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Mess with Success?

NFL teams will have to fight the urge to make over Vince Young

VINCE YOUNG has cleared up his future: The Texas QB is entering April's NFL Draft. But will the Young we see on Sundays resemble the one who led the Longhorns to the national title? His quirky sidearm motion might make QB coaches cringe, but it has worked well. Expect some tinkering but no overhaul. Says Denver coach Mike Shanahan, "Everyone makes fun of his motion, but you can't argue with his results. He was the best in college football in passing efficiency. You don't change that."

Then there's his scrambling. Do you rein in a QB who ran for 200 yards in the Rose Bowl? "Historically, mobile quarterbacks don't last in the NFL until they become pocket quarterbacks," says Saints G.M. Mickey Loomis. "Look at Michael Vick. It seems like he's starting to break down a little bit. I don't know of any quarterback in the NFL, ever, who's run the ball as much as Vince Young has." In his four-year career Vick has run 7.0 times per game and missed 14 games due to injury. Young ran the ball 12.2 times a game in three seasons in Texas. Says one NFL scout, "You think, We can change him to keep him out of danger. But then you think, Why did we fall in love with him in the first place? You don't want to change him into something he never was."

PHOTO

DAVID BERGMAN (YOUNG)

GUNSLINGER Throwing sidearm, Young completed 62% of his passes with Texas.