As widely reported (there’s a good summary at Sporting News Today), former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow had a rough go in his first day of football practice under the watchful eye of an NFL coaching staff, and many NFL scouts.
Sure, they’ll likely go a bit more easily on Tebow because the head coach for his first foray into the NFL, Miami’s Tony Sparano, is represented by the same agent whom Tebow has selected, Jimmy Sexton. Still, Sparano can’t do the work for Tebow — such as receiving a snap from a center without fumbling it.
If Tebow is going to struggle with the conventional center-quarterback exchange, Tebow might never pick up the other more difficult nuances of backpedaling while reading the defense and looking for open receivers. And he can forget about ever mastering the play-action pass.
That’s the real benefit of shotgun formation. Once the snap is caught, the quarterback can just stand there and watch the play unfold. Guys who operate under center don’t have that luxury.
And that’s where intangibles like desire and attitude no longer matter. At some point, “want to” yields to “can’t do.” It’s the line that every NFL scout is looking for, as to Tebow and every other player.
Meanwhile, we’re hearing that multiple executives are concerned about the spossibility that Tebow will polarize his pro team. As one source explained, “It might not be an issue with 18-to-22-year-olds, but in a diverse NFL locker room, this outspoken ‘preaching’ won’t fly.”
The better move? Stay quiet, at least until after the draft.
And work on that center-quarterback exchange.
This is like deja vu. I mean Tebow failing is about as obvious as Obama being just the same kind of fail. Everyone’s been calling it except for his blind supporters.
You know your draft stock sucks when “coachability” and leadership are your two biggest attributes.
“were hearing”
just means people are saying stuff to get his value down PRAYING he drops.
Tebows not a religous cook.. just believes… i doubt he will try to save someone in the locker room… because we sure do here a lot about how he tried to preach to his college teammates the last 4 years…(sarcasm)
that BS isnt floating
I think that sooner, rather than later, Tebow needs to begin working out at other positions. His future is at H-back, tight end, or running back. Senior Bowl week is going to do nothing more than confirm what the scouts already know.
And I think the executives worried about their locker rooms have a good point, too. It’s one thing to have religious beliefs, it’s another to make a pro-life Super Bowl commercial with your mother. As a non-QB, his potential to fracture the locker room would be minimized because he would’nt be the center of attention.
I find it funny that scouts are concerned about Tebow’s “can’t do” vs his “want to” when they so often miss on the guys who “can do” but never take into account the “want to.”
I’m no Tebow fan, but he finds a way to win and has the right attitude. He’ll be better for a team than some of the other potential cancers that will be drafted in front of him beause they run faster or have a stronger arm.
This is going to make guys like Lou Holtz and Mahatma Dungy, both who said they’d draft him with the #1 overall pick, look like the dumbasses they really are.
he is a late round pick (4th) at best, slow delivery, can’t play under center, isn’t fast enough to be an effective running QB against Pro defenses, and generally will get lit up if he plays QB in the NFL. Just because he plays with “heart” doesn’t mean he is going to be a good QB at the next level. He may be leader in a looker room full of underclassmen, but on an NFL roster he will be just another jackass trying to make it as a 3rd string gimmick QB…or maybe a TE project. No matter how you look at it TEBLOW has played his best football at UF, and I don’t see anyway he gets better at the next level.
Tebow should call up Roethlisberger. He played out of an almost exclusive shotgun offense at Miami(OH). It was one of his knocks going into the draft.
He seemed to make the transition alright.
@Doc Fluty – NFL locker rooms are EXACTLY like NCAA locker rooms. Oh wait.
I’m tired of hearing about Tebow’s “coachability” and “willingness to learn”. If he’s so damn willing, why didn’t he improve it at all while at UF? They even brought someone in to work on it with him and he regressed as a passer his senior year.
Doc Fluty says:
January 26, 2010 8:26 AM
“were hearing”
just means people are saying stuff to get his value down PRAYING he drops.
Tebows not a religous cook.. just believes… i doubt he will try to save someone in the locker room… because we sure do here a lot about how he tried to preach to his college teammates the last 4 years…(sarcasm)
that BS isnt floating
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What do religious cooks cook? Were Brian Billick’s comments during the Sugar Bowl about Tebow’s horrible mechanics another ploy to drive down his value? Which team would Billick have been doing this for?
