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gatorpower
(74.178.55.92) on 1/30/2010 - 12:21 p.m. says: ( 185 views
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"Thoughts on Tim Tebow (NFL, Senior Bowl)..." |
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CONTEXT ADDED BY ADMIN: END OF CONTEXT There were two types of people covering Tim Tebow this past week: professional NFL scouts & professional media salesmen. I say 'salesmen' because that is a pretty accurate description of what they do. They sell their television stations, their newspapers, their 30-minute programing, but mostly they sell themselves. Todd McShay, for example, is not an NFL Scout. He never played in the NFL. He never even saw the field in college (Richmond, a Division I FCS school), nor in high school (Swampscott, Mass.), being a career backup at both places. The most action he ever saw in his football career, at QB, took place at Swampscott where he went 5/8 for 43 yards, 1 TD, and 2 INTs. He graduated Richmond with a bachelors of arts in leadership studies in 1999. He was hired by ESPN, a media company, in 2006 to cover college football as a reporter. He has never been hired by an NFL team in any capacity, either as a draft consultant or scout. He never walked into any NFL facility even if just to empty out their trash cans. He claims to have worked for an NFL scouting publication, 'The War Room', with Gary Horton. 'The War Room' was just another run-of-the-mill NFL digest newsletter with 14 'issues' per year. Their draft preview was only 7-8 pages long, per year, and represented 0.6% of the content they published in a given year. Although to read his blurb on ESPN, you would think the exact opposite. He claims a back injury stopped his college career as a junior, but what he doesn't mention is that in three years as a backup, he recorded no statistics whatsoever. He is just the bastard marketing child of ESPN. And it is important for you to remember these things when you see a guy with a mic in their hands telling you what to think about certain prospects. Their goal is to market themselves and become a household name. They know nothing about what it takes to succeed in the NFL on a professional level and what to look for in a prospect on a scouting level. They can interview other scouts, but I doubt those scouts will ever be genuinely honest about what they feel concerned a prospect because this is a billion-dollar industry. Having said ALL of that, I do think it is also important to remember that Tim Tebow does not fit the mold for your typical NFL QB. He is not, nor has he ever been, a purely drop-back passer. NFL offenses right now are designed around that aspect. There are some that are not and the game is evolving, but I would strongly advise everyone watching to not take this as personal. While the professional media salesmen try spinning their stories in a certain direction, one can't help but think that there are a large number of scouts who feel the same way. Tebow does have a slow delivery. Tebow does tend to lock on certain receivers. Tebow does not have the best zip on his balls and they tend to flutter. does have problems taking center exchanges. There is no shame in being drafted outside the first-round. Ninety-percent of ALL NFL players were never drafted in the 1st-round. Tom Brady was the 6th-round. Tony Romo was undrafted. Kurt Warner was undrafted. The first-round is designated for players who would have an immediate impact in their rookie seasons. I think most Gator fans agree that Tebow needs a couple years. That automatically disqualifies him in the eyes of many GM's for who should go in the 1st-round. So please watch this game, but do not get overly emotional about it. Whether or not Tebow succeeds is not based on how well he does in April this year, but in the Augusts-through-Januaries of years following this. |
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Thoughts on Tim Tebow (NFL, Senior Bowl)... gatorpower 1/30/2010 - 12:21 p.m. |
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