4. Size is no longer an advantage
In college, Tim Tebow uses his size to steamroll opposing D-lines in goal line and short yardage situations. However, in the NFL, it will be much harder for Tebow to impose his will on bigger, stronger defensive players. Additionally, there will no doubt be a big bulls-eye on Tebow's back after winning the Heisman Trophy, and many defensive players will be looking to take big shots at Tebow. Because of this, injuries might become an issue for Tebow early on as well, as he doesn't seem to know how to slide when running.
3. There won't always be open receivers all over the field
Dan Mullen certainly knows how to draw up plays that usually leave one of Florida's speedy receivers wide open and in positions to make Tebow look good. In the pros though, Dan Mullen won't be drawing up plays for Tebow. Tebow will get used to whatever offense is run, but the fact that there are more experienced DBs in the NFL than there are in college means throwing the ball is going to be much harder for Tebow.
2. Overall game and player speed
College defensive players certainly are by no means slow (especially in the SEC), but when compared to pro defensive players, there is a noticeable difference. In college, Tebow uses his speed to outrun defensive players and make something out of nothing on certain plays. On occasion, Tebow even uses his size and speed to run over defenders in the open field or on the goal line. If he tries this in the NFL though, he will quickly discover that his legs can no longer be the weapon they are now. Tebow's slower release could also become an issue in the pros. The faster defensive linemen will have more time to get to Tebow and disrupt his throws.
1. Mediocre offensive talent in key positions
At Florida, Tebow has a top-notch receiving corps, decent running backs, and a pretty solid O-line. More than likely, Tebow will go somewhere in the top 10 picks of the draft, meaning that he will go to a team that needs a lot of help. These teams usually only have mediocre offenses—something Tebow will not be used to.
He might not be the next Rex Grossman or Danny Wuerffel, but don't expect him to be the next Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, either.
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3 months ago
So after Florida goes 9-4 Tebow is nicknamed "Superman"? So if they go undefeated are people gonna be stupid again and this time nickname him "The Messiah" or even "God"?
from 3 months ago
i agree entirely. I was deciding whether write about his future overratedness, or write about his current overratedness
from 3 months ago
Idk, but if they do, we'll make sure you get the credit for it.
For the author, numbers 1-3 qualify for every person going into the NFL not just Tebow. Mention something that only Tebow will face not every person to ever play QB.
3 months ago
this is a great article, awesome. i couldn't agree more. Tebow is a great "college" player, i don't think this will carry over to the pro's, and if it does good for him, he deserves it, but i don't think he'll be a great player in the nfl, and i disagree with you that he'll be a top 10 pick.
3 months ago
4. You're missing the point. Its not all about his size. Jamarcus Russell was bigger and he didn't score 23 rushing TDs in a season in the SEC. Tebow's size (6'3", 240 lbs) is just one reason why he is such a threat at the goal line. I agree that his size will not be as much of a factor in the NFL.
However, Tebow will still be bigger than the majority of running backs in the NFL. Do these running backs all of sudden stop scoring TDs? No.
Back to the point. Tebow is a QB. When your QB is a goal line threat, several factors come into play. First of all, there is an extra blocker. In a traditional hand-off situation, the QB does not block, leaving only 9 blockers for 11 defensive players. When the QB runs the ball, there are 10 blockers.
Also, Tebow is a threat to throw even when the ball is snapped from the 1 yard line. His jump passes always seem to catch defenses off guard.
Finally, Tebow has a lot of power and determination. No one sets the SEC single season rushing TD record without it. 23 TDs is more than Herschel Walker, Emmitt Smith, Fred Taylor, Cadillac, etc. ever got.
3. Tebow has shown the ability to make a variety of throws. And who is to say that he won't end up in a spread offense in the NFL? The Patriots run a shotgun spread with a lot of quick throws to open receivers. Tebow could easily manage a similar offense, and he could run it for a first down here and there, something that you don't get out of Brady.
And what QB will see more open receivers in the NFL than on he did for his top tier college football team?