Tim Tebow has no experience playing QB the way it is played in the pros. Why do you suppose none of Texas Tech’s spread offense QB’s who threw for a million yards each ever made it in the NFL?
Also, there is a difference between simply being a believer and a)wearing biblical verses on your eye black and b) making pro-life commercials with your mommy to air during the Super Bowl.
Tim Tebow may have a long an distinguished NFL career, but it will not be as a starting QB. He can’t even take a snap from center.
Life is good in the “Big BrEasy.”
This is one of the biggest problems in journalism these days. Everyone wants to be first to report something. They would rather be first than be right. It was one day. I could care less if he is a good QB or not. I don’t watch college football, but dude it was one day. If he didn’t play under center, then it makes sence that he is not yet comfortable do it. And I would think if he is as smart as I hear, and determined that I hear, then that would lead me to belive he’s willing to put in the time to master it. Lets at least finish the senior bowl weekend before we lable anyone.
I was at the practice yesterday in Fairhope and to me he looked clueless. For every decent throw he made, there was a duck that wasnt even close to his receiver. Some of these throws were to his former receiver Riley Cooper where you would think some chemistry would already be there. In the offense vs. defense drills he looked very timid and did not want to throw down field resulting in check downs that would have gained 2 yards at best.
All in all it was a fun event and I wish I were fortunate enough to attend all of the practices this week.
Waste of hype, html, ink…
It’s not going to happen. I hope he goes undrafted and moves to Haiti to do charity work.
I think he will hang around on a NFL roster for 6-7 years and start a few games along the way.
“Sure, they’ll likely go a bit more easily on Tebow because the head coach for his first foray into the NFL, Miami’s Tony Sparano, is represented by the same agent whom Tebow has selected, Jimmy Sexton.”
A cheap shot at Sparano’s integrity. Why? What makes you think his agent has any control in this scenario? The agent has no leverage. I’d be surprised if Sparano was even aware of Sexton’s clients.
I love Tim but he had some serious talent around him at Florida.
As a huge UM fan, as much as I absolutely hate the Gators, I respect and admire Tebow and would never bet against him. Hope he end up with my Dolphins who can use him as Wildcat QB and take time with him to develop.
“Sure, they’ll likely go a bit more easily on Tebow because the head coach for his first foray into the NFL, Miami’s Tony Sparano, is represented by the same agent whom Tebow has selected, Jimmy Sexton.”
A cheap shot at Sparano’s integrity. Why? What makes you think his agent has any control in this scenario? The agent has no leverage. I’d be surprised if Sparano was even aware of Sexton’s clients.
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You should know by now that Florio’s number 1 priority when researching/writing his posts is to find some angle at which to take a shot at and/or make an unfounded accusation about someone. Somewhere along the line he got the idea that a post without a good conspiracy theory and/or a good cheap shot at someone won’t be accepted by his minions.
@realitypolice – The Bills … Billick was thinking he had a good shot at coaching there … because “who would want to coach the Bills?”
>>>>
So who would want to draft Tebow?
Its obvious that the Tebow haters are just biased irreligious kooks. Including the chief of this blog….they are just attempting to find ‘anything’ they can to put him down because they don’t want an outspoken Christian in the spotlight. Typical of anti-Christian kooks.
@realitypolice – The Bills … Billick was thinking he had a good shot at coaching there … because “who would want to coach the Bills?”
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Not a bad point, but I still think it is a pretty big reach to say that Billick would go on national television and bad mouth a player as popular as Tebow just to drive down his draft stock so Billick could later draft him for a team he hadn’t even interviewed with. Of course, with a lunatic like Billick I suppose anything is possible.
Big Stretch you have a big mouth and that’s about it. I guess Jon Gruden, Tony Dungy and Andy Reid (all who have coached Super Bowl teams) are ALL wrong when they say Tebow will excel in the NFL. Dungy said he would take Tebow with the overall 1st pick. Now I wouldn’t do that but he will be gone by completion of the 2nd round. You fools predicting 4th – 7th round are out of your minds.
EShine says: ‘I find it funny that scouts are concerned about Tebow’s “can’t do” vs his “want to” when they so often miss on the guys who “can do” but never take into account the “want to.”‘
I don’t even know what the hell the above sentence means.
