SEC football in the NFL

Total players drafted from the SEC/total players drafted from 2003-2012: 401/2552 – 15.7%

Which NFL teams drafted the most SEC players?

Atlanta Falcons – 22
