Will Vince Young change football?

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Apr 29, 2006 by Berry Tramel

By Berry Tramel

THE OKLAHOMAN

Vince Young grabbed the Rose Bowl by the reins in January and didn't let go. Now a word has grabbed him and won't let go.

Transcendent.

Everyone in America is calling Young transcendent. New York Times. Sports Illustrated. Rocky Mountain News. Chicago Sun-Times. Other noted periodicals.

Big, I can buy. Strong, you bet. Fast, I've seen it with my very own eyes. Special, ask Southern Cal.

But transcendent?

That seems like an awfully big word. An awfully important word. A word so daunting it demands a trip to the dictionary.

"Surpassing others; preeminent or supreme." That's one definition. Another is "beyond the ordinary range of perception."

Does that describe Saint Vincent? I would say probably on the former and not so much on the latter. Young was college football's best player in 2005; I don't think he's unlike anything we've ever seen before.

Sport's transcendent list is short. Babe. Wilt. Tiger. Can't think of anyone else. That trio changed their respective landscapes, changed the way their games are played, and they did it quick.

Is Young going to change football?

Well, he's certainly a unique talent. But is he the future of the NFL? I believe the football of the mid-21st century will be a kaleidoscope of big, fast backs all running around and throwing and catching passes. A whole squadron of Vince Youngs.

But is that future now? That's the question facing franchises as the NFL Draft hits this weekend.

The Augusta Greenskeepers would not pass on Tiger Woods if golf had a draft, the Philadelphia Warriors did not pass on Chamberlain and you don't want to be the team that passes on football's version of the same.

No draft is as vital as the NFL's.

Pro football teams are built like puzzles. Unless you're the 1984 49ers, the puzzle never is finished. The team that gets closest to completing the puzzle wins the Super Bowl.

A good draft can provide several puzzle pieces.

That's why it's bogus to label teams scared to draft Young. The NFL is a win-now league. Down teams don't have to stay down. Rapid upgrades happen all the time.

The baseball draft builds 5-10 years in the future. The NBA Draft, except in rare cases, does not transform teams. Seven franchises have won the last 26 NBA titles. Taking a flyer in either sport is not a bad move.

But the NFL rarely offers the opportunity to gamble.

There is no doubt that Vince Young is a project, which come to think of it eliminates him from the club. Wilt Chamberlain never was a project.

Can Young be a winning quarterback in the NFL? Of course. He's got a whale of an upside. He could be the next Randall Cunningham, which is not too bad, or the next Steve McNair, which is pretty darn good.

Vince Young also could be the next Michael Vick, who no doubt has been called transcendent himself, but five years into his pro career still is learning how to play quarterback.

Young appears to be a much better passer than is Vick, maybe not quite the runner.

But how can Vince Young possibly be the next Steve Young? Steve Young was almost as good a runner as Vick and almost as good a passer as Joe Montana.

I like Vince Young. I wrote way back in July 2003 that the Longhorns had found a player to change the course of the Oklahoma- Texas rivalry.

But no way Vince becomes the NFL's greatest quarterback named Young. And if he isn't the caliber of Steve, Vince becomes a situational pick.

If you need a quarterback sometime soon, and you don't mind unconventional, Vince Young's your man. If you were a pass rusher or a big-time blocker shy of getting back into the playoff race, you pass on Young.

Transcendent he's not.