2. I don't know if you've noticed, but Tebow doesn't usually straight up "outrun" anyone. He may beat DTs in a footrace (which he would still do in the NFL), but he has been caught by SEC defensive ends and he usually tries to run through linebackers and DBs.
And speed is all relative. As long as he can rely on his legs for first downs, he can very effective like a young Brett Favre or Steve Young. Having Tebow's speed, which is way above most NFL QB's speed, could only help a team.
The game is faster for everyone in the NFL.
1. Every rookie QB faces the same dilemma. Does anyone talk about Peyton Manning's rookie season (pretty awful)? Unless your name is Marino, you probably won't have a Pro Bowl rookie year.
Sorry that you wrote an article that merely points out 3 situations that every college QB faces as he transitions to the NFL. All rookie QB's have to adjust to NFL speed in coverage and the pass rush. All rookie QBs will find that their wide receivers are better covered (ask Leinart, Alex Smith, Vince Young, etc). All highly drafted rookie QBs will play for shitty teams.
And I am sorry that point #4 is so uninformed. 23 rushing TDs in the SEC is something that dozens of NFL backs, including several hall of famers, could not do.
Edit item #4 and change the title to "Challenges that Every Rookie QB Faces in the NFL" and you will have a perfect article.
Better luck next time.
from 3 months ago
4. Those great SEC running backs that you mentioned also had to run for TDs longer than 9 yards, which is something Tebow did less than 5 times this past season.
3. Tebow has shown the ability to throw it to open receivers either 50 yards downfield, or less than 15 yards ahead of him, who then make big plays.
2. "Tebow doesn't usually straight up 'outrun' anyone. He may beat DT's in a footrace..."- sounds like outrunning people to me.
1. Not every rookie QB faces the lack of offensive talent that was there in college. Vince Young seems to have adapted just fine to the Titans offensive roster in his short NFL career. Also, who's to say I was only talking about rookie QBs? What about "Sexy Rexy" Grossman? He's seemed pretty good in college, but when drafted by a lackluster offensive team, he didn't help much.
from 3 months ago
4. 23 rushing TDs is not a fluke. Often those 1 or 2 yard runs are the toughest. If it was so easy to score 23 short rushing TDs in the SEC, surely someone would have done it before.
Also, I've done comparisons before and MOST scores by running backs are short runs in a goal line situation.
3. Every QB for a big-time college program will have receivers who make plays because they will often face over matched opponents. Every QB will have to adjust to better coverage and faster defensive backs in the NFL.
2. He doesn't "usually" outrun anyone. I.e. it is not a usual occurence that he outruns players. 1 (in a 3-4 defense) or 2 of the 11 defensive players are defensive tackles. That means he cannot outrun the other 9-10 players on the defense. That means that he USUALLY WILL NOT OUTRUN anyone.
Can I be any clearer?
1. Vince Young was successful mostly because of his legs during his rookie season. He still a below average NFL passer and has not shown much improvement. What is the point of the Rex Grossman comparison? He did not have a very talented offense. The Bears were known for their defense. Are you agreeing with me? I said that most NFL QB's won't have the relative talent mismatches that they had on their college teams.
3 months ago
Seriously. Awful. Article. I am doing this for your own good. Do some research or something.
Items 1-3 are just broad generalizations about all rookie QBs. Item 4 is thinly rationalized.
Four Tebow-specific-reasons that Tebow won't succeed in the NFL:
1. Wear and tear. Very few QBs come into the NFL after taking as many hits as some starting college running backs. Tebow has already rushed the ball a few hundred times for some very tough yards. He has broken his femur in high school and his hand in college, although he finished both games. He also hurt his non throwing shoulder badly last season.
