LET'S, FOR THE sake of argument, set aside what Vince Young did to USC in the Rose Bowl.
And while we're at it, let's forget about Young's Wonderlic test results, whatever they may have been, along with that funky half-Bernie-Kosar, half-Pedro-Martinez
sidearm delivery.
Throw it all out.
This Saturday's NFL draft essentially comes down to one question:
Can you win the Super Bowl with a running quarterback? And the answer is no.
While draftniks have spent much of their time arguing about Matt Leinart's limited upside and whether Jay Cutler is the next Brett Favre (he's not, by the way), what happens to Young will be the most important development of the weekend.
Is he the dual-threat prototype for the next generation of NFL quarterbacks or an
amped-up version of Tommie Frazier?
History tells us that QBs who enter the NFL with a reputation for running are often at their best the less they stray from the pocket.
Donovan McNabb's finest season was in 2004 when he led the Eagles to the Super Bowl. He also had the fewest carries (41) of his career, excluding his rookie season and last year when he was injured.
Of the three full seasons Steve Young played, he had the fewest carries (58) in 1994. That just happened to be the season Young led the 49ers to their fifth Super Bowl title as well.
Coincidence?
Randall Cunningham ran for 942 yards and threw for 3,466 yards with 30 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 1990, but the Eagles lost to Washington 20-6 in the opening round of the playoffs.
Michael Vick had more than 100 carries in all three seasons he's been healthy, but after a promising 2002 season,
Vick has plateaued, especially as a passer. Last season, he had "only" 597 yards rushing and averaged 5.9 yards per carry.
We've seen a number of successful college quarterbacks that flopped in the NFL. For every Peyton Manning, there's an Akili Smith. For every Steve McNair, there's a Heath Shuler. Frazier is one of the finest college QBs in history, and he never got a sniff of the NFL.
Vince Young poses a different set of problems for teams drafting in the top 10 on Saturday, however.
Unlike Frazier, Young can deliver the ball, although it is unlikely he will ever become a consistent thrower.
And it's unclear how Young's freakish running skills will translate at the NFL level when he has 250-pound linebackers who are equally fast trying to tackle him.
Young torched USC for 200 yards, but he carried 19 times and operated out of a shotgun offense that catered to his strengths as a runner.
Is an NFL team willing to install the same kind of offense or will Young be forced to adapt to a pro-style system?
Tennessee could take Young at No.3 (doubtful) and rumor has it that the Raiders are interested in Young at the No.7 spot should he fall that far.
If it was up to me and Young was on the board, I'd run.
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