Tebow steps into NFL spotlight at Senior Bowl
Florida quarterback Tim Tebow puts the move Georgia cornerback Vance Cuff for a long gain. Tebow broke Herschel Walker's career SEC rushing touchdown record of 49 with a 23-yard running TD in the second quarter. He would add another to start second half. (Brant Sanderlin, bsanderlin@ajc.com)
Florida’s Tim Tebow and the rest of the players started to arrive in Mobile for the Senior Bowl on Sunday.
“Most people think that he’s risking the most of any player coming to play this game,” NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock said. “But I think it’s a brilliant move. He’s a guy that is arguably the best football player to play college football. Most NFL scouts would probably put him in the third round.”
(Sorry, but Ohio State’s Archie Griffin, the ONLY two-time Heisman Trophy winner has a much better case for the “best player ever” tag. He just played in the pre-ESPN/daily highlights era.)
Tebow will receive a great deal of scrutiny this week as he attempts to perform in an NFL-styled offense.
“You’ve got mechanical issues,” Mayock said. “You’ve got philosophical issues, if you are going to draft him as far as what offense you are going to run? You’ve got some major issues here.”
Tebow will be battling for playing time with Oklahoma State’s Zac Robinson and West Virginia’s Jarrett Brown for the South team.
Cincinnati’s Chris Pike, Central Michigan’s Dan LeFevour and Oregon State’s Sean Canfield are the North quarterbacks. Here’s a link to the rosters.
Here’s a look at some other former quarterbacks who were great in college and didn’t project well as NFL signal callers:
Tebow had rushed for 123 yards and two scores and added another 103 yards passing and a touchdown before the injury. Mark Cornelison/Lexington Herald-Leader/MCT
Pat White
College: West Virginia
Highlight: Had a 34-8 record as a starter and won four bowl games. . . completed 64.8 percent of his passes. . . holds NCAA record for most rushing yards by a quarterback with 4,480 yards.
Drafted by: Miami, second round (44th overall) in 2009.
NFL highlight: Played in 13 games as backup quarterback.
Where is he now: Still on the roster.
Matt Jones
College: Arkansas
Highlight: Completed 417 of 755 passes for 5,857 yards, 53 touchdowns and 30 interceptions. . . rushed 382 times for 2,535 yards and 24 touchdowns.
Drafted by: Jacksonville, first round (21st overall) in 2005.
NFL highlight: Appeared to be coming on when he had 65 receptions for 761 yards in 12 games during the 2008 sesaon.
Where is he now: Spent last season out of football after two drug related arrests.
Ward went on to a fine career in the NBA.
Ward went on to a fine career in the NBA.
Charlie Ward
College: Florida State
Highlight: Won the Heisman Trophy in 1993 and led the Seminoles to their first-ever national championship. Also was a basketball standout.
Drafted by: Went undrafted after stating that he wanted to be a first round pick or he’d play basketball. He was drafted by the New York Knicks in the first round of the NBA draft.
NFL highlight: None.
Where is he now: The Thomasville, Ga. native is head football coach at Westbury Christian School in Houston.
Eric Crouch
College: Nebraska
Highlight: Won the Heisman Trophy in 2001 after passing for 1,510 yards and rushing for 1,115. . . was 35-7 as a starting quarterback.
Drafted by: St. Louis, third round (95 overall) in 2002.
Eric Crouch while at Nebraska.
NFL highlight: Was tried as a wide receiver and safety, but never played in an NFL game. Was considered too short at 6-0 to play quarterback in the NFL.
Where is he now: Tried to make a comeback with the All-American Football League, but the operation folded.
Major Harris
College: West Virginia
Highlight: Had 7,334 total yards and became the first Division I quarterback to pass for more than 5,000 yards and rush for more than 2,000 yards in a career from 1987-89. . . led the Mounties to Fiesta Bowl appearance against Notre Dame in what was considered the national championship game after the 1988 season.
Drafted by: Los Angeles Raiders, 12th round (317 overall) in 1990.
NFL highlight: None. Never played in the league. (Aside: Before his time. Would have been a prototypical Wildcat quarterback.)
Where is he now: Was inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame last year and is coaching high school football in the Pittsburgh area.
Major Harris would have been a natural Wildcat quarterback.
Brad Smith
College: Missouri
Highlight: Passed for 8,799 yards and 56 touchdowns. . . rushed for 4,289 yards and 45 touchdowns. . . was the first player in NCAA history to pass for more than 8,000 yards and rush for more than 4,000 yards.