2. His release is not the fastest. Guys like Marino were so successful because they got rid of the ball quickly.
3. He is a Florida QB. Spurrier, Wuerffel, Grossman, Leak, Matthews. None did anything noteworthy in the NFL.
4. His team won't know how to use him. If they try to make him something he is not, then he could fail. He is a perfect fit for a spread offense. He may also be good in a West Coast offense, like Steve Young, if he can quicken his release.
from 3 months ago
It's so funny how people try to find all the negatives in successors-
---->Tim Tebow had one of the best seasons of any college QB of all time, don't you agree?
---->He also did it in the SEC which has the best defenses hands down, do you agree.
He also did it in his 1st year as a starter.Considering he played very little in his freshman year.
---->Honestly, would you feel differently about him and the heisman winner's future if he was on your favorite team?
You guys are judging him after an incredible season in which he didn't have a RB, and hardly had a defense(by the numbers the worst the gators have had since the lat 80's.)
---->If Tebow had the Defense that the championship Gators had in 06', he would've won the national championship last year, Chris Leak did it and he'd not nearly the QB what do you think?
Look at how close the games where between the champs LSU, and Auburn, UF lost by a total of 5 points.
He scored 7 touchdowns threw the air and on the ground against USC, who's defense wasn't bad at all.
The kid is a freak of nature and he literally eats a chews glass beer bottles after chugging them, do you agree?lol
I'd like an unbiased answer please to all of the --->.thank you
3 months ago
A fifth reason - his faith. Who knows if he decides to give up football. He has often said that football is 4th in his life behind faith, family and education.
from 3 months ago
Well he wont be getting an education after he graduates.
3 months ago
If Ben Roehlisberger can win a championship in the NFL Tebow is going to blow the roof of the joint.
I think people are looking at Tebow all wrong. Tebow passes as well as anyone in CFB considering he has only started one seaosn and is passing as well as he is. So to say Tebow won't make it in the NFL as a passer is really ridiculous. Tebow has as good a chance as anyone to make it as a passer in the NFL. But plenty of supposed great passers have been a bust in the pros too. So either way it's a crap shoot.
As for Tebow's running ability.. the way people are getting it wrong is to assume that being a pocket passer is any safer than running in the NFL these days. I have seen pocket passers take the worst hits of anyone lately. I believe that defenses are too strong in this era. You can't protect pocket passers anymore. Tebow's mobility and incredible athelticism will actualy help his longevity..
Also, people think Tebow has to run the way he did last season.. nowhere in the pros will Tebow have as poor a running back squad as he had last season. So there will be no need for him to have to run the way he did last season as the teams primary runningback running between the tackles.
Tebow will be able to run outside the tackles predominantly just like any other running QB.. only he will be 100 times more durable than finesse running Qb's of the past and he will still have the capability to run up the middle.. those things combined will allow him to have many more game breaking runs than he did last season. And it will help his passing game even more..
3 months ago
This is the article's rational in a nutshell:
Tebow will have problems in the NFL because:
4. NFL players are bigger, meaner, and hit harder.
3. Defenses and DBs are better in the NFL.
2. NFL defensive players are faster.
4. There is more parity in the NFL and the team that Tebow will be on won't be as dominant, therefore, he won't appear to be as dominant of a player.
OK. Those things apply to ever player at every position. NFL is bigger, faster, stronger, more skilled. Every player has to adjust to those things.
Why didn't Nick write this article?
3 months ago
Greta point John. I believe what is important in football is having a complete team -- a well balanced team. Especially as a quarterback. And while Tebow did have talent on his team last seaosn.. I don't think he had a well balanced team at all. I believe all NFL teams are much more well balanced than teams in college.
So what is important in the pros then? Players that are difference makers.
And Tebow might be the biggest difference maker in all of football.. maybe in the history of football. A good example of this is Brett favre going to the Jets. Look how everyone is talking about him changing the entire culture for the Jets.. and he's pushing forty and might never have been the kind of game changer Tebow is. Think about that...
3 months ago
Four reasons why Tim Tebow will succeed in the NFL.
1. Despite the negative stereotypes, the success rate for running QBs is actually higher than it is for dropback passers ... far higher indeed. While no "running QB" has ever won a Super Bowl, virtually all have led their teams to the playoffs.