-JaMarcus Russel-
Its obvious that the Tebow haters are just biased irreligious kooks. Including the chief of this blog….they are just attempting to find ‘anything’ they can to put him down because they don’t want an outspoken Christian in the spotlight. Typical of anti-Christian kooks.
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Todd McShay on Tebow’s first Senior Bowl work out:
“Day 1 was not a good one for Tebow. The concerns we had coming in were all magnified today. He was out of rhythm, missing receivers low and high and fumbling snaps while also struggling to read defenses and use proper footwork when dropping from under center.”
Obviously, none of this really happened and McShay is just a God hating communist. I think from now on we should all just ignore what we see with our eyes and what professional analysts write and just rely on true football experts like “divine”. Unless we want to wind up in HELL!
divine – if god is all knowing, and it knew lucifer would be turn and be the most evil creation ever, then it created lucifer intentionally to bring in that evil and is therefore not all good, unless it didn’t know and is therefore not all knowing, either way I just killed your religion.
Thanks for playing.
Note to future QB prospects, learn to take a snap before going to the Senior Bowl..errrrrrrrrr
These “scouts” and “experts” are hilarious. Everyone is either a franchise player or a complete bust…even before they have played a down in the league. It was one freaking day of practice. Would it not seem logical that Tebow would have trouble handling snaps from under center because he has never had to so before? I would think so, and that should be something that can be easily fixed.
You don’t have to be an expert to know that Tebow’s biggest challange is that release and awkward throwing motion. But I’m not about to unequivocally say that he can’t play quarterback because he has some work to do. At the very least, you know the guy will work hard and put in the time…I’d take a chance on that.
Baby Jesus isn’t praying hard enough.
Just another loser, right-wing Christian nut.
look regardless of what his religious views are he deserves a chance to prove himself at qb in the nfl. as for florio and the experts exactly how are people who never played the game so qualified to judge somebody like him? must be cause they are always so right on people right? people like ryan leaf, j russell so they know what they are talking about.and stop picking on him because you don’t happen to like his views and values.last time I looked it was not a crime to have different views.and the one thing you can say about him is he is not a phony and I am pretty sure you won’t seeing his name in the paper for being arrested for drugs,beating his wife or some violent crime that the rest of nfl players are getting busted for.
“Sure, they’ll likely go a bit more easily on Tebow because the head coach for his first foray into the NFL, Miami’s Tony Sparano, is represented by the same agent whom Tebow has selected, Jimmy Sexton.”
I think you may be getting a bit confused about this agent thing. Sexton works for Sparano, not the other way round.
What exactly would Sexton do have influence over Sparano? Is he going to cut him loose? Sparano will just pick another agent, someone is going to be willing to pick up that percentage. Is Sexton going to dog it and do poor deals for Sparano, thus cutting his own earnings, risking his reputation and the loss clients?
The only reasons Sparano might give Tebow a little extra help is that he’ll be able to see whether he really does respond to coaching and in the hope that a strong Senior Bowl will encourage another franchise to waste a high pick on him.
I’m not trying to pass judgement here, but it seems as though all of the Tebow defenders in this topic are borderline illiterate and can’t spell worth a damn. You need to take a deep breathe and stop whining. He’ll get his shot at the NFL Combine and some team will draft him, but based on his college pedigree and NOT his personal beliefs, he’ll quickly flame out in the pros.
And get a grip. For all prospective rookies, from now until week 1 of the 2010 season, every move they make will be criticized and evaluated. Tebow struggled taking snaps yesterday, and scouts have a right to kick the tires. If I were buying a car, I’d hope that it could at least get me out of the driveway.
why????? From a football perspective Tebow is a camp arm at best with his best potential being an H-back….if he stays at QB (see Troy Smith)!
the possibility that Tebow will polarize his pro team. As one source explained, “It might not be an issue with 18-to-22-year-olds, but in a diverse NFL locker room, this outspoken ‘preaching’ won’t fly.”
The better move? Stay quiet, at least until after the draft.
_____________________________
Thats right none of that preaching, just kill some dogs, steal some stuff; take drugs like all the “good” NFL players.
You people are unbelievable. What did Tebow have to “improve” on in college? (He has a lot to improve on in the NFL)
He is considered by many to have been the greatest college football player ever. (Not NFL, C-o-l-l-e-g-e)
So, he was doing EVERYTHING anyone EVER wanted in college.
