Some things never change in the National Football League.

Ricky Williams flunks drug tests. Teams abandon cool uniforms for dreadful ones. (What do you call that color the Seattle Seahawks wear head-to-toe?) And general managers over-value quarterbacks in the draft.

Some GM will overlook the warning signs, take a deep breath, and announce that he is using his first draft pick Saturday on Vince Young.

And in doing so, that GM will buy himself a couple of years of job security. Is that why they do it? Is that why they refuse to learn from history and burn high picks on such longshots?

Think about it: Whatever GM takes Young can strut around for two years as if he’s acquired the next Johnny Unitas, while Young holds the clipboard. Then, in Young’s third year, when he looks confused, throws the ball to the wrong jersey too often, and ultimately gets smoked after tucking the ball and running into a linebacker just as fast as he is and bigger, the GM can attribute that all to lack of experience.

The GM won’t be judged until Young’s fourth year. In that sense, he’s a safe pick.

If getting the best player is the idea, he’s a crazy risk, and not just because he allegedly scored a six on the Wonderlic test, though that’s certainly a warning sign.

Teams that played against Texas this past season were convinced Young had improved largely because coach Mack Brown simplified his reads. Basically, if Young didn’t see his main target open, he tucked it and ran, almost always to his right.

Think that’s going to work in the NFL?

And then there were Young’s workouts. He didn’t run as fast as anticipated, and after watching him throw scouts were left wondering whether he can throw the ball into tight spots quickly enough and with enough accuracy.

Look at his game films at Texas, Young believers urge. OK. Isn’t he the quarterback on the team with receivers half a foot taller and a few steps faster than the guys covering them? He’s the guy with the huge, fast linemen holding blocks for him, right?

That’s right. He’s also the guy with the funky delivery.

Many draft projections have Young going to the Tennessee Titans with the third pick. The thinking is he’ll learn from Steve McNair for a couple of years and then become McNair. Never mind that McNair throws a much prettier ball and has a far better head for the position.

Better idea: Draft franchise left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson from Virginia to block for McNair for a couple of years and then sign a free agent to play quarterback.

Think about the first-round busts. Dan McGwire, brother of humbled slugger Mark McGwire. Remember him? He was big, so all the harder he fell.

And who could forget Cade McNown, the Chicago Bears bust out of UCLA, where he got into trouble for using a handicapped parking pass. So what does he do on the first day of camp with the Bears after a long holdout? Wheels into a handicapped parking space.

Heath Shuler. Andre Ware. Akili Smith. Jim Druckenmiller. Dave Brown. Rick Mirer. David Klingler.

And just once wouldn’t you like to see a story about first-round quarterback busts without having to read the name Ryan Leaf?