2. The team that drafts Tim Tebow will almost certainly adapt an offense to fit his skill set. Why they will be willing to do this for Tebow when teams have been unwilling to do it for past running QBs I will leave for you to figure out. But the changes to the game that will be made to accommodate Tebow will help other QBs.
3. Most "pro - style" college offenses only teach QBs to learn the offense, not to make plays with their arms and split - second decision making. That is why so few QBs from the college programs that run pro - style offenses (FSU, Miami, UCLA, etc.) succeed, and those who do often need lengthy stays on the bench to practically relearn the game like Brad Johnson. Running QBs by definition are playmakers, which is needed to be anything more than a caretaker or a backup in the NFL. It is easier to teach a playmaker fundamentals, mechanics, and complicated offenses than it is to teach a guy who had the receivers and the scheme make plays for him (generally against overmatched defenses at that) to learn how to make plays. If you have ever seen a former FSU, Miami, or PAC - 10 QB in the NFL hold the ball forever waiting for their WRs to get WIDE OPEN like they did in college as compared to a running QB being willing to use his arm strength to try to just gun the ball into a tight spot, you will know what I am talking about.
4. The kid flat out has ability. He isn't very tall, but then again neither is Brett Favre or John Elway. (By the way, if anyone remembers Favre and Elway from college ... neither guy was exactly Peyton Manning, OK? Both guys became passers once they got to the NFL, and the same goes for Roger Staubach, Fran Tarkenton, and Joe Montana.) But he has mobility, footwork, arm strength, and fearlessness: things that you can't teach.
By the way: this is coming from a guy who has seen better running QBs come down the pike than Tebow and actually believe the kid to be overrated!
3 months ago
Did Lee really just say Vince Young has adapted just fine to the Titans roster?
Uhm, watch him play some, he isn't with Texas anymore.
from 3 months ago
Vince Young's main problem in Tennessee is that he actually played with better WRs in college than he has with the Titans. I am not exaggerating! Young's Texas WRs included Roy Williams (#4 pick in the draft), Limas Sweed (2nd round pick who would have gone higher had it not been for an injury his senior year) and TE David Thomas (3rd round pick). But he goes to Tennessee, a franchise that holds WRs in low esteem. They have only drafted 1 WR in the first round in their history, and that was some bust that they took over Randy Moss (and no, it wasn't about character, because this same franchise also drafted Albert Haynesworth and Adam Jones). Tennessee's two starting WRs this season will be a couple of guys that they signed off the free agent market for practically the minimum salary because no one else even made them an offer. One of them, Justin McCareins, was literally the Jets' 4th WR last season. The Titans' 3rd receiver, Brandon Jones, didn't even start in college!
I was actually upset when the Titans' drafted Vince Young, because I knew that Jeff Fisher and Bud Adams would never get him any WRs, just like they never got Steve McNair any, and Adams never got oWarren Moon any either. (One of the reasons why the Oilers wasted Moon's best years on the run and shoot was because you could run that scheme with cheap, interchangeable wide receivers.) Give Vince Young the same offensive talent around him that Peyton and Eli Manning have and then we will see whether he can play in the NFL. As it is, I can't think of a single dropback QB that would have a chance with a bunch of WRs that would be at the bottom of the roster or practice squad players on any other team in the league.
from 3 months ago
It was more of a "relative to Rex Grossman" type statement
3 months ago
Fact 1: The SEC has produced 6 national champions since 1990. Alabama (92), Florida (97), Tennessee (98), LSU (03), Florida (06), LSU (07). The PAC - 10 has produced 2. USC (03), USC (04). This does not include Auburn going undefeated in 1992 or 2004 incidentally.
Fact 2: Nine SEC schools have won national titles ... the 6 above plus UGA, Ole Miss, and Auburn. All but Ole Miss and Auburn have won them in the modern era. Meanwhile, only 3 PAC - 10 schools have: USC, Washington, and UCLA, and further only 2 of those came in the modern era.