Drafted by: New York Jets, fourth round (103 overall) in 2006.
NFL highlight: Helped Jets reach the AFC title game this season playing as their Wildcat quarterback.
Where is he now: Is in his fourth season with the Jets.
Alex Smith
College: Utah
Highlight: Passed for 5,203 yards and completed 66.3 percent of his passes. . . rushed for 1,072 yards. . . was 21-1 as a starter.
Drafted by: San Francisco, first round (one overall) in 2005.
NFL highlight: Just completed his best season where he completed 60.5 percent of his passes.
Where is he now: Starts for the 49ers.
Anquan Boldin
College: Florida State
Highlight: Ended up playing more receiver than quarterback. . . Caught 65 passes for 1,011 yards in 2003.
Drafted by: Arizona, second round (54 overall) in 2003.
NFL highlight: Three-time Pro Bowler. Last season, against Seattle he became the fifth fastest NFL player ever to gain 7,000 receiving yards.
Where is he now: Plays for the Cardinals.
Others considered: Reggie McNeal, Texas A&M, Chris Leak, Florida; Tommie Frazier, Nebraska; and Gino Torretta, Miami.
Will Tebow be an NFL quarterback? Will they have to move him to Tight End or H-Back? Did we miss any QBs on the list here?
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94 comments Add your comment
the facts from a Dog fan
January 25th, 2010
12:35 am
Where does Tebow rank all time in passing efficiency? Passing completion percentage? Rushing touchdowns? Passing touchdowns? I don’t know, D Led, but my bet is he’s higher than Archie in two of these categories, and within striking distance in another. Yeah, I’m a Dog fan, a season ticket holder since ‘86, but I know excellence when I see it, and Tebow has it. I wouldn’t bet against the young man in the NFL. But whether he makes it or not, he’s the best college player I’ve ever seen, overall.
steve
January 25th, 2010
1:26 am
D. Orlando Ledbetter – “player hater.”
The Heisman, while significant, has a very subjective standard of excellence. Congratulations to Archie, but his career is not defined by the Heisman alone, nor is Tebows.
A case can be made for both being the greatest, but lets look at their total work and the era in which they played the game.
Reptillicide
January 25th, 2010
5:36 am
I honestly don’t see how any team would justify drafting Tebow before the 5th round. He’s not going to play quarterback, and there are a lot better options at H-back or tight end. Heck, we don’t even know if Tebow can catch a football or run a route, yet we’re projecting him at alternate positions. He’ll likely bounce around as a 3rd string QB to a few different teams for 3-4 years before ending up a free agent that nobody wants.
Reptillicide
January 25th, 2010
5:39 am
You guys saying Tebow is better than Archie Griffin are nuts. Archie Griffin was excellent for 4 years. Tebow was excellent for one year (2007). 2008 and 2009 for Tebow were nothing more than “good.” He’s not even the greatest player at his position in the past 5 years, so I ask you, how could he be the greatest PLAYER?
Best Ever
January 25th, 2010
7:11 am
Sorry, I disagree that Archie Griffin is the best college football player ever. Even as a Tech grad/fan, I have to admit that Herschel was the best ever. I would go Tebow and Griffin as 2nd and 3rd, not quite sure in which order.
ga gator
January 25th, 2010
7:51 am
Tebow, Archie Griffin and Hershel Walker were all great, great football players. Each had their own strengths and weaknesses. Tebow had a great running, throwing (in college offense) and probably the best leadership abilities. He would have won his second Heisman had over 40 writers in Tex and Ok at least voted him 3rd, but they left him off the ballot. Archie played on a great team and was surrounded by great talent but played in 2 team conference and played against teams that slow defenses, plus benefited from the national media bias at the time against players from the south. Hershel was of course Hershel. Being a life long Gator fan, I was glad he left UGA early, but if he had stayed would have won at least 1 more Heisman and probably another National Championship. He was the greatest running back of all time in college football. I wouldn’t have given it to none of the 3 however; my greatest of all time was Roger Staugbach. He played on a team with virtually no talent and still won the award and even took Navy to the Cotton Bowl in an era where there wasn’t 787 Bowl games. Now that was an accomplishment.
All I'm Saying Is...
January 25th, 2010
8:06 am
Jim Thorpe was the best college player ever. He played offense, defense, and special teams. Oops, that was way before television and ESPN so of course none of those players matter in the ‘best college player’ ever conversation.
» SEC links: Lattimore leads list of top football recruits John Clay’s Sidelines
January 25th, 2010
8:11 am
[...] D. Orlando Ledbetter of the AJC writes on Tim Tebow’s trip to the Senior Bowl. [...]
