Young's handlers aren't handling their business.(COLLEGE FOOTBALL)

He was the first player on the field, standing tall, smiling wide and clowning around as he always does. Now the key question: Why was he even there?

Why was Vince Young, the hottest football player on the planet, participating in a cheesy made-for-television "all-star challenge" in Miami? Why would a player who has nothing to gain and everything to lose as a top draft prospect be part of an informal workout--because that's what it was--in an environment over which he had no control?

"I've been working out at home really hard, and I needed a break," Young says.

Fine. Go to the Bahamas. Go to Europe. Go anywhere but to some skills challenge that exposes weaknesses to Texans owner Bob McNair--the guy debating whether to spend millions on you--and his personnel department.

"I wouldn't have him anywhere near here," one agent said through the glare of the South Florida sun.

Meanwhile, Young's agent, Major Adams, a friend of the Young family and not as--what's a nice way to say this?--experienced as some other agents, declares, "If you have nothing to hide, why hide?"

Well, here's why: Young was set up to fail in this event. And when it was over, he hadn't shown nearly the accuracy of UCLA's Drew Olson or Alabama's Brodie Croyle. He looked on par with Clemson's Charlie Whitehurst--who still is recovering from shoulder surgery. There's a reason colleges have pro days, when pro scouts come to campuses to watch players work out in their environment, throw to their teammates and, more than anything, perform in their comfort zone.