Fact 3: Even without Miami, the ACC actually has more tradition than the PAC - 10, as Georgia Tech has 4 national titles, FSU has 2, Clemson and Maryland have 1 apiece.
Fact 4: Inbreeding. All of the PAC - 10 coaches are PAC - 10 or western guys. Meanwhile, most of the SEC head coaches are guys primarily from the NFL or other conferences. Example: Bobby Johnson (I - AA), Rich Brooks (Oregon), Mark Richt (FSU, Miami), Urban Meyer (Bowling Green, Utah, and basically an Ohio State guy), Nick Saban (Michigan State, longtime NFL assistant), Tommy Tuberville (Miami), Bobby Petrino (NFL assistant/Louisville), Les Miles (NFL assistant/Michigan/Oklahoma State). Even a lot of the "SEC guys" ... Steve Spurrier proved himself in the ACC before he was hired by Florida. Houston Nutt is an Arkansas guy, but back then Arkansas was in another conference. Sylvester Croom came back to the SEC after spending decades in the NFL. And Ole Miss hired within the conference only after giving a USC/Miami guy, Ed Orgeron, a shot. Really, that leaves Philip Fulmer as the only SEC product (a guy who has spent most of his coaching career in the SEC) and even he replaced the guy who coached Dan Marino and Tony Dorsett at Pitt! The result: while virtually everyone in the PAC - 10 is just an inferior copy of USC or are trying in vain to replicate what Bill Walsh did at Stanford or Terry Donahue did at UCLA (although I really don't know why since neither Walsh or Donahue, you know, actually won a national title or anything for the PAC - 10) the SEC has different styles and emphases. The SEC has defensive minded coaches and offensive minded coaches. They have pro - style offenses, spread offenses, and option offenses. They have guys that basically win by amassing talent and Xs and Os guys. I do realize that Washington put in some option for Jake Locker and Oregon for Dennis Dixon (and it looks like they are going to stick with it) but that is as diverse as the PAC - 10 will get.
5. Similar to 2, the SEC has 5 active head coaches that have won national titles. Philip Fulmer, Steve Spurrier, Nick Saban, Les Miles, and Urban Meyer. Again, this does not include Tommy Tuberville. (For the record, it also does not include Mark Richt, who won 2 as offensive coordinator for an FSU program that fell apart on offense shortly after he left.) Further, all have won theirs in the SEC within the past 10 years. Meanwhile, the PAC - 10 has 2 coaches that have won national titles, and one of those, Dennis Erickson, won his nearly 20 years ago at Miami.
6. The PAC - 10 has a reputation for being more similar to the NFL offensively. Yet the PAC - 10's QBs are generally horrible busts like Ryan Leaf, Akili Smith, Joey Harrington, Cade McNown, Kyle Boller, and J. P. Losman. The SEC QBs have not exactly been outstanding - especially when you exclude people named Manning - but then again apart from Steve Spurrier the SEC has never had a reputation for sophisticated NFL style passing games to begin with.
7. SEC tailbacks do not run over SEC defenses for almost 2000 yards only to get to the NFL and average 3.5 yards per carry the way guys like Reggie Bush, LenDale White, Jerome Harrison (Washington State), J. J. Arrington (California), Skip Hicks (UCLA) and that "great" Oregon tandem of Maurice Morris and Onterrio Smith have. Quite the contrary, SEC tailbacks that rush for FEWER than 1,000 yards in college go on to be NFL starters (Ronnie Brown, Joseph Addai, Domanick Davis, Terrell Davis).
8. Guys that were recruited by some schools as TEs do not dominate the PAC - 10 as WRs only to get to the NFL and become huge embarrassing molasses slow busts (Mike Williams, J. J. Stokes, Reggie Williams, and it really isn't looking too hot for Dwayne Jarrett either). The SEC WRs that fail do so because of poor route running and bad hands, not because of being too slow, or for that matter being Freddie Mitchell.