Call it Like It Is
January 25th, 2010
8:42 am
Tebow should have two Heisman’s as he got jobbed last year and YES, he is a lot better than Archie Griffin ever was as this guy had to take almost every snap and execute a play, not just run with the ball.
Tebow= CLASS!
Enough Said!
Terry Flynn
January 25th, 2010
9:03 am
DAVID GREEN, Most wins as a college QB! Never made it into a game with Seattle or NE>
ga gator
January 25th, 2010
9:18 am
Terry Flynn, David was certainly great and kind of reminded me of Wuerful, but didn’t McCoy just break his record this year?
Reggie Ball
January 25th, 2010
9:20 am
What about me, Dog?
maddawg
January 25th, 2010
9:20 am
Everyone knows that Herschel should have won the heisman his freshman year. The only reason he didn’t win it was BECAUSE he was a freshman.
You have to say had he more than likely would have won it his senior year had he not changed the CF world and sone pro after the junior season.
I agree Archie was a great back but their is no doubt Herschel was the greatest. That includes Tebow.
No one before or after has had the combination of his speed and power.
Ham Bone
January 25th, 2010
9:25 am
The greatest college football player of all time was Cunk Rogers!!!!!
dekalb fan
January 25th, 2010
10:08 am
This is a discussion that will go on forever. For Charlie Ward to win the Heisman and go undrafted is one of the major travesties in sports history. Amazing how the scouts thought Eric Crouch was to short to play QB at six feet. Doug Flutie, Pat Haden, and Drew Brees were given the opportunity. I guess it is a matter of who is looking.
ga gator
January 25th, 2010
10:35 am
Charlie Ward wasn’t drafted because he would not commit to playing football, much like Bo Jackson did. He had Tebow like leadership and spiritual qualities. I believe he made a mistake and if he had played football with the right team he would have had a Joe Montana type career.
schmeckdawg
January 25th, 2010
10:58 am
Herschel Walker was the greatest College Football player EVER. Georgia never threw the ball with Herschel, he ran the ball 30-35 times per game and only came out when Dooley would pull him early. When “The Big DAWG” played, the most games he could play in a season was 12. Tom Elbow could play in up to 14. Bowl game stats did not count etc. If #34 would have played his senior year the great gayturd tom elbow would still be looking up at Herschel’s backside!!!!!!
spence
January 25th, 2010
11:19 am
“All I’m” has it right – Jim Thorpe was the best ever.
F-105 Thunderchief
January 25th, 2010
11:27 am
It’s the head on his shoulders that will determine if Tebow is a successful NFL quarterback or not. Kilmer was too fat and his passes wobbled. Haden was too short. Kosar was too slow and didn’t have a strong enough arm. Great players can overcome the mechanical flaws in their game. They take advantage of their opportunity whereever it comes, whether that’s the first round or the sixth.
ga gator
January 25th, 2010
11:29 am
schlongdawg, unlike most dawg fans, you show your ignorance by ignorance.
sigmund freud
January 25th, 2010
11:32 am
schmeckdawg, which one of hershels personalities are you talking about?
F-105 Thunderchief
January 25th, 2010
11:34 am
As I’ve gotten older, I refuse to proclaim someone the “best ever.” It’s human nature to claim whoever’s astounding us right now as the greatest ever. But, that doesn’t make it true. Is Dustin Pedroia better than Ty Cobb? Matt Ryan better than Steve Bartkowski? I can’t say.
SC Ace
January 25th, 2010
11:46 am
Andre Ware?
Pop Warner
January 25th, 2010
11:53 am
I think this blog is evidence of the silliness of tagging ANYONE as ‘the best of all time’. what can be said for Archie Grffin is he is the ONLY 2-time Heisman winner. Even career records are not worthy of comparison, as freshman rarely played “back in the day”, teams played 11 game seasons and MAYBE a bowl game. AND, bowl game statistics were not considered part of a player’s “career” until the BCS era. as for Tebow, who cares? undrafted free agents make the Pro Bowl and guys like Ryan Leaf are looking for bail bondsmen. Tebow is a decent athlete who excelled at the collge level, but the proverbial “next level” is a completely different beast.
dawgfacedboy
January 25th, 2010
11:54 am
vick was able to take the league by storm because nobody had seen a QB like him. Once defenses adjusted he wasn’t successful. I think Tebow can be successful just not as a QB. Just my opinion. He’s athletic enough and it’s not like QBs haven’t made transitions to other positions. He’s a good kid that at the very least will get his 5 year pension and then go into coaching, missionary work, broadcasting, whatever he wants.
dawgfacedboy
January 25th, 2010
12:02 pm
F-105- I agree. How do you compare ALbert Pujols and Lou Gehrig?????? How do you compare Griffey and Bonds to Mantle and Dimaggio?????? People are biased towards the players of their generations.
