The Battle for No. 1 Has Only Just Begun

With its last-second victory over USC in the Rose Bowl, the University of Texas not only changed the pecking order at the top of college football, but also, perhaps, at the top of the NFL draft.

It was widely assumed before the game that Heisman Trophy-winning running back Reggie Bush, a USC junior, would forgo his final season of eligibility and be selected No. 1 overall this spring.

Although it’s still expected that Bush will come out early, at least one of the NFL’s top talent evaluators thinks his performance against the Longhorns could have hurt his chances of becoming the top pick.

“If anything, Bush’s stock dropped some,” said Bill Walsh, former coach of the San Francisco 49ers and known for his ability to judge talent. “People just assumed he would be the No. 1 player taken, and I couldn’t guarantee that now. ... People are going to say, ‘Wait a minute, he didn’t dominate.’ ”

It was Texas quarterback Vince Young, Walsh said, who probably improved his standing in the eyes of NFL scouts -- even though speculation before the game had tilted toward Young’s staying next fall for his senior season.

“[The Rose Bowl] was center stage for him,” Walsh said. “I think he performed brilliantly.”

Trojan Coach Pete Carroll said Young almost certainly improved his draft standing with his performance.

“Vince Young’s stock couldn’t have gone higher,” Carroll said. “I think he has to rethink whatever he was thinking about doing.... He did an extraordinary job on an extraordinary stage to show what he’s all about.”

On Thursday, the story of the day in Houston -- at least among sports columnists and radio commentators -- was that Young supplanted Bush as the probable top pick of the Texans. The Longhorn quarterback grew up within two miles of Reliant Stadium, where the NFL’s worst team plays.

Agent Leigh Steinberg, who has represented many of the top NFL quarterbacks, said Young’s apparent emergence as a No. 1 prospect “is amazing, not only because [the Texans] already have David Carr, but because that town has been gripped by Bush mania.”

That said, in the eyes of Walsh, who is no longer affiliated with the 49ers, the best quarterback on the Rose Bowl field was USC’s Matt Leinart, who threw for 365 yards and a touchdown in a 41-38 loss.

“He’s a pure passer,” said Walsh, who coached Hall of Fame quarterbacks Joe Montana and Steve Young. “His chances in the pros are a lot better than [Vince] Young’s. He sees his receivers a lot better.”

Walsh said that USC and Texas are so good they probably could beat some lower-echelon NFL teams.

Steinberg said he expected to hear talk of a reshuffling at the top, but he was skeptical about whether that speculation would hold up through the draft, which takes place April 29-30.

The Texans finished 2-14 and avoided a possible five-way tie for last place with a loss to San Francisco in a finale unofficially dubbed the “Reggie Bush Bowl.” New Orleans has the second pick, followed by Tennessee, the New York Jets and Green Bay.

“Going into the game, Bush and Leinart were clearly the top picks,” Steinberg said. “But Vince Young is right in there now. We’ll see if that’s still the case in three weeks. We’re talking now, the day after the game, and everyone is still on that high. But that’s the way it is now.”

Young, who finished second to Bush in the Heisman balloting, rushed for 200 yards and three touchdowns, and passed for 267 yards to give the Longhorns their first national title in 35 years and extend their winning streak to 20 games. He clinched the victory by scoring on a fourth-and-five run from the eight-yard line with 19 seconds to play.

He was just as elusive in his dodging Thursday when asked whether he had a timetable for deciding whether to turn pro. He indicated he was keeping his options open and said he would approach the decision by “basically, sitting down with family members. Just sitting down and talking with Coach [Mack] Brown.”

Brown asked reporters to give Young time to savor the moment rather than quiz him immediately on his long-term plans.

The deadline for underclassmen to declare for the draft is Jan. 15.

“We want our guys to enjoy it,” Brown said. “And then our job would be to help the families understand as much about the options as they are available. And then Vince and his family, like the other juniors, would make the decision that’s best for them.

“But we would expect you all to allow him to enjoy it for the day.”

Effective as the Longhorn offense was against USC, rolling up 556 yards, there are several reasons the shotgun-based scheme might not be a desirable one at the pro level. First of all, NFL defenders are, on the whole, faster than their college counterparts.

“A lot of the running Young did, he wouldn’t have been able to get away with in the pros,” Walsh said. “Everybody is a step or two or three faster. The punishment he would take in the NFL would start to slow him down.”

Having a quarterback take most of his snaps under center, Walsh said, allows teams to get the ball off quicker and allows for more flexibility with the running game. Besides, Walsh said, tailoring an entire offense to the rare skills of one player is risky.

“If anything happens,” he said, “a sprained ankle or anything, the whole offense goes down the drain.”

Although Bush’s 82 yards rushing was tied for his third-lowest performance of the season, he also caught six passes for 95 yards and returned five kickoffs for 102. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a personnel executive for an NFL team who was in attendance at the Rose Bowl said he still considered the Trojan tailback the top prospect in the draft.

“A lot of people make snap judgments after the game,” the executive said. “You have to distance yourself from the [Rose Bowl] game to take out the emotional element, and make a decision based on 12 games and the rest of his career.

“I still think he’s the No. 1 pick, because I think the guy’s phenomenal.”

The team executive said USC running back LenDale White and tight end Dominique Byrd might have improved their draft status with their performances in the Rose Bowl, with White being a possible late first-round pick should he decide to turn pro early, and Byrd being a solid second-rounder.

Of the two quarterbacks, the executive said Leinart is more likely to be selected first.

“Vince needs to be with a head coach and coordinator that could fit him into the system,” he said. “If he goes to a West Coast offense, he might have problems adjusting. You need a coach who’s flexible and can play to Vince’s strengths.

“I could see the Jets or Tennessee taking a look at him. Maybe Houston. I don’t think he’ll go No. 1, but he’s a Texas guy, so you never know.”

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Times staff writers Gary Klein and Peter Yoon contributed to this report.