8. SEC teams do not spend 5 years chest - thumping over out of conference wins against 2nd tier teams (i.e. Fresno, Notre Dame, 5 loss Auburn teams, or an Arkansas program that has never won an SEC title) the way certain juggernauts have.
9. PAC - 10 teams frequently claim national titles despite having losses (67, 74 a loss and a tie, 78, 03). SEC teams are known to finish #2 after going undefeated.
10. In order to win a national title out the SEC, you generally have to play another conference opponent (and sometimes 2 or 3!) that would have played in your stead had they beaten you. Cases in point: LSU beating 11 win UGA twice in 03. Florida beating 11 win LSU in 06. You would have to go back to O.J. Simpson's USC beating #1 UCLA to find something similar in the PAC - 10, unless you wish to be ridiculous and claim something like Holiday Bowl loser Cal in 2004.
11. SEC teams do not complain about missing out on major bowl bids only to go on to lose the Holiday Bowl (Cal in 2004, Oregon in 2005, ASU in 2007, and two of those in crushing fashion).
12. It is impossible to win 10 games with one of the worst defenses in the history of college football in the SEC as UCLA did in 2005 in the PAC - 10.
13. The SEC has not been represented by an 8 - 4 "conference champion" like Oregon in 1994 and Stanford in 1997.
I could go on, but you see my point. The PAC - 10 needs to produce more national title teams and contenders before anyone regards it as anything other than the PAC - 1 and the Little 9. And before you talk about Dennis Dixon's injury ruining Oregon's shot last year ... as if that's the only time something like that has ever happened? Look, Nebraska won the 1994 national title despite Tommie Frazier missing 8 games, OK? As a matter of fact, Nebraska had to go on the road and win a conference game with their 3rd string QB that year. And then there was UGA that same season, who was UNDEFEATED until their starting QB injured his knee. They lose the next game to Florida 14 - 9 and the game after that to Auburn on the last play of the game. But if you want to talk about injuries and misfortune, go talk about what a nightmare that 2005 LSU team went through (coaching change, injuries to offensive line and tailbacks, and oh yeah the starting QB played with a broken bone in his throwing hand that he hid from his coaches all year long because he feared losing his starting job and never getting it back, and oh yes HURRICANE KATRINA), and that team STILL WON 11 GAMES. (Did LSU deserve an at - large BCS bid that year? Yes, as their 40 - 3 destruction of Miami with their backup QB demonstrated. Did they get one? No. Did they complain? No. Instead, they went on to win the Sugar Bowl the next year and the national title the year after, unlike Cal and Oregon teams that whined only to lose their bowl games and collapse the following season.)
Sorry dude, you can keep selling this "the PAC - 10 is the best conference top to bottom", but the truth is that the 2nd place PAC - 10 team plays the 4th place Big 12 team in the Holiday Bowl every year, and we all see what generally results.
Those are facts, not opinions, and PAC - 10 fans need to deal with them. You can start by hiring outside your little inbred stable of western coaches that have never won squat the next time there is a job opening. I suggest Charles Strong, defensive coordinator at Florida and before that South Carolina, or Calvin Magee, West Virginia offensive coordinator. The Washington and Arizona jobs will be open after the season, and they are perfect situations to give some new blood a shot. After all, it has worked for the SEC, as their last 3 national titles have been won by guys hired from other conferences.
from 3 months ago
Wow, this belongs on another thread. Please remove it!
3 months ago
Tim Tebow has 2 more seasons as a Gator. I think he is more worried about 2 potential SEC and National Titles and being a good person by bein unselfish with his time and heart. Who cares about the NFL right now. He puts out more effort than all of them and he is playing for free.
3 months ago
Gerald-- amazing... I am left speechless, nothing else to add....
3 months ago
You've really only told us the difference between NFL and college. I guess anyone who comes out of college can't make it in the NFL. I'm pretty sure a large amount of those NFLers also played in college. Set down the Haterade and wait for him to annouce that he's bolting for the NFL.
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