I feel like because I write about the NFL I have to address Tim Tebow (it’s THAT out of control). I believe that Tim Tebow will be a steal in the second round but a reach in the first. If you draft a quarterback in the first round you are saying that this player is the future of the franchise and should be able to start sometime in his rookie season. You draft a quarterback in the second round or later and let him learn for a year or two before throwing him out there. I know some teams don’t have the luxury of waiting until the second round but that’s a lot of money for a player who won’t even see the field.

Former NFL coach Sam Wyche has been working with Tebow this offseason and he is adjusting his fundamentals to become a better NFL quarterback (thanks to Urban Meyer not doing so).

“He’s as smart as anyone,” Wyche said of Tebow, per the St. Petersburg Times. “I was around Montana and Boomer, and they would be at the top of the list of understand theory coming out of college. They understood concepts. This guy is right with them. I hope he gets a good coordinator and a good quarterback coach. If not, he’ll be smarter than they are.”

I tend to agree with Wyche. All the interviews I’ve seen of Tebow he has come across as one of the most intelligent football players to come along in a long time. He lives and breathes football and he studies football in his spare time. That’s the kind of mental makeup that lets talent become legend. I’ve heard his work ethic compared to Peyton Manning. That’s high praise.

The main knock on Tebow’s game is his lack of experience in the pro-style (under center) quarterback style. That is significantly more difficult than the shotgun style because you have much less time to make a decision, move in the pocket to avoid the rush, read what defense is coming at you, and find your receivers. The shotgun allows you to read the defense before the snap and therefore give you much less trouble hitting your receivers. When you thrown play action into the mix, it gets much much harder. Tebow’s intelligence isn’t being called into question, but his release and fundamentals are. Those are things that will be corrected with good coaching. Put him on a team like San Fransisco, Washington, or Minnesota and you will see major improvement. Put him on Oakland, St. Louis, or Jacksonville and he may struggle. Consistency is a young quarterback’s best friend (just ask Alex Smith or Jason Campbell) and that will go a long way to determining how successful Tim Tebow is.

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