UGA people think Hershcel was the best, Auburn people think Bo was the best, Florida fans think TEbow was the best. Bo was a freak by the way!!!! You can’t compare. It’s great for debate and arguments over beers but that’s about it.
How can you compare Shoeless Joe to anybody in this generation??? ESPN and the internet cannot be compared to newspapers and “the wire” from almost 100 years ago!!!
schmeckdawg
January 25th, 2010
12:06 pm
Sigmund FRAUD whichever one helped win us 3 SEC Championships in a row played in 2 National Championship Games WINNING ONE was ranked #2 behind Clem and his son in another one when they won it in 1981, and only lost ONLY ONE REGULAR SEASON GAME!!!
gatorman770
January 25th, 2010
12:17 pm
I don’t know if you can call Tim Tebow the best college player ever, since I’m just 59 years old and watching college football since around 1960, but he’s certainly in the top three and I don’t think the voters for the following awards and honors earned by Tim on the field, classroom and in public service during his career at The University of Florida are all wrong.
College awards and honors:
2006 season
SEC All-Freshman Team[69]
SEC Freshman of the Week[70]
2007 season
Tim Tebow in 2007Walter Camp Foundation National Offensive Player of the Week[71]
Southeastern Conference Offensive Player of the Week, three times[72][73][74]
Davey O’Brien Award winner[75]
Heisman Trophy winner
Maxwell Award winner[75]
Walter Camp Award finalist[76]
Sporting News Player of the Year
Harley Award winner
NCAA QB of the Year[77]
ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American football team[78]
Manning Award finalist[78]
Rivals.com National Offensive Player of the Year[79]
Rivals.com SEC Offensive Player of the Year[80]
First-team All-SEC (Associated Press[81], Coaches[82],Rivals.com[80])
Associated Press SEC Offensive Player of the Year[81]
Associated Press Player of the Year[83]
First-team All-American by: Associated Press, Football Writers Association of America, Walter Camp Football Foundation, Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, CBS Sports, College Football News, Rivals.com, and Scout.com
James E. Sullivan Award, awarded to the Nations top amateur athlete[84]
Roy F. Kramer SEC Male Athlete of the Year.[85] Third Florida Gator to win this award, Danny Wuerffel (won twice) and Ryan Lochte.
ESPY for Best Male College Athlete[86]
2008 season
First-team All-America by College Football News.
Disney Spirit Award[87]
ESPY for Best Male College Athlete
Heisman Trophy finalist
Manning Award winner
Maxwell Award winner
Southeastern Conference Offensive Player of the Week[88]
2008 SEC Championship Game Most Valuable Player
First-team All-SEC (AP[89], Coaches[90], Rivals.com[91])
Southeastern Conference Offensive Player of the Year
Southeastern Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year[92]
Wuerffel Trophy winner
2009 season
William V. Campbell Trophy (formerly the Vincent dePaul Draddy Trophy, “The Academic Heisman”) winner
Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award
Heisman Trophy finalist
First-team All-SEC (AP[93] Coaches [94], Rivals.com[95])
Second-team All-America (Walter Camp Foundation)
Southeastern Conference Offensive Player of the Year
schmeckdawg
January 25th, 2010
1:19 pm
gatorman770 with all due respect, outside of winning the QB awards, Herschel could match Mr. Tebow award for award and then some, plus you being 59 and me being 50 years old, I am sure you can remember Herschel’s Freshman year when he was totally jobbed out of the Heisman. Anyway as a DAWG fan and you a Gator fan this battle will continue. I just feel as limited as Georgia offense was Herschel right, Hershel left, and Herschel up the middle and what he did in 3 years, was truly amazing!
bearcat
January 25th, 2010
1:59 pm
it’s Cincinnati’s Tony Pike – not Chris.
Pop Warner
January 25th, 2010
2:14 pm
Gatorman770, did you actually include “Disney Spirit Award”? I doubt there was a “Disney Spirit” award when Archie Griffin played (although I do have a Kodak All-American team photo from ‘72 or ‘73, and I don’t think Tebow has ever been a Kodak-All American). many of those awards are like the current plethora of bowl games; they’re more about selling potato chips or life insurance, and have little to do with athletic performance/acheivement.