So now since he isn’t NFL caliber in many people’s minds, he didn’t “Do” what he should have in college?
Beyond belief some of the posts here.
And the comments about his faith too. Cmon Florio. Why aren’t GMs worried about wife-beating, illegal drug using, attempted murderers “Polarizing” the “diverse” NFL locker room.
“Thats right none of that preaching, just kill some dogs, steal some stuff; take drugs like all the “good” NFL players. ”
Sorry. All the finger pointing in the world isnt going to make Tebow “the QB other people should be like”
Maybe rocket scientist shouldve prepped his game for a Pro Set rather than focus on running over people and fist pumping and doing that dumb ass wind up he has as he throws.
Yeah VICK IS A BETTER QB. None of that preaching, because NFL Network and every other media outlet covered him enough regardless of what he did. He is a story, period, and is still beloved in the ATL.
@Mean D -
I didnt say he won’t be taken earlier than the 4th round…..players get overdrafted all the time based on hype…DHB….GinnJr….Golston…VY….etc
Reid, however sucessful he has been also runs a predictable offense even though it has been proven that passing the ball 60% of the time doesn’t lead to a Ring.
Dungy is only pimping him of the religious angle..( Dungy also thinks Vick can be a QB in the NFL….hahahahahaha)
And in case you didn’t notice Gruden has been Mr. Positive with everything he has said this year….including the beginning of the season when he said the Raiders should start Russell instead of Garcia…and lets not forget the Monday night game where he compared Brady Quinn to Tom Brady.
Tim TeBLOW is an excellent athlete ( Kordell Stewart, VY, Vick…..) who is a product of a system. He IS a project player that will take years to develop into a good NFL QB….so who is going to pay top money to a guy that is at best a raw talent QB – not accurate passer, slow delivery, bad mechanics …… ever heard of Byron Leftwich? He was good in college too.
Sad how people are so quick to criticize Tebow because he sia devout Chrisitan.
I am sure he won’t be too welcome in the NFL. After all, it isn’t like they get in circles and pray together after the game or anything like that.
And the comments about his faith too. Cmon Florio. Why aren’t GMs worried about wife-beating, illegal drug using, attempted murderers “Polarizing” the “diverse” NFL locker room.
the arent worried about someone polarizing the diverse locker room
BECAUSE HE ISNT GOING TO BE IN ONE.
he’s already fumbled snaps on Sr. Bowl week – i cannot believe this dude wouldnt have thought to work on taking snaps from center
When Vick becomes the starter for the St. Louis Rams (as Bradford or Clausen hold the clip board) I will laugh my ass off at “the chosen one” as he is on a scout team or covering kicks.
Just because Tebow is “all-american wet dream of morality” doesnt mean he is going to ball at this level…at the end of the day he has inconsistent passing mechanics, runs out of the pocket too quickly and will not be fast or elusive enough.
Yeah He has work ethic. ok?
And the comments about his faith too. Cmon Florio. Why aren’t GMs worried about wife-beating, illegal drug using, attempted murderers “Polarizing” the “diverse” NFL locker room.
Probably because they are not in the lockerroom preaching these things. If Tebow doesn’t preach, no problem, but…
My goal is to post on every article about Tebow.
Just a couple of observations. First off, there’s no doubt that Tebow needs work and plenty of help. ALL young QBs need a veteran QB coach (NOT a veteran QB) to show them the ins and outs of the game. That person shouldn’t be some snot-nosed kid like the Raiders employed in 2007 and 2008 AND he should have actually played QB in the NFL. If the team that gets Tebow gets him a good QB coach AND he’s willing to put in the work, he can improve to the point that he’s an NFL-caliber QB. Maybe not an All-Pro but a guy who is more than servicable.
I don’t doubt Tebow’s willingness to put in the work to try to improve but at this point, I think that only the Jags are going to be willing to risk a first or second round choice on him. This is both good and bad because they’re willing to keep him at QB but at the same time, they may try to put him out on the field before he’s ready. If they use him in the Wildcat and keep him from going under center, that will minimize the damage while getting on the field in his first year. Miami took Pat White and got him some snaps and Tony Sparano’s involvement is a good thing (Same agent or not) because he’s been there and done that already.
Trent Dilfer. About 6-4 240. Fresno State. Not a great college QB. Worked hard, improved mechanics, smart, coachable, team player. Super Bowl QB.
