Vince Young assesses the NFL's best young quarterbacks
Former Pro Bowl quarterback Young reveals advice he has given to Deshaun Watson and Lamar Jackson
Saturday 14 September 2019 13:04, UK
In Week One, 13 quarterbacks had a passer rating of 115.0 or higher, the most in any week in NFL history.
For the first time ever, two QBs had perfect passer ratings (158.3) in a season opener, and one of them was 22-year-old Ravens signal-caller Lamar Jackson, who also became the youngest player in NFL history to post a perfect rating.
Deshaun Watson (23) had a tremendous Week One outing, despite losing to a last-gasp field goal in New Orleans, and many other players relatively new to the league impressed. Last year's MVP Patrick Mahomes (23) continued his success with a three-touchdown, 143.2 passer rating opener.
With that in mind, we asked former two-time Pro Bowler and long-time NFL quarterback Vince Young - who will be joining Neil Reynolds in studio this NFL Sunday, on Sky Sports Action from 5pm - which young QBs he has been impressed with around the league.
Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans (23)
"Deshaun Watson has been a fan of me since I was playing!
"I knew he was a big fan of mine when he won a National Championship [for Clemson in January 2017] and said my name [in his post-game speech]. I just remember: "Vince Young" and ever since then, I have reached out to him.
"He knows a lot of people I know, so every time I get an opportunity to talk to him, I give him my opinion about everything.
"I'm very proud of him. I already knew he had the talent, it's just about adjusting.
"I hope he just gets to the point of telling [the Texans] what he wants. That is a sign of maturity and he has earned it.
"I hope he is telling them: 'I want the offensive line here, I want more plays on the platter'. I hope he continues to grow like that as I saw with Dak Prescott and how he has grown and how he has been successful.
"I want Watson to be verbally showing his maturity where he can handle more and it's what he wants. He deserves an offensive line that can protect him so he doesn't have to run as much and so he can play a little bit longer than most of the guys who move around with the ball."
Young himself was a mobile quarterback, who was known for his ability to scramble and create plays with his legs - just like Watson - and we asked him if he saw any similarities between the two.
He said: "Yeah. He's a little bit better thrower than me I think, but overall we have a really similar game. He is very accurate downfield, makes a lot of plays, he's well-loved and a great leader of his team. He runs the ball really well.
"He pulls off stuff that you never thought anyone could do.
"So I think we have some similarities but I think his ball is a little bit more accurate than me because of the fact he threw a little bit more than me growing up.
"I'm not faulting myself but he's a really good guy, a really good athlete so I'm very proud of him."
Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens (22)
"Me and him text and talk a lot so the main thing I say is: 'I'm very proud of you. You stood through all of that adversity and everybody talking about you. Now you are in a starting role, you are making great plays. You are not just using your legs, but using your arm so what can they say now?'
"I've been very proud of him so I just tell him to keep doing the work behind the scenes and make sure you stay in your defensive coordinator's ear and ask him a lot of questions - 'What do you think a defense will try to do to me this year or this game?'
"After you figure out what you are going to do and the preparation, make sure you ask him a lot of questions about anything the defense could pick up that you could easily fix.
"Defensive guys are really good - they pick up if you are rocking [at the line of scrimmage], they know when you stop, you are about to snap the ball. They pick up a lot of small detailed things that can help them jump off the ball or react."
Will Blackmon, 12-year NFL veteran, Super Bowl winner and analyst with us on Sky Sports until mid-season, also gave us his thoughts on Jackson after selecting him as his NFL Challenge captain in Week One.
Blackmon said: "I picked him as my captain last week because of the matchup. I just thought the Dolphins weren't ready and were still figuring things out.
"But I like him this year because right now, you can see how confident he is.
"Last year, when he was finally named the starter at the end of the year, he started getting comfortable but then once they traded away Joe Flacco and it's his team now, he just looks so comfortable and he has so much support.
"He has the supporting cast in terms of receivers, he has a good running back in Mark Ingram and he has a really good defense and that's a recipe for success."
Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs (23)
Young told Sky Sports: "'MVP' and head coach Andy Reid are a match made in heaven.
"Mahomes has a strong arm and Reid likes to throw the ball deep - loves a lot of deep throws. Mahomes has the arm for it so I love that whole chemistry between them. I love watching those two ."
Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals (22)
Young: "I predicted him to win Rookie of the Year so I am happy to see what happened with him [Arizona scored 18 points in the fourth quarter to secure a 27-27 tie with Detroit]."
Blackmon added on this year's No 1 NFL Draft pick: "I think we saw some maturation from Kyler Murray in the game. He did horribly in the first half then when it mattered, he brought his team back and gave them a chance.
"That's huge, to see that."
Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills (23)
Young: "Allen did a great job of staying with it [on Sunday as the Bills came back to beat the Jets]. I got the opportunity to meet him a little while ago so just to see the growth of a lot of these young guys, I'm happy."
Sam Darnold, New York Jets (22)
"I'm still trying to feel him out, but he has a huge opportunity [with those weapons]."
Daniel Jones, New York Giants (22)
"I'm ready to see the young guy get his opportunity."
Watch Week Two on Sunday night with three games: Vikings @ Packers, Saints @ Rams and Eagles @ Falcons. Coverage begins at 5pm on Sunday on Sky Sports Action; first kick-off is at 6pm.
