Merrill Hoge Now Saying Nice Things About Vince Young

Merrill Hoge has never liked Vince Young. When Young had a successful rookie year, Hoge preached skepticism. When Young fell apart last year, Hoge called him a soft baby.

So when Hoge actually says Young is playing well and showing significant improvement, it's about as surprising as Dick Cheney giving Barack Obama a fist bump.

But Hoge is praising Young these days -- his 387-yard passing day against the Cardinals that included a 99-yard game-winning drive made it hard to do anything else.

"I see a guy who has matured in how he handles things,'' Hoge said. "I have seen on tape him identify things better, and he is a better deep ball thrower than he was. He was more inconsistent when they benched him last year, and he is much more consistent now. There is no question he is on the right path. Is he there? No. But the last two weeks have been some serious steps and improvement as a leader, as a quarterback, and in his maturity."

Young's improved accuracy is the most impressive and the most surprising development. You would expect that Young's ability to read defenses would take some steps forward with more experience, but before he was benched last year, Young would frequently bounce passes at the feet of open receivers. Now he's showing he can consistently drop passes over the shoulder of receivers 20 yards downfield.

Coming into the season, it seemed impossible that Vince Young would justify the $4.25 million option bonus due this offseason. Now it seems impossible to believe the Titans won't exercise it.