Five at 10: Tuesday morning quarterback edition

How did we get here?

Very quick recap of the Titans quarterback saga to this point:

Vince Young looks a game-changing quarterback in college, including a BCS bowl performance for the ages against USC. Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams falls for Young. Titans head coach Jeff Fisher tries to make it work, can’t. Fisher tries again, it doesn’t mesh. Fisher tries again, and again nothing. Nada.

Yes, that is over simplified, but we have to get moving.

Young has an impressive won-loss record as an NFL quarterback (he’s 30-17 as a starter), but his stats are less-than-eye-popping. Stats are not the important thing, winning is, of course. That said, the Titans have frequently won in spite of Young rather than because of him.

Now we’re here. Fisher on Monday was noticeably bent out of shape discussing Young, who threw his shoulder pads (seriously) into the stands out of frustration after a 19-16 loss to Washington. Fisher said Young will have surgery and will miss the rest of the season, but the veteran and respected Titans coach made sure to mention that even without the injury, Young would not be his starter.

In a separate news conference Adams said that of course Young was going to be back next year. And so was Fisher.

This is not going to end well, and does anyone really think if Young returns that Fisher will, too?

How did we get here, part II

Wow, that got out of hand, huh?

Last year the Minnesota Vikings were a bad pass from making the Super Bowl. Today, they are heading to practice with an interim coach after Brad Childress was fired Monday.

It’s not like it was a huge shock – heck, the crowd was chanting “Fire Childress” during Sunday’s awful 31-3 loss to Green Bay.

Childress pushed all his chips into the middle with quarterback Brett Favre’s final season. And Childress, who for the most part lost the team after the debacle that was the Randy Moss trade last month, was called and busted in the process.

Young man Rivers

The stories of the San Diego Chargers starting slow and making a push down the stretch seemed tired, right? Yes, it was because Norv Turner seemed like a mediocre coach or simply because that’s the way the Chargers have done it.

Well, count us in. The Charger can do whatever they want in September, but the 5-at-10 will never count them out until the season is over and someone else has won the AFC West.

And behind the Chargers’ charge is the frontrunner in the MVP race – quarterback Philip Rivers. Rivers threw for four touchdowns in Monday night’s 35-14 win over Denver. He’s on pace to top 5,000 passing yards. And he’s done all this with no LaDainian Tomlinson, who left during the offseason. No Vincent Jackson, who has been sidelined with a contract dispute. Last night there was no tight end Antonio Gates nor running back Ryan Mathews, two Chargers starters that have been battling injuries.

There was only Rivers, and that was more than enough.

Honors on the line

Three college quarterbacks – Auburn’s Cam Newton, Stanford’s Andrew Luck and Boise State’s Kellen Moore – were named the finalists for the Maxwell Award, which goes to the best player in college football. Not surprisingly the trio was also the final three for the Davey O’Brien Award, which honors the top quarterback.

Here are the other groups of finalists for the other awards:

Bednarik Award (best defensive player) – Clemson end Da’Quan Bowers, Auburn tackle Nick Fairley and LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson.

Doak Walker Award (best running back) – Oregon’s LaMichael James, Wisconsin’s John Clay and Oklahoma State’s Kendall Hunter.

Biletnikoff Award (top receiver) – Oklahoma State’s Justin Blackmon, Oklahoma’s Ryan Broyles and South Carolina’s Alshon Jeffrey.

Outland Trophy (top interior lineman) – Wisconsin tackle Gabe Carimi, Florida State guard Rodney Hudson and Colorado tackle Nate Solder.

Thorpe Award (top defensive back) – Peterson, Nebraska cornerback Prince Amukamara and TCU safety Tejay Johnson.

Lou Groza Award (top kicker) – Notre Dame’s David Ruffer, Oklahoma State’s Dan Bailey and Southern Mississippi’s Danny Hrapmannn.

Ray Guy Award (top punter) – Chas Henry of Florida, Ryan Donahue of Iowa and Drew Butler of Georgia.

Mackey Award (top tight end) – Missouri’s Michael Egnew, Wisconsin’s Lance Kendricks and Arkansas’ D.J. Williams.

Speaking of quarterback controversies

CBS analyst Gary Danielson – a former quarterback – said Monday, that other than Auburn fans, everyone wants Auburn to lose Friday against Alabama.

His thinking has to be based on the scandal involving quarterback Cam Newton’s recruitment, and that if Alabama beats Auburn it makes it easier for the voters – in the polls and in the postseason awards like the Heisman – to turn an indifferent eye toward the Tigers and Newton.

My thinking is that Danielson simply wasn’t thinking. He may feel that way – and I can see that reasoning – but if you are going to even appear to have a semblance on impartiality as you announce a game between two arch-rivals such as Auburn and Alabama, well, you just can’t say something like that.

But, you know what they say, it’s really much easier to be a Monday morning quarterback.