Chow Praises Young as He Continues to Improve

I agree. But I think there is pressure associate with each level. That's the point I'm trying to make -- confidence is a key part of being a QB. These top draft picks succeed at lower levels and if their confidence is shaken at the pro level, sometimes they can never recover from it.

I didn't say ALL mental but MORE mental.

I thought we were discussing top draft picks at QB. Everyone knew Wueffel's arm was limited.

Yes, he wasn't ready because he was a rookie. If that isn't the case, what reason was he not ready?

I'm (AGAIN) am not saying every rookie is doomed to bust if they start their first year. We have too many success stories which tell us otherwise. But we also have enough information to tell us starting some rookies too early can, and does, damage confidence to the point they never live up to their potential or it takes years for them to do so.

Your opinion is that starting as a rookie has no bearing on their overall career if they have the right stuff to begin with. I can respect that but feel, like everything else, confidence is built over time. I see a danger in starting Young before he should be because I see a danger in shaking the confidence of the future of the franchise if he was to fail early.

If I am Fisher, I sit him on the sidelines until mid-season before even considering him for #2. Then, I only put him in the game in situations he can succeed (big leads, conservative gameplan, lesser defenses, etc.). I let him crawl before he walks. I build him up and give him a foundation for success so when he does have a setback, he knows it's only temporary because he's been successful.

 

George was/is one of the cockiest players I've ever seen come into the game. He supposedly had it all. I think Leaf is the poster boy for showing what the pressure can do to you when he went off on that reporter.

Young will learn from practice. The game should slow down for him from the experience he gets there. Though his confidence can take a beating in practice, I don't think it's the same as what happens when it occurs in front of fans and the media who'll immediately start the "bust" talk if he doesn't light it up from day one.

Though I agree with you there is no teacher like experience, I think there are steps involved Young must go through which are key for him to succeed beyond watching game film and practice. Among those is standing on the sidelines and watching Volek run the offense. He will learn from Volek's successes and failures.

 

I agree. But if that is the only flaw to an othewise successful QB, why not do what you can to build up a young player's confidence first?

To illustrate, I thought I could do not wrong when I was 23 and got my first job at an ad agency. In that job, I was handed much more responsibility than most recent grads are in their entry-level position. Things were different in the "real" world from college where I got by on talent and, like just about anyone entering the workforce, ate a little humble pie early in their careers making mistakes. The old confidence took a bit of a beating but I learned from my mistakes and moved on. I've known other equally talented people who couldn't deal with the setbacks and were in a different career in five years.

To this day, I think if I had been given less responsibility early on, I would have developed, gained confidence and eventually been better for it.
Or, maybe the setbacks made me mentally strong and better for it. There's no way to know for sure. But talking to those who couldn't handle it, I know they felt they were asked to do too much too soon and just we unable to deal with it. You wonder what they could have done if they were in the right situation where they had the time to develop their skills.

The point (and there is a point) is that you don't know how a person will react until it happens and you run the risk of the person never realizing their potential once their confidence is gone.

Personally, I think that risk is avoidable.

I may be. I'm no psychologist though spent the night in a Holiday Inn Express.

Which goes back to why make him the #2 unless you are ready for him to play?

At the same time, if he is to be the #2, you have to be prepared for him to come in if Volek goes down and accept everything that comes with that.