Vince Young will transform the quarterback position in pro football.

Vince Young is a softie who never will make it as an NFL quarterback.

Strange as it may seem, four years into Young's NFL career, it's still not certain which of

those two statements is closer to the truth.

Young continues his bid to resurrect his career today when he leads the Tennessee Titans

against the Buffalo Bills at LP Field.

After spending 14 months as the backup to Kerry Collins, Young was returned to the starting

lineup three weeks ago. The Titans were 0-6 and had nothing to lose.

Young has won two straight games. But he needs to beat the Bills today and keep playing well

if he is going to fulfill the sky-is-the-limit promise he showed when the Titans made him the

third overall pick in 2006.

"Anytime you have a mobile quarterback with his kind of talent, it presents a lot of

problems," said Bills defensive tackle Marcus Stroud. "He brings another type of dimension to

an already good team."

Young was considered the ultimate mobile quarterback when he entered the NFL.

"He's like Michael Vick, except he's a lot bigger than Michael Vick," said Bills defensive

tackle Spencer Johnson.

The 6-foot-5, 233-pound Young is one of the greatest players in college football history. He

went 30-2 as a starter for the University of Texas and led the Longhorns to a 13-0 season in

2005. His performance against Southern California in the national championship game that

season was one for the ages. Young passed for 267 yards, rushed for 200 and scored three

touchdowns, including the winner with 19 seconds left.

After the game, NFL Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott said, "Vince Young is the greatest quarterback

to ever play college football."

The success continued in his rookie season as a pro. He became a starter in his fourth game

and went 8-5. He was the first rookie quarterback in 40 years to rush for 500 yards. He was

named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Young beat Buffalo in a 30-29 thriller, compiling a passer rating of 127.7, which to this

day is the best of his career.

While the Titans made the playoffs in 2007 and Young was 9-6 as a starter, he did not progress

as a passer. He threw nine touchdown passes and 17 interceptions. He played poorly in a

playoff loss at San Diego. He did not impress teammates as a student of the game.

Then came his meltdown moment in the 2008 opener against Jacksonville. After throwing the

second of two interceptions and being booed by the home crowd, it appeared Young didn't want

to return to the field. Coach Jeff Fisher took his headset off and talked to Young on the

bench. Young eventually took the field with the offense but injured his knee four plays later.

Collins took over.

Drama ensued. Young missed a medical exam on the knee the next day and failed to show up for

work. The team sent a psychologist to Young's home. Young left the house to "let the cloud go

away for a minute," as he later said.

Fisher called Nashville police because Young's therapist told Fisher that Young had

mentioned suicide several times before driving away from his home with a gun, according to

police records obtained by the City Paper of Nashville. He was tracked down after about four

hours and later said he was not depressed.

Nevertheless, the criticism came in a flood.

Young seemed disinterested on the sidelines last season as Collins was leading the team to

a 13-3 record. He kept his distance on the sidelines from the other quarterbacks and from

coordinator Mike Heimerdinger. He kept to himself in the locker room. His body language didn't

look good on game days.

ESPN analyst Merril Hoge called him a "soft baby."

National columnist Jason Whitlock referred to him as "a quitter the moment adversity strikes."

This season, Young has tried to forge a new start.

He met with Fisher before offseason workouts to stress his commitment to the team.

"I feel like for them to understand that you are growing up you must speak your mind and let

them know what's going on," Young said in June. "That's basically what I told him. I don't

want him to give me anything. I just want to come and take care of my responsibilities and

earn everything, that what's given [to] me is that what I earn."

Young didn't miss a day of offseason workouts, a departure from the year before when he

returned to Texas to work on finishing his degree.

In preseason he made headlines by saying: "I don't know when I'll start again. But I will be

the next black quarterback to win a Super Bowl. And I will be in the Hall of Fame."

Maybe the last two games are baby steps in that direction.

Young was 15 of 18 versus Jacksonville and 12 of 19 versus San Francisco. The Titans rushed

for 305 and 152 yards, respectively, in those games.

Both he and Fisher say that watching Collins the past year has helped him mature.

"It really did help out my development," Young said. "Just paying attention, it's made me

stronger and more confident. ... I had an opportunity to watch Kerry Collins play the game

with the type of talent he has and managing the game. That definitely helped me out a whole

lot."

"I think the experience itself has helped in a lot of areas," Fisher said. "He knows what it

takes. He knows it's a challenge each and every week.

"I think also in his case we've surrounded him with good players. The offensive line is

solid and they're able to protect the quarterback. When you're able to run the football

everybody's lives become that much easier."

Young needs to be very good the last eight games to salvage his career with the Titans.

He is due a $4.25 million bonus in March and will make a $7.6 million salary. The Titans

aren't going to pay it unless Young shows more signs he is the New Age quarterback people

expected four years ago.