POPS
January 25th, 2010
6:53 pm
82rd
David Granger
January 25th, 2010
7:15 pm
Mr. Ledbetter, if you’re saying that Archie Griffin is the “best player ever” just as a discussion starter (he is, after all, the only player to ever “win” two Heisman’s) and because he may have been a sentimental favorite of yours, then you’re just a harmless fool and I’m sure (way down deep) you know better. If you’re saying it because you honestly BELIEVE that Archie Griffin was the best player ever, then you need to get some help before you hurt yourself.
Archie Griffin didn’t even deserve the second Heisman. Archie Bell actually EARNED it that year, but only finished third because he was a quiet man…didn’t get a lot of “style” points. The argument that Tebow deserved the award LAST year (instead of Sam Bradford) is a strong one…but the Florida fans hurt Tebow with the way they gushed and bragged about him. Even those of us who liked and respected Tim got sick of all the “Superman wears Tim Tebow pajamas!” and “Saint Tebow” crap. And I think some people voted against him for that very reason.
David Granger
January 25th, 2010
7:17 pm
Oops….make that RICKY Bell, not Archie Bell…my proofreading needs to “Tighten Up!”
Falcon State of Mind
January 25th, 2010
10:49 pm
You can add Hines Ward to that list too, lol.
Vince
January 26th, 2010
4:44 pm
You people saying Archie Griffin was overrated are insane.
Rick Mirer and Blair Kiel were huge busts from Notre Dame. And Brady Quinn is getting very close to being one as well.
And as someone mentioned, I’d throw Andre Ware in there as well. He was hugely hyped coming out of college. Akili Smith and Joey Harrington were busts from Oregon.
Dr Richard Handler
January 26th, 2010
4:54 pm
What about Indiana’s Antwan Randal El? He was a college quarterback, played receiver for the Steelers and threw a TD pass to Hines Ward (another qb) in the Super Bowl.
Dr Richard Handler
January 26th, 2010
4:57 pm
Hey Schmeckdawg- you have what you believe is the greatest college football player ever and you go 1-2 in Bowl games? Give me a break, you beat a mediocre Notre Dame team to win your national title, one that was tied by an 1-9-1 Tech team. Wanna talk overrated?!?!?!?
Creegah
January 26th, 2010
5:35 pm
There’s no crying in football!
SugarMama
January 27th, 2010
4:32 pm
It remains to be seen if Tebow can be successful in the NFL. NFL teams are cold, calculating businesses – they will make their draft day decisions based on facts. If his throwing motion and footwork are more suited to the collegiate spread offense and not to their offenses, they will pass on Tebow. They will take the same harsh look at the other QBs in the draft too. It’s not sentimental. It seems that some SEC fans want Tebow to fail merely so they can savor some schadenfreude afterward – but draft picks are always a gamble. Studs at every position sometimes turn out to be busts (and the poor Falcons can attest to that!). Wasn’t Jeff George a number one pick, an SI cover boy and the stud of his draft year? Such a great NFL career…whoops.
Wolfdawg
January 27th, 2010
6:40 pm
You know here is the thing.
If Tebow had come out of mabye Boise State or Minnesota or Syracuse I could understand.
But he played at The University of Florida. With the speed of the SEC every game which with all the juniors and Seniors leaving this year on that same team for the NFL COULD make a pro team. And he made these other “superior” athlete’s look plain stupid. Kinda like when Tyson punched somebody.
Being a Georgia fan I will say he probobly is the best player ever in college. Put him at fullback. Put him at QB. He is a football player he will succeed. Give him a learning curve but he will do well in the NFL
I hope Mel Kiper realizes that the untangables that tebow has will make him put his foot in his mouth on his smug little beaty eyed face. can’t wait to see this kid own.
Charlotte
January 27th, 2010
7:48 pm
Anquan Boldin played wide receiver at FSU, not quarterback. He played qb in one game, when Chris Rix got suspended for sleeping through his exams.
Linda
January 27th, 2010
7:52 pm
As a Gator fan, I have to ask “How can you forget another Gator qback and Heisman trophy winner who never made it in the pros?” The Evil Genius, Steve Spurrier.
Tebow steps into NFL spotlight at Senior Bowl | Atlanta Falcons … | NFL Topics Blog
February 12th, 2010
5:05 am
[...] Rick Bridges wrote a very interesting post today. Here’s a quick excerpt:Florida’s Tim Tebow and the rest of the players started to arrive in Mobile for the Senior Bowl on Sunday. Most people think that he’s risking the most. [...]