Don Cornett espouses a theory about 21st-century football.

In the future, Cornett figures, be it 20 years from now or 50, all backfields will be full houses of runpass threats.

Steve Youngs. Michael Vicks. Vince Youngs. Don't look now, but defenses sport new venom every year. Bigger and faster and more tricky. Offenses, particularly on the pro level, but college, too, huff and puff to stay ahead. Myriad formations and nifty blocking schemes and lenient rules have let the offense breathe.

But it will not always be so. We're running out of field room. Defenses are commandeering more and more of the gridiron with their bulk and speed. Fight Godzilla in the Mojave Desert, and you've got some elbow room. Fight him in midtown Manhattan and your options are limited.

Football fields are becoming Gotham City.

The tonic is more wizardry. We've already entered the age of the running quarterback. The next step is the throwing running back. Hike the ball and lateral it twice, each time transported to a hero deft of leg and arm.

Give the defense no clue from where might come a run or a pass.

So that's the theory. We've assembled a panel of experts to examine its merits:

Chuck Long, former NFL quarterback void of scrambling tendencies and current Oklahoma offensive coordinator.

Bob Stoops, former Iowa safety and defensive mastermind at a variety of locales, now head coach at Oklahoma. Les Miles, former Michigan blocker and now head coach at Oklahoma State, where his Cowboys deploy a salty offensive scheme.

So what of the sandlot sizzle? Will such fireworks be the future wave?

Our experts aren't buying it.

"I doubt it'll change a whole lot," Stoops said.

"Defenses will still be catching up with offenses.

"I believe there will still be pure throwers, throwing better and better. That will continue to be a factor."

Stoops has been winning with anti-Vicks. Josh Heupel, Nate Hybl and Jason White couldn't win a relay against sumo wrestlers even if the diaper dandies carried pianos on their backs. But they could throw with precision and win with regularity.

"It's nice to have that run-around guy," Long said. "But I still believe you have to stay in the pocket and make that throw.

"Look at today's football. There is that runningtype quarterback. Watch those NFL playoff games.

What do you see? That pocket thrower."

Long at least admits to intrigue at the idea. The biggest problem might be not what to do with multiple Vince Youngs, but finding multiple Vince Youngs.

"They're still not growing on trees," Long said.

"Will they grow on trees 20 years from now? I don't know."

Throwing running backs may be the next big thing