Houston Chronicle Sports Section Broncos RB Young returns to Houston as a top rookie Broncos running back Selvin Young wants to be reminded of what a "normal" winter looks like. He has had enough of the white stuff covering the ground in Denver. He's ready to see something green again. Young, 24, will get his chance when he returns to his hometown for the Texans-Broncos matchup Thursday night at Reliant Stadium. The former Texas Longhorn left Houston in May as an undrafted free agent. He returns as one of the best rookie running backs in the league. "The game, I feel like it's come to me a lot faster than I was expecting," said Young, who rushed for a season-high 156 yards on 17 carries against Kansas City on Sunday. "I was expecting for it to be extremely rough, just expecting the worst, but understanding in my head that I was going to fight through it, regardless. But just that fight and being ready for whatever and expecting the worst has kind of brought the best out of me." Injuries to Travis Henry have increased Young's opportunities this season, even helping earn the rookie five starts. Young has taken full advantage. He had two 100-yard rushing days and has a 5.7-yard rushing average, which ranks second among NFL backs this year. He has posted 11 runs of at least 10 yards, including a career-best 50-yard run against the Chiefs on Sunday. "We were hoping that we were going to get him because we knew that he was banged up a little bit throughout his career (at Texas,)" Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said. "You could see his speed and his athletic ability, but I don't think anybody would know that the guy would come in here as a rookie and average 5.7 yards per carry. If you knew that, you would take him in the first round. "Sometimes, you really don't know what a person's made of until you get him. From the inside, he's a very mature kid. He's like a five-year veteran. He does not miss assignments. He looks forward to the game. He can come up with the big play, so I feel very fortunate to have him on our team." Texans missed a chance The Texans had eyed Young on draft day, but didn't end up drafting a running back because they thought they had enough at that position with <s>Ahman Green</s>, Ron Dayne, <s>Chris Taylor</s> and <s>Samkon Gado.</s> This week, the Texans will get to see firsthand what they missed out on. "I think he's an explosive young running back that can definitely take the ball to the house if you let him," Texans linebacker DeMeco Ryans said. "He has that explosiveness and that quickness, and his line does a good job of protecting for him. But he does a good job of cutting the ball back or hitting it on the outside. So he's going to be a load for us." With three games remaining, Young has a chance to continue leaving his mark. His 569 yards rushing rank sixth among undrafted rookies since 1967. He is third among rookie running backs this season, trailing only Adrian Peterson and Marshawn Lynch, both first-round picks. Brothers are watching Those numbers mean something to Young, but so does overcoming the odds. He has five younger brothers in Houston trying to follow in his footsteps, and the former Jersey Village star wants to make them proud. They were the ones who huddled around the television with him on draft day waiting for Young to get a phone call. When it didn't come, they were the ones watching to see how their big brother would react. "My deal is always to try to lead by example instead of being one of those guys that say, 'Hey, don't do what I do, do what I say,' " Young said. "You put your mind to something and no matter what it is in life, just give it your all and stick to it. "Hopefully, it's drawing a picture in their minds of how from our generation it's going to be different from now on." megan.manfull@chron.com ---------------------------- her name is MANFULL. It would be awesome if it was SelvinFull. Umm. We should have drafted Selvin Young. I am a Selvin Young only fan. I will now only live and die by Denver Broncos football. Manny, give me a high five. Broncos fo' life! I have been a life long Broncos fan for 180 years. My mom and dad are both fans of the Broncos, so I am a fan of the Broncos. No matter what, I will be a broncos fan until he gets injured, and gets cut, and gets picked up by the Saints cause they will need a running back, or by the Dolphins cause the Dolphins are the Dolphins, or the Patriots, because that is what they do. Or if he doesn't catch on and play in the NFL, I will never EVARRRRRRRRRRR be an NFL Fan. If he ends up selling cars, I will be a fan of that auto dealership. I can see it now. Selvin Young Honda. He is the reason why the University of Texas won the BCS Title. With out his touchdown, USC would have won. Nope, Selvin Stoney Young carried the Offense, Defense, Special teams, and of course the play calling on both sides of the ball. I am going to try and use Google Images. i want to post ten pictures, and then submit a new thread, and then wait for some comments and wait for people to call me a dumbass, and then reply to their comments with MORE pictures. That's how I roll. ------------ seriously though, I wanted to draft him. I knew he would be good. Maybe it's that Denver system, but he has good speed. I'm not sold on his durability too. I recall in high school, he had some nagging injuries. I don't see Sam Gado, and Chris Taylor. Ahman Green is always injured. Hopefully, we can sign him away. I'm not sure on his contract status.
I would love to have the white stuff covering the ground here in houston =( this weather is not normal.
We never were going to draft Selvin Young because we extended David Carr's contract. Kubiak felt that David could be salvaged into a good running back. I for one agreed with that decision.
haha, I opened this thread because I thought it was another vince thread. haha, that so roflmao knee slappin funny. haha seriously, why isn't he on the texans team. that's ridiculous.
When it comes to NFL running backs , who the hell can tell? And I can't even find a picture for Fred Jackson!
Glad to see Selvin make it. If it weren't for injuries, this kid definitely would have been a 1st day pick, maybe even a lottery pick had he been 100% in his final 2 seasons at UT. I wasn't a big fan of Selvin since he had fumbling issues and Charles looked like a beast his freshman year, but many tend to forget that Selvin was a 5* recruit and was forcing Mack Brown to split carries between Benson and Young until he got hurt.
I remember when he was in camp, I was excited...Then bam, there he is in Denver tearing it up...in theory, we have the same scheme although, I think Denver has a better o-line...
Yes, because clearly we should have used a 2nd round draft pick on him when no one else even used a 7th round draft pick on him.
he was a rivals 100 4 star recruit. i don't exactly remember his rankings but I think he was in the top ten in the country. hope he does well in his homecoming. can't say that i want him to win though.
was at jersey village with him so ive been watching stoney play for a long time. had a couple of real bad injuries at ut, and also had to leave ut because of grades. had to spend the summer at acc to become eligible for the season which resulted in a natl championship. its a good story of what hard work and determination will get you. im happy to see selvin make it, but i know he isnt satisfied and hes gonna continue pushing and running hard.
