Disclaimer: I want to get this out into the open first and foremost. I am a University of Georgia graduate (not just a fan, I actually went to school there and left with a diploma after four years), and I bleed red and black. I also acknowledge that if Tim Tebow went to ANY school other than the University of Florida, I would have far less vitriol for him than I do right now. I just wanted to get that out in the open. Was I rooting for every player that went against him to knock his block off? Yes I was.
Tim Tebow is the greatest college football player ever. And that just ticks me off. Big time. I hate that little skip he does after a big play. I hate that he mugs for the camera. I hate that he seems to just tiptoe through the line of scrimmage without anyone ever getting a real hit on him. I hate that ESPN covered his concussion like the Pope had just been shot. A little much.
But here is the bottom line: with the game on the line, there is NO ONE ELSE I would have wanted under center. He was a winner. Without him Florida does not win two national titles and come within an eyelash of another. This guy willed his team to victory after victory, and he did it all under HUGE expectations. There was hype out the wazoo and this guy not only lived up to it, he bypassed the hype with alarming speed.
Tim Tebow should have won the Heisman when Sam Bradford took it home in 2008. No matter, Tebow won the national title. Tim Tebow meant more to his team in 2009 then the winner Mark Ingram did. If you really sit back and think about who was the most dominant player in the country, the answer was Tim Tebow.
But now his college career is over. It is time for him to move on to the NFL. Remember, I’m a Georgia guy and you are all going to be calling sour grapes on this one, but he won’t make it as a QB. Nope. Not going to happen. Sorry.
Waiting for everyone to quit rolling their eyes after thinking, “Boy, this Georgia guy is jealous.” Jealous? You bet your life. I would have LOVED for this kid to have worn the silver britches. But he didn’t.
Tim Tebow isn’t going to make it as an NFL quarterback. He just isn’t. Even now as Senior Bowl practice draws to a close, NFL scouts are backing me. Reports out of Mobile say that Tebow is having trouble taking snaps from under center. They say that he fumbled four straight snaps and five of six at one point. The next day Tebow had trouble hitting players on the intermediate routes, i.e., the passes tailor-made for the West Coast offense. While Tebow has shown some ability to complete the deep pass, other passes are as lame duck as Jeff Zucker at NBC. Tebow was facing such harsh criticism earlier this week that his agent came up with the story that the former Gator QB had a fever of 103 and was hospitalized with a sore throat. Yeah, that will make the kid look tough in the huddle while trying to lead a team on a potential game-winning drive.
The scouts agree with me: he isn’t going to make it as a professional NFL quarterback. But who is to say he isn’t going to make it in the NFL? Haven’t we seen plenty of cases where a college QB moves to a different position and excels at the next level? And here’s the thing: Tebow has already said he’d be open to that, as long as a team gave him a shot at signal-caller first. If you are a team, wouldn’t you take a shot at drafting Tebow, maybe with a fourth- or fifth-round pick, and “giving a shot at QB,” then moving him after his rookie season? He could be one HECK of a tight end. He could be an H-back. He could be a wide receiver. After you do that, maybe you keep Tebow happy and add a wrinkle to your offense by making him a wildcat if you feel you need to.
This kid is a gamer and I fully believe that he will make it in the NFL. He will bust his tail and be the best tight end we’ve ever seen. He’ll make Heath Miller and Todd Heap look ordinary. He’s got the height and the strength. Plus he’d be a fast tight end. And P.S., how hard is it to learn tight end? Antonio Gates didn’t play in college and he’s a Pro Bowler. Or maybe you switch him to H-back. How many times have we seen Tebow run over a South Carolina linebacker en route to a touchdown? The kid relishes contact. He’d love to hit somebody for a living.
Or maybe you switch him to wide receiver, my choice if I was a GM and had drafted Tebow. Here is why this move makes the most sense. If you put him at tight end, yes, he’ll be faster but will he be big enough to get out on the block? I’m not certain. At wide receiver though he could use that height and speed to abuse smaller defensive backs. Look at Hines Ward. He played a little bit of everything at Georgia and now he’s one of the best wide receivers in the game and even won a Super Bowl MVP. Ward blazed the path for former QBs to turn into wide receivers. Brad Smith in New York, Michael Robinson in San Francisco, Antwaan Randle El in Pittsburgh and now Washington. Tebow could totally pull a Hines Ward and turn into a physical, punishing wide receiver that is fast, can take some contact (are you telling me that a cornerback can hit harder than a defensive end coming full bore?) and can even skip back after catching a touchdown.
Tim Tebow will make it in the NFL, but it won’t be at quarterback. The scouts agree with me. I just hope the scouts also take into account this kid’s heart and willingness to bust his hump WHEN he switches positions.
Proctor can be reached at fproctor@scoreatl.com.
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