Top Ten QB Prospects, Vince Young's Free Fall

TOP 10 QUARTERBACKS FOR THE 2006 NFL DRAFT

1. Matt Leinart USC
2. Jay Cutler Vanderbilt
3. D.J. Shockley Georgia
4. Brodie Croyle Alabama
5. Brett Basanez Northwestern
6. Vince Young Texas
7. Charlie Whitehurst Clemson
8. Omar Jacobs Bowling Green
9. Kellen Clemons Oregon
10. Paul Pinegar Fresno State

CBS Sportsline has released their top 10 prospects by position, according to GM Jr Scouting LLC, for next month’s NFL draft. I’ll post them here throughout the week with a few of my own thoughts.

Looking at the quarterback rankings I am surprised at how far Vince Young’s stock has dropped. There is a chance that the two-time Rose Bowl MVP won’t even be a top 10 pick.

The Texans gave David Carr a contract extension securing their QB position and pretty much locking up Reggie Bush as the top pick. The Saints went to free agency to acquire Drew Brees as their quarterback of the future which leaves the Titans at number three as the first team in need of a quarterback. I seriously doubt that Norm Chow will want Young over Matt Leinart whom he coached to two National Championships at USC. It’s safe to say that there is not a quarterback in the world that Chow knows or trust better than Leinart. That is why Matt Leinart will be the first quarterback taken in the draft.

Picking number four and five are the Jets and the Packers. The Jets just worked out a deal with Washington and acquired Patrick Ramsey and the Packers drafted their quarterback of the future last year in Aaron Rodgers.

The next team to need a qb is the Raiders, who have the number 6 pick, and reports are that Jay Cutler is the man at the top of their board. The next logical spot would be the Lions at number nine but they have signed John Kitna and Josh McCown already and they still have a lot of money tied up in Joey Harrington.
Wherever Young falls to he only has himself to blame. His PR has been one disaster after another since his magical night in Pasadena. The hiring and mishandlings of his agent and a less than par performance at the College Football All-Star Challenge in Miami put the pressure on Young at least “show up” at the NFL Combine which also turned into a nightmare when Young didn’t work-out and then had the Wonderlic troubles.

Sure the Wonderlic test doesn’t indicate how a player will perform on the field but is one great college season enough to be a top pick? Young struggled reading defenses in college and often made stupid mistakes that led to turnovers. Given the fact that he did have a great season this past year but the reality of it was that it took him three years to grasp the Texas offense and Young finally succeeded after the coaches dumbed it down for him.

Young does have two things going for him. The fact that he is a physical specimen and the NFL will always, always take a shot on a guy like him. His athleticism alone can and will allow him to have some success in the NFL. The second thing he has going for him is that he still has his pro-day on the Texas campus where he is expected to shine.

Young can and should use that as a springboard to move up on the draft chart. With guys like Croyle and Basanez ranked ahead of him how far Young moves up should be his choice but then again everything else has been up to this point as well.