By Paul M. Banks
Recently, St. Tim Tebow (the mainstream media has officially canonized him) began work to completely revolutionize his throwing delivery. So you know what that means? For the first time in football history, one guy working out by himself for the NFL draft will get incessant media coverage. If you only follow this story, you can gather everything you need to know about his NFL Draft stock this April. (And if you read the ESPN story I linked to you’ll see yet another example of how bad ESPN and CBS’ man-crush on him truly is)
The very fact that he’s attempting to undo so many habits that he’s had his whole life in football tells you he’s not ready for the next level, and he certainly knows it. The fact that we (and everyone else in the football world) is talking about this also exemplifies why he’ll be drafted; somewhere.
I’m predicting he’ll go in the third or fourth round to Jacksonville because
1.) They’re desperate to sell tickets, and Tebow’s astronomical star power can really pack ‘em in
2.) His sainthood is even more holy in Florida than versus the rest of the country, so a local team should grab him. Hey, football is a business after all.
I must commend Tebow for his work ethic and dedication- he’s saying and doing all the right things, and if he can convince some NFL team that he’s a “project pick”, he’ll land somewhere. I think his decision not to throw at the combine is a smart one. All the scouts know about “the loop” in his motion, and how his release is slower than a terrapin. He’s not going to change a lifetime of reflex in a couple weeks, so why give the scouts more evidence in the case against him?
The quarterback wildcat will NEVER work in the NFL, not even at Miami, because opposing front sevens, speed rushing ends especially, are too quick and smart to be beaten by it. Tebow needs a LOT of reps under center, not in the shotgun- plain and simple. So his only road to NFL stardom hinges upon a team willing to draft him for the PR benefits in the short term while understanding he won’t see the field for any of 2010 and possibly much of 2011 (If there even is a NFL season in 2011. And that’s only if he can successfully revamp his throwing motion and become accustomed to working under center full time. And I think he can.
That said this is where I see the top QBs going in this year’s NFL Draft. It’s a pretty weak class.
4. Washington Redskins Sam Bradford QB Oklahoma
The Skins spent all of last season under-mining Jason Campbell’s confidence, and they spent much of this season giving him a vote of no confidence. Zorn is gone, time for change at QB too. And injuries aside, Bradford still seems like the safest signal-caller choice to make in a very weak QB class. And the fact that pictures of him with Hooters Girls at a Super Bowl party have surfaced on the net can’t hurt, right?
8. Oakland Raiders Jimmy Clausen QB Notre Dame
Bruce Gradkowski is not a long term answer and JaMarcus Russell is a bigger bust than Pamela Anderson. Therefore, Oakland needs a QB, and Clausen is the pick. Clausen is an annoying, immature entitled brat with off-the-field issues. But he could be the most NFL ready QB in this draft too. Besides Oakland is known for harboring, not shunning away, players with character issues. The price fluctuation in Clausen’s stock depends on how NFL scouts read this double-edged sword: he’s the most NFL ready prospect now, but many teams believe he has no more potential upside long-term. Quite the quandary isn’t it?
SECOND ROUND PROSPECTS
33. St. Louis Colt McCoy QB Texas
For a profile/interview of McCoy click here
Do you hear that? It’s the sound of Colt McCoy’s draft stock falling after the national title game. Still, the Rams might want a new QB, and McCoy will be the best on the board at this point. That isn’t a ringing endorsement of McCoy whose upside right now (sadly) looks like Matt Leinart. It’s an indictment of how weak this QB class truly is. If Colt doesn’t wow ‘em at the combine, I may drop him to the 3rd round.
41. Buffalo Dan LeFevour QB Central Michigan
If the Bills don’t pick up a signal-caller in round one, they’ll take one in round 2. To quote the immortal Harlem hip-hop artist Ma$e, “didn’t know me ’91, bet they know me now”. Only the hardcore college football nerds heard of Lefevour before Senior Bowl week. Bet a lot more people know him now, after he showed an ability to beat you with both his arm and his legs.
48. Carolina Darryl Clark QB Penn State
The Panthers had one of the worst quarterbacking situations in the NFL this past season, maybe they’ll address that first. Clark’s mobility, leadership and throwing accuracy make him a tantalizing prospect. Darryl is a heady player and late bloomer who learned under the Paternos in college; the thinking is he still has a ton of room to grow, and that will help his stock even more.
For a feature profile/interview of Clark click here
Just missed: Jevan Snead, Tony Pike, Tim Tebow (maybe?) Or maybe he’ll end up in the same boat as Danny Wuerrfell, Chris Leak, Terry Dean, Rex Grossman and Jesse Palmer– Florida QBs who were college stars only because of the system; and huge busts in the NFL.
Actually, Tebow could very well end up in the same group as Major Harris, Gino Torretta, Jason White, Josh Heupel, Major Applewhite, Tommie Frazier, Eric Crouch, Chris Weinke, Craig Krenzel, Ken Dorsey. At one time all were bigger-than-life collegiate quarterbacks. All of them went on to do nothing of note in the professional game.
For the whole NFL Mock Draft go here
Click the highlighted text to see our other position lists
For another Tebow story, sort of “related” to the topic at hand, go here
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