Vince Young was a four-sport athlete at Madison High School in Houston, Texas. In addition to playing football, Vince ran track, was a two-time all district guard/forward on the basketball team, and played outfield and pitcher for two years on the baseball team. He was a three-year starter at quarterback, throwing for 1,006 yards and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore. He also ran for 730 yards on the year. As a junior, Young threw for 1,609 yards and 16 touchdowns on his way to being named district offensive player of the year. As a senior, Young led Madison to a 14-1 record, passing for 2,545 yards and 35 touchdowns with just 4 interceptions. He ran for 1,274 yards and scored 24 rushing touchdowns as a senior. He finished his high school career with 7,624 yards from scrimmage in his three years as a starter. He was Parade’s national player of the year and the Texas 5A high school player of the year as a senior. He was selected to play in the U.S. Army All-American bowl following his senior season and received MVP honors in the game. Vince was considered to be one of the top prospects in the nation coming out of high school. He accepted a scholarship to play for the University of Texas where he sat out the 2002 season as a redshirt. He became the starter midway through his redshirt freshman season, passing for 1,155 yards and 6 touchdowns with 7 interceptions. He rushed for 998 yards, scored 11 touchdowns and was named big-12 freshman of the year for his performance. As a junior, Young passed for 1,849 yards and 12 touchdowns with 11 interceptions. He ran for 1,079 yards and scored 14 touchdowns on the ground. As a senior, Young passed for 3,036 yards and 26 touchdowns with 10 interceptions. He rushed for 1,050 yards and 12 touchdowns making him the first player in NCAA history to pass for over 3,000 yards and rush for over 1,000 yards in a single season. He received the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien awards and led Texas to a national championship game victory over USC.

Vince Young has an outstanding combination of size and athleticism for a quarterback. He has good field vision, a quick release, and the arm strength to make all the throws required of an NFL quarterback. He has the ability to avoid the rush, get out of the pocket, and make an accurate throw on the run or make a play with his feet when needed. Vince is a player who can beat you with his arm or with his legs. He is the best running quarterback to come out of college since Michael Vick. He is very elusive in the open field and is a threat to score every time he touches the football. His size allows him to break tackles and gain additional yardage. He needs to continue to improve his ability to read defenses and go through his progressions rather than locking onto a single receiver. He needs to improve his decision making ability and work on not forcing the ball into coverage. He has improved his accuracy since his sophomore season but this is still an area where he can improve. Vince has an awkward sidearm delivery with a low release point. This can lead to passes being knocked down at the line of scrimmage if it isn’t corrected. He spent most of his time in college playing out of the shotgun and will need to adjust to playing under center in the NFL. Vince has all the intangibles you look for in a quarterback. He is a good leader and the type of player who makes the players around him better. He has been very active in community service and was a member of the coaches “good works” team. Vince has as much potential as any player in the draft. He may take a year or two to develop but he has all the physical tools and intangibles to be a franchise signal caller at the professional level. He will be a bit of a risky pick at the top of the draft because he didn’t become a top passing quarterback until this past season. However, his tremendous upside should make him a top 5 pick in the 2006 NFL draft.