Vince Young took the league by storm last season as a rookie, throwing for nearly 2200 yards and rushing for 552 more. And though he earned the NFL’s rookie of the year award, Young also managed to put up enough fantasy numbers to rank 12th among all quarterbacks.

Impressive, to be sure. Unfortunately, it’s a bit deceiving because that was merely the final result.

Young, like all rookies, had his share of bumps along the way. On three occasions he failed to throw for at least 100 yards and in only 4 games did he throw for more than 200. To his credit, he did manage to rush for at least 40 yards and a score in two of the three sub-100 games.

But is that enough to justify drafting him as a fantasy starting quarterback?

The simple answer is “no.” Because Vince Young has a poor supporting cast, worse than it was last season, in fact, his overall numbers shouldn’t see too much improvement.

Ultimately, the most we can expect from Young is that he play with more consistency in 2007. And looking at his final 8 games last season, it seems plausible.

His four 200 yard passing performances came in those weeks and only once was he sub-100 yards. Altogether, he averaged a little more than 17 fantasy points per game.

But even in those 8 games, however, his problems were consistency.

In four games he failed to throw a touchdown pass; fortunately, he did manage to score once on the ground in three of those instances.

But it’s his inconsistency that keeps him from being a starting fantasy quarterback. In 2007 he faces even steeper odds working against him.

With what appears to be a weak set of running backs, opposing defensive coordinators will more easily be able to zero in on Young. Last season he had Travis Henry lining up behind him (and rushing for 1200 yards), but the combination of LenDale White, Chris Brown, and Chris Henry is enough to cringe.

The Titans essentially made no acquisitions to provide Young with support. What that amounts to is a less-than-adequate set of receivers; none had more than 30 receptions last season.

With such a pathetic cast, Young is hardly a weekly starting fantasy quarterback. He’ll have his ups and downs again this season. But he does make for a great backup quarterback, and he should be drafted accordingly.

Photo: Courtesy USA Today

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