Tebow looks a lot like Dilfer.
Tebow will be the Christian Laettner of the NFL.
I could care less one way or the other, but from what I’ve seen, I have really strong doubts that Tebow will be successful as an NFL QB….
Superintendent Chalmers said it best “take it outside godboy!”
divine says:
January 26, 2010 9:36 AM
Its obvious that the Tebow haters are just biased irreligious kooks. Including the chief of this blog….they are just attempting to find ‘anything’ they can to put him down because they don’t want an outspoken Christian in the spotlight. Typical of anti-Christian kooks.
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First of all, an evangelical christian calling anyone biased is the pot calling the kettle black.
Second, I consider myself a pretty strong believing chrisitian, but according to you, I am a godless beast because I think tebow will not be jesus on the gridiron and i think he should stop trying to shove his PERSONAL religious and politcal position down people’s throats. And using that same rationale, Florio would be too, even though over the years he has made numerous references to being christian.
The super bowl is not the forum to preach religion, just like a chruch is not setting for a evnagelical preacher to talk aobut politics. It’s polarizing and divisive. Especially when it’s focus on the family whoose commercial he is appearing in. Check out their website. If you don’t understand why, they are a hell of a lot more than an anti- abortion group.
With that being said, He is certinly entitled to his free speech, but he also should know that there likely will be consequences from it.regardless of if his is the started on a team, he is going to be the meida story. And has shown with the super bowl ad and his biblical eye black, that he take the spotlight and use to further his own agenda.
I know that if i was a owner or gm and was looking at tebow and another project QB like Dan Lefevor, I’m going with LeFevor just so I wont have to deal with the added headache someone who potentially is the face of your franchise popping off about divisive topics.
Someones personal religious and political beliefs are just that, personal. They should be treated as such.
EShine says: ‘I find it funny that scouts are concerned about Tebow’s “can’t do” vs his “want to” when they so often miss on the guys who “can do” but never take into account the “want to.”‘
I don’t even know what the hell the above sentence means.
-JaMarcus Russel-
The Spelling here is all to good to be JaMarcus, he must have paid someone to write it for him.
Obviously Florio is upset that Tebow is representing Religious Right Wing Extremism (focus on the family) , not just Christianity. And while I can’t stand it either should we be attacking the kid for everything he is worth just yet? No one is going to take this kid in the 1st round, I hardly think he will make a big enough impact on ticket sales for the Jaguars from the bench to warrant missing on a high caliber player that could other wise be taken there.
While the most avid Christians here will disagree, I believe that this will cost Tebow in the end when it comes to endorsements. If you don’t think so then please, show me any athlete that has proselytized like Tebow that has made a lot of money from national ads? I can remember when Anita Bryant was the face of what was wholesome and good and then she went all medieval on gay people and you couldn’t PAY to get her on TV ads (I can still remember her doing Florida orange juice commercials and they dropped her like a hot potato after she started getting active in going after the gay community). It’s all well and good for him to stand up for principles but he should realize that he’s closing down a lot of doors and if you think that groups like Focus On The Family are going to make up for it – don’t be naive. They’re going to expect him to do all this for free and he’ll never make up for what he’s going to lose. I can only surmise the FOTF wants the CONTROVERSY of the situation, which isn’t out of the question with this group as they seem to thrive on controversy and haven’t had one problem with generating it just so they become the story. In fact, if CBS were to cancel the ad, it would be of enormous benefit to them because not only would they be able to go after the liberal media and NOW and every so-called liberal group in the world but they’d get their $2.5 mil back and have all that FREE publicity.
# realitypolice says:
“Obviously, none of this really happened and McShay is just a God hating communist. I think from now on we should all just ignore what we see with our eyes and what professional analysts write and just rely on true football experts like “divine”. Unless we want to wind up in HELL!”
I nominate this for Post Of The Year!
You have got to love the God-hating communist part.
Not all eyes will be on Tim Tebow. I’m sick of hearing or watching anything concerning “Saint Tim”. All the various announcers have gushed to the point of being ridiculous on how great this kid is. He might be, but I’m not watching to find out.
Communists don’t hate God. They don’t believe in him. Can anyone name any quarterback that came from Florida that was any good in the NFL. Tebow will be as good in the NFL as a player as Spurrier was a coach.