? Zero. Oh, but Brandon Jones did have one catch for 5 yards.

The '07 draft was one of the deepest for wide receivers in over a decade. Having a playmaker to stretch the field and catch off-target wounded ducks from Young should have been a priority. Who was the first pass catcher they took? Drum roll please .... Fresno State's Paul Williams with the 80th pick overall.

Really, stop laughing.

Now, with selection of Young, Tennessee is having to win in spite of him and they set the franchise back several years. Rare is it that teams give up on high picks at that position prior to year four or five (San Francisco's Alex Smith may be the exception) unless a new regime comes on board.

However, Young is the pride and joy of Titans owner Bud Adams. He's not going anywhere. Consistent excuses are made for and by Young in postgame press conferences.

The stats speak for themselves.

In the 17-10 win over the Jags, Young completed 12-of-22 passes for 110 yards with one TD and two interceptions. Much of that yardage came on screens and runs after the catch.

Cutler had only two more pass attempts but hit is man 16 times for 299 yards and two scores without a pick in torching a very respectable Oakland Raiders secondary during a 41-14 victory on Monday night. Those numbers would have looked even better had Denver tight end Tony Scheffler not taken a laser off the chest in the back of the end zone.

Cutler showcased a complete skills set and is in elite company as far as throwing on the run with the likes of Donovan McNabb, Brett Favre and Ben Roethlisberger. From his days of scrambling for his life at Vandy, Cutler developed a talent for the trade.

Young is a heck of an athlete but when you get 4-6 seconds to throw the ball against Big 12 defenses like Oklahoma State, Baylor and Texas Tech, you're going to look pretty impressive.

Yes, we've only just now turned the page on Week One of the NFL season and the Titans are 1-0. But, tell that to the boo birds that swarmed Young in the second half on Sunday afternoon at LP Field.

Here's my prediction for the 2008 season: Jay Cutler will throw more touchdown passes this season alone than Vince Young will have had after his first three seasons combined.

It seems like a pretty far-fetched prediction since Bud's boy entered this year with 21 TDs already. We'll see.

This is all a shame, really, because Tennessee has a defense that could carry them deep into the playoffs if they have a quarterback who can just play mistake-free and move the chains on third-and-short.

Stay loose, Kerry Collins.