The 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick and Washington’s Robert Griffin III are dual-threat quarterbacks, but Steve Young desperately wants them to add another dimension.

What does it mean to be a triple-threat quarterback?

“You’re already a dual threat because you can leave the pocket and make throws,” Young said in an interview with The Chronicle. “Obviously, you can run for a bunch of yards. But are you the master of the main event, which is the job? The job is to deliver the ball from the pocket. It’s been proven to me over and over again that that’s the championship job.”

Young, of course, was an exception: A mobile quarterback who developed into an elite pocket passer.

Of the top 10 quarterbacks in career rushing yards, only Young and John Elway won a Super Bowl, and only Young and Daunte Culpepper rank among the top 20 in career passer rating.

Young believes the ability to scramble hinders quarterbacks’ development as pocket passers. That is, mobile quarterbacks aren’t forced to master the intricacies of the position because their feet can often bail them out.

Peyton Manning and Tom Brady? He believes they’ve earned advance QB degrees, partly because their lead feet left them no choice. They had to immerse themselves in minutiae.

“Peyton Manning has to listen to this,” Young said. “Because he either throws it or he goes down. He’s not going anywhere. So Peyton ate this up because he has no other option. But guys that can run around, we have options. So that’s the difficulty.”

Kaepernick and Griffin are among a recent wave of dual-threat quarterbacks whose development has slowed after take-the-NFL-by-storm beginnings. Young hopes they reach a Hall-of-Fame level by putting in the endless hours of tedious study required to deliver consistently from the pocket.

“My dream is that Colin and Robert dominate the league as a true triple-threat,” Young said. “That would be awesome.”

I spoke to Young for a story that will run in The Chronicle on Sunday, when Kaepernick and Griffin share the field at Levi’s Stadium. I planned to include highlights here of a lengthy interview with Young, but it was all worthwhile,.

As a result, the vast majority of the sizable transcript is below.

Why do you think it’s so hard for mobile quarterbacks to master the position?

SY: Just after I retired, Michael Vick came in. And just as background, I really thought the position had changed. I thought the dynamic pass-run, triple-threat quarterback was going to take over the league. And guys like Michael Vick and others would follow and that’s what we’d do. But I learned the truth with Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. And I knew the truth. I knew the truth, for me, was to deliver the ball from the pocket. To orchestrate and to be a master of the data — from formation, to blitzes, to coverages, just everything. You just master everything. And that master’s program is first of all contingent on a coach that wants to teach it. That doesn’t happen everywhere, so that’s No. 1. No. 2, it takes somebody willing to do the really boring, tedious work that’s most of the time April, May and June. It really is four hours a day in front the chalkboard, film room, going over, over and over and over. And really getting to the point where you have reflexive recall. That’s the goal.

I saw Aaron Rodgers talk about that the other day. He put it in different terms, but from the time you leave the huddle until you get to the line of scrimmage, you’re taking in incredible amounts of data so you can pick defenders. I always laugh at Peyton Manning – he’s pointing at protections, but I think sometimes he’s pointing at someone like ‘You’re dead. I’m coming after you.’ You just pick people out because you’re the master of everything on the field. That’s not just playing. That’s actual work. And I’ve likened it to law school because I memorized a ton of stuff for law school, but I didn’t have to reflexively memorize it. Reflexively is, I’ve got it so deep into me that I don’t have to think about it. And you know the guys that are masters of this because you watch them every weekend. There’s four or five guys that are just the masters.

The key issue is – am I right? Is the job of championship football delivering the ball from the pocket? If that’s truly the job, like I believe it is, then those of us that can move around can actually use our legs to our benefit, to championship benefit, only if we’re willing to learn the job. And that’s very difficult for young players that can move around because ‘I can already get an A on the test. Why would I do that? ‘Just let me go play. I can make plays all over the field, I can run.’ And the truth is, you can. And you can win games. And you can make a career of it. But you can be all you can be if you don’t learn this master’s program of playing in the pocket. You talk about RG III and you talk about Colin, both of them, if I’m right, really need to do that work. And I’m sure some of it’s already happened. But there’s way more to be done. And that’s typical. And the real issue is – is the player willing to believe that that’s truth and go do that work. And that’s over a period of three or four years – whatever it takes. You can condense it if guys really eat it up. But most of the time guys don’t eat it up because they don’t have to: ‘I can already get an A on the test. Why do I need to go do this?’ The problem is the next year, you get a B on the test and then a C because you can’t make enough plays to win championships just running around.

