2011 NFL Combine Buzz
The Tebow Factor
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Pete Fiutak
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2011 Pre-Combine Buzz
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The Luckless
quarterback class
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Cam Newton is expected
to do it all
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The star defensive
tackles
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All the North Carolina
talent and what they'll do
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Where have all the good
running backs gone?
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The lousy tight end
class
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The 40 star speedster
will be ...
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The three players
everyone will be talking about
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The offensive tackle
pecking order
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The strongest position
is ...
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Da'Quan Bowers' knee
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Breaking Down the 2011
NFL Combine
2011 NFL Combine Invites & Draft Projection
- QBs |
RBs |
WRs |
TEs
| OG/Cs |
OTs
- DEs |
DTs |
LBs
| Ss |
CBs |
Ps & Ks
There's a saying around draft time that it only
takes one. It only takes one team, one coach, or one
general manager to like a player and make the draft
pick, and then draft status, projections, and stock
become irrelevant. But what happens when the one is
no longer the one?
Tim Tebow was the most polarizing, most
controversial topic of discussion in the 2010 NFL
Draft. Some saw Tebow as no better than a mid-round
talent, while some, like Tony Dungy, saw him as a
possible No. 1 overall selection. Mostly, though,
the Florida icon was considered to be a project in
need of seasoning and a bit of an image change. The
rah-rah act wasn't expected to work in an NFL locker
room full of grown men, and his running ability
wasn't supposed to be a factor at the next level,
but most importantly, his mechanics and throwing
motion needed to undergo a radical overhaul. None of
that stopped the Denver Broncos and brash head man
Josh McDaniels from picking Tebow with the 25th
overall pick.
McDaniels was a disaster and got canned (and was
hired to tutor Sam Bradford at St. Louis), and all of
a sudden, according to NFL.com’s Michael Lombardi,
all of those who towed the party line to
support the Tebow pick are now jumping off the ship.
Forgetting that Tebow came up with a strong close to
the season, especially on the ground, he's still
considered to be a major project who might not have
the NFL skills needed to be the type of quarterback
who can win a Super Bowl. And now the new regime has
a very, very important decision to make.
New head coach John Fox, offensive coordinator Mike
McCoy, and general manager Brian Xanders aren't
exactly doing cartwheels about being saddled with
Tebow, and while Kyle Orton is a serviceable option,
the team that was so bad last year could be in need
of a franchise quarterback to develop. A real one.
So here's the dilemma. Fox wants to run a 4-3
defense and he needs more studs on the front line to
do it. Fortunately for him, Denver has the No. 2
overall pick and will have at least two of the three
stars in this year's draft - DE Da'Quan Bowers, DT
Nick Fairley, and DT Marcell Dareus - right there
for the taking to help turn around the league's
worst D. But while defensive line might be the
easy, safe, and smart pick, it could come at the
expense of passing up on the type of quarterback who
really could be special in ways that Tebow and Orton
aren't.
The problem is that any of the quarterbacks worthy
of being on the radar for the No. 2 overall pick are
just as risky as Tebow was. Sure, Blaine Gabbert has
more polish than Tebow and looks the part, but he's still
considered a bit of a work in progress and will be drafted
for his potential as much as for his known talents.
Cam Newton is quickly blowing up the draft boards
and is by far the hottest prospect in the draft, but
his mechanics are just as big a mess as Tebow's.
The Broncos could try to move down the draft and
stockpile picks while taking Ryan Mallett or Jake
Locker in the middle of the first round, but those
two aren't exactly sure things compared to Tebow,
and it'll be a tough sell to pass up a Bowers,
Fairley or Dareus to take another flier on a dicey
quarterback prospect. But that doesn't mean that
Denver isn't going to throw up a thick smoke screen
to try to screw everyone up.
Tebow might not be Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, and
Orton certainly isn't anything more than a
placeholder, but it's not like quarterback is the
biggest issue for a team that needs about ten other
pieces in place to be any sort of a threat to
challenge for the whole ball of wax. At the Combine,
though, the potential that a quarterback really
could up going No. 2 overall will raise the stakes
even higher for the passers like Newton and Locker
who are going to work out, and it'll make Gabbert's
workouts after Indy (he's not planning on throwing
this week) that much more intriguing.
Of course, all of this means that the focus will be
on Tebow. What is his worth in a trade? Is it fair
to judge him after a rookie season? Is Denver going
to look to make a mega-package deal like the one
that sent Jay Cutler to Chicago? Is he worth
developing and waiting to see what he can become? No
matter what, he'll be one of the big talking points
in Indianapolis for a second year in a row even
though he seemingly already passed most of the early
tests.