Vince Young (03/2006)

Position:

QB

School:

Univ. of Texas

Height:

6' 5"

Weight:

230 lbs.

General Variables:

36 out of 40

Size

9

Strength

9

Speed

9

Athleticism

9

Position Variables:

44 out of 60

Man coverage:

7

Zone coverage:

8

Deep accuracy:

7

Short/Intermed. acc.:

7

Footwork:

6

Mobility:

9

Positives:

When you watch Vince Young play, it's hard not to get excited. He’s simply an unparalleled athlete at the quarterback position.  His strength, clearly does not lie in his textbook quarterbacking, but in his ability to use his athleticism to make plays, whether that’s in the passing game or with his legs.  He's deceptively fast, more so on the field than to a stopwatch.  With his long strides, he can pull away from any defender.  Young has a cannon for an arm, and does a better job throwing on the run than from the pocket.  Young also is unflappable.  Even in the biggest game of his career, the Rose Bowl against the juggernaut that was USC, you never saw him break a sweat.  He's a team leader, commanding the respect of both his teammates and his opponents, when he has the ball in his hands. 

Negatives:

There can’t be a conversation about Young without spending as much time on his negatives as his positives.  He’s far more athlete than he is quarterback, and that's why the Longhorns are National Champions.  The question remains –  Can you turn Vince Young into a pocket passer or should you even bother?  If you belive that Young's success in college cannot be recreated in the NFL, and the fact that he took the vast majority of his snaps in a simplified passing game and out of the shotgun, rarely being asked to make difficult reads or throws, than he's probably undraftable.  There are many questions about what Young will be able to do against NFL coverages and athletes.  Young will need to work on correcting some funky mechanics and become quicker and smarter in his defensive reads.

Overall:

We all remember when the Falcons traded up to get Michael Vick.   Has that worked out?  No, but that won't keep teams from coveting a player like Young.  Where he may be a tad slower than Vick, he's every bit the passer, and much bigger, which should translate into greater durability.  In my opinion, Vince Young's criticisms are more stereotyping than anything else.  Can he drop back 7 steps and throw the deep out?  I suspect given time he will, and he may be able to now, but can the best pocket passer break contain, and outrun an NFL defense 70 yards for a touchdown?  At some point, a team will need to weigh whether or not it's worth drafting Young, to teach him the things quarterbacks in the NFL need to know, so they can get the things he brings that you can never teach any other quarterback.

Final Word:

COMPARISONS – A lot of football folks have soured on Young, and his heroics of the Rose Bowl seem all but forgotten.  His pro day and individual workout will go a long way toward quieting the critics, but I think in light of these criticisms, there's something to be said for history and Vince Young.  Three quarterbacks come to mind, when I see Young.  2 you'd expect, and 1 you wouldn't.  The first 2 are Randall Cunningham and Steve McNair.  With McNair, in particular, the parallel is almost eerie …coming out of college as more athlete than quarterback, questions about his smarts, ability to read NFL defenses, and concerns that he may never be able to be just a quarterback.  We all see how that turned out.  My third quarterback is Ben Roethlisberger.  After watching him over what can only be described as the most amazing first 2 years of any quarterback in the NFL, I can't stop thinking about watching Miami-of-Ohio games and wondering how this big mobile quarterback, who plays out of the shotgun for nearly every snap, will perform once he’s in the NFL.

Curtis Popejoy

Scouting Director