12-30-2009, 03:22 PM
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The next chapter in Florida quarterback Tim Tebow's saga is open for debate
By Peter Finney, Times-Picayune
December 30, 2009, 5:30AM
"Tight End Pop."
That's what they called the play, the words Tim Tebow whispered in the huddle with time running out in the first half of the Florida-LSU game in 2006.
Who would have guessed Tebow's first touchdown pass as a Gator was a knuckleball thrown for a 1-yard gain by a leaping quarterback forced to double-clutch before finding his man in the end zone?
If you happened to be there in Gainesville, Fla., what made that afternoon so memorable was the picture of a freshman quarterback so at ease playing the role of the driving force in a 23-10 victory.
In time, you realized the ease, poise and presence came from someone who was throwing the first two of 85 career touchdown passes, also running for one of 56 career touchdowns, someone who became the face of college football, and who now prepares to move on, and move up, as the saying goes, "to the next level."
Which is what makes the next chapter in the Tim Tebow saga so fascinating.
Can a 6-3, 240-pounder with a lumberjack build cut it in the NFL?
Depending on who you talk to, come April, Tebow will be drafted anywhere from the bottom the first round to the lower part of the third round.
An NFL scout put it to me this way: "I'm anxious to see how many of Tebow's teammates will be drafted higher than Tim, and I'm thinking there will be quite a few."
One way or another, Tebow will be answering all kinds of questions when it comes to the demands of the college game alongside the pro game, especially at the quarterback position.
As you look back on ex-Gator (and ex-Saint) Danny Wuerffel, a Heisman Trophy quarterback who helped enhance the coaching reputation of Steve Spurrier, it wasn't that much of a surprise Wuerffel lasted until the fourth round and went on to become little more than a journeyman pro.
It was more of a surprise an earlier Gators' quarterback, Shane Matthews, who went undrafted ("too thin, suspect arm"), found an NFL home for 14 seasons -- but he found it with seven teams.
So what about Tebow?
Said Pat Dye, who coached Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson at Auburn and coached against Heisman Trophy winner Herschcel Walker of Georgia: "When it comes to a combination of size, speed, intelligence, toughness, competitiveness and leadership, I've never seen anyone better than Tebow."
Onetime pro and Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon got more specific.
"Inside the 20-yard line, Tebow has the greatest knack of getting in the end zone through physical ability since Paul Hornung, and I saw some great ones between Hornung and Tebow," said Cannon, a star at LSU. "Tebow has a unique way of tackling his tackler. He stops their momentum with the helmet and the shoulder pads and hits on the rise. As he rises with his leg strength, he just walks away from them."
Tulane's Bob Toledo, who watched a passing parade of pros as a coach at UCLA, cut to the chase.
"I don't know if I've ever seen a more dominant offensive player in the college game," he said. "But I don't know if Tebow will ever be an every-down quarterback in the NFL. He reminds me of Bobby Douglass who played at Kansas in the 70s.
"Athletically, Tim is a lot more versatile than Douglass was. I can definitely see him as a force in the Wildcat formation because you can picture him at tight end, at fullback, at H-Back. But in the pocket, I'm not sure. But I do know this. No one's career is going to be followed more closely than his."
Charley Molnar, the passing game coordinator and receivers coach at No. 4 Cincinnati, has no idea how high Tebow will be drafted, but he's confident he'll make it wherever he lands.
"His intangibles are off the charts," Molnar said. "For someone his size, he can buy time with his feet better than anyone I've seen. He knows where he's going with the football, and that comes with having the smarts to make the right decisions. Sure, there'll be a learning curve, but that goes for everyone."
As for Cincinnati quarterback Tony Pike, from what he's seen of Tebow on television the last few seasons, he has been impressed by one thing in particular.
"I like the way Tim came in and adapted to the Florida system right from the start," said Pike, whose Bearcats will face No.¤5 Florida in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Friday at the Superdome. "That told me he'll be good at adapting at what's ahead. He has all the tools. He's got an accurate arm, and that can take you a long way. How can you not like his chances in the pros?"
Talk to the NFL scouts, and they'll tell you Joe Haden, Florida's junior cornerback, projects as a high first-round pick in the draft should he decide to pass up his final season of eligibility.
Haden shakes his head when he hears some of Tebow's NFL credentials questioned.
"You hear stuff like 'arm mechanics,'" Haden said. "I don't know what they're talking about. All I know is I've seen plenty of fastballs the last few years wind up where they're supposed to go. Is that bad?"
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