When did the light bulb go on for you?

SY: Well, I was throwing the ball a lot (at BYU), so I had some concepts that were taught to me by (quarterbacks coach) Mike Holmgren in college. But I also ran around like crazy. Ironically, it was in the USFL with (Hall-of-Fame coach) Sid Gillman. People don’t remember that Sid Gillman was my coach. He was an old crotchety guy, but he was the first one to basically say, ‘You can’t just run around.’ … I remember, he literally tied my feet up. He got a rope and said ‘OK, you can’t go anywhere. What are you going to do? You can’t move. What’s your next plan?’ So that got me thinking about that.

When you ask me about when the light went on, he started me thinking about it. And the truth is, it really started when Bill (Walsh) got hold of me. Because when Bill got hold of me I remember him pulling me aside and saying ‘Steve, nobody knows where you are.’ And I’d go run for 10 yards, or I’d scramble around and throw the ball for a nice completion or something and he’d say, ‘That’s great. But nobody knows where you are. And the truth is, if you really want to make the most of it — get everything out of the play that I call. You left early. You didn’t explore every avenue or option. And people need to know where you are.’ And I remember thinking ‘Oh, crap. I better be where everyone expects me to be. And do everything that everyone expects me to do with this play. I’ve got to exhaust it.’

And there were times when I would exhaust it and he would see my eyes work the whole thing, and I would take off running for 15 yards and he would say ‘Now that’s 15 yards worthwhile. That’s what I’m talking about. That play got exhausted and then you created something out of nothing. You made me look good rather than — you running around and not exhausting the play and making 15 yards. That adds up to one-plus-one equals one. Over time, those 15 yards actually hurt.’ That was how he taught me.

So you talk about the light bulb. I really bought into, ‘I’ve got to exhaust plays.’ And the only way you can exhaust plays is – you have to be an expert. You have to have the patience to stand in there and figure it out. In some ways, he was really kind of proud of me. Because he knew that guys who can run around don’t want to listen to this. Peyton Manning? Peyton Manning has to listen to this. Because he either throws it or he goes down. He’s not going anywhere. So Peyton ate this up because he has no other option. But guys that can run around, we have options. So that’s the difficulty.

And today, 10, 15 years later, the CBA has limited exposure to the coach in the spring. And also, the game has become more dynamic. And also players could listen to my little speech to you and tell me ‘No. That’s old-school.’ But if I look at the five guys that are truly dominating from the quarterback position today, 2014, it’s the same as the type of guys you had in 2004, or ’94, or ’84. Even Aaron Rodgers, who, in my mind, could run the spread option. He could spit out 50, 75 (rushing) yards a game if you asked him. Even Andrew Luck could do the same. But you can see that they’re mastering the job.

So that’s the challenge for RG III. That’s the challenge for Colin. And if they believe, I believe they can be the most dangerous people. I remember telling Michael Vick this – ‘You can be the most dangerous player that ever played. Because if you master it — and you can run around like that — they’ll have to change the rules.’ So that’s my hook. I try to convince them that it’s worth it. And, as Trent Dilfer says every week to me, ‘There’s only 10 places in the league that really teach this.’ But I can tell you that both of those guys – Colin and RG III – are being taught.

The longer I’m around, the more I know this stuff is true. Because I watch the damage that Peyton and Tom (Brady) do. I watch Tom with, hmm – some guy at running back and some guy at receiver, and he’s dominating. Because he’s such a master at this stuff. Football can become easy if you’re willing to do it. It’s easier for Tom to say because he didn’t have a choice. It’s much more difficult of a proposal for guys like Colin and RG III. They saying ‘Well, that’s all well and good, but they can’t do what I can do.’ I love guys that can move around. I know they can dominate the league.

Just watch Aaron Rodgers over the next five years – or just what he’s done in the past four years. The idea that he can exhaust a play from the huddle, move outside and throw from sideline to sideline to the end zone, and also then spit out 15, 20 yards like nothing. You’re now seeing, if he can get protected so he can exhaust a play, you can see he’s pretty unstoppable. And that’s the potential for both these guys playing this weekend.

Do you see progress in Colin as far as, to borrow your term, exhausting a play?

SY: I do. But the hard part is – even for someone that’s played a long time – you’re never quite sure what they’re being taught. The fear I have is that coaches say ‘I’m not going to worry about all this development. I’ve got a guy that’s good at these things and I’m going with it.’ So I really hold the quarterback accountable, even though he’s not being asked to do all that.

But I’ve got to believe that Greg (Roman) and Jim (Harbaugh) are committed to this type of a process. I do see Colin doing some of that. But as a young player, that’s the hard part. He’s in the middle of a city, and a team and a locker room that knows ‘We should be in the Super Bowl.’ So it’s like, ‘OK, I’ve got to develop this new thing and I’ve got to take to take my team to the Super Bowl. So I’m going to do the things I’m really good at right now, rather than the things I might be good at later on.’

Is that why you think so much of this has to be learned in the offseason?

SY: It has to be because like a fire hose, you’ve got to take it and then you take it in again. You’ve got take it in again. And then you’ve got to take it in again. And it’s boring. I mean, who wants to look at all the coverages and talk about what we do on each play based on each coverage? And about what motion does to the coverage, and how read safeties from the beginning of the snap and follow them, and how protections limit what you can do here or there …

(Former 49ers offensive coordinator) Mike Shanahan used to drive me crazy and I was in mid-career. I’d say ‘Mike, I can’t take it any more. I’m a guy that went to law school, I’m used to this stuff, but I can’t do it any more.’ He’d say, ‘C’mon, one more time. One more time.’ And we’d go through it again. But I know, looking back, that’s how it gets done. Peyton Manning, you look at his physical abilities, there are a lot of things that are middle of the road. But his mastery of the data allows him to be ahead. I love watching him because he throws the ball so proactively. You watch him throw it and you’re like ‘Where is that headed and it’s ba-bam.’ It’s a mastery. It’s really like an advanced degree in medicine or in law.

I think when you look at the quarterback position, and this mastery of the craft we talk about, it really is an advanced degree. It’s like going to med school, or law school, or getting your PH.D. It really is that type of educational effort, on the field and off the field. On the chalkboard and in the film room. I can say it because I got my law degree. It really is similar to the intellectual rigor, but it’s not just an IQ thing. People say ‘Well, I can’t be doctor,’ and I’m like ‘No, no, no.’ But in this field, it’s rigorous like that.

It’s obviously not easy …

SY: That’s the problem. You have to have the right combination – Sid Gillman, Bill Walsh. You have to be in the right place with people that are really capable of teaching and forcing this issue. Rather than taking this great talent that you have and just saying, ‘Hey, let’s go work with this talent.’ You really have to have some real religion around this. And not everybody does, I don’t think. So that’s one pretty big filter that keeps people from doing this. And then a lot of young players, I could listen to Sid and Bill and I say, ‘OK, I get it, I get it.’ But then I’d get on the field and the ball’s got to move. It’s got to go. So because of that, you tend to not get this accomplished. And you may not be on the field long enough to master it. But I can see the truth in it.

So that’s why I talked to Michael (Vick) when he came out. I don’t get a chance to talk to guys very often. I’ve talked to Robert, a little bit with Colin. But it’s a case that has to be made because there could be the most incredible quarterbacks. Again, watch the career of Aaron Rodgers. People think he’s just a pocket passer – the guy can run. Early on, he ran a lot. And he could run a lot today, and he does have to escape a lot. But watch his career. He’s already in this master’s program and it’s amazing what a guy can do when he’s allowed to get to that place.

When I retired I thought because I was given that opportunity, and I saw the benefit of it, I just thought everyone else would as well. My dream is that Colin and Robert dominate the league as a true triple-threat. That would be awesome.

What do you mean by triple-threat?

SY: You’re already a dual threat because you can leave the pocket and make throws. Obviously, you can run for a bunch of yards. But are you the master of the main event, which is the job? The job is to deliver the ball from the pocket. It’s been proven to me over and over again that that’s the championship job.

Was there a point in your career where a mental switch flipped and you said ‘I want to be a true quarterback’?

SY: I had this intense desire to play quarterback. And let’s face it: I was watching Joe (Montana) do it and Bill convinced me, ‘Steve, if you can get to this place you won’t believe it.’ And I remember thinking later on in my career, he was right. It was awesome. I was around people that were playing the position like it needed to be played. And I was coached by people that demanded it. So I very much wanted fulfill that vision Bill had.

Now, if these guys today could learn it, it would change the position forever. Every coach would want to find a guy and just immediately start schooling him because the results are incredible. And, hopefully, a guy like Aaron and, hopefully, Robert and Colin over time will make people capitulate to it. You know, ‘I’m finding more guys like that and I’m going to coach them immediately and put in the hard work because, man, when they get there, it’s incredible.’

Twitter: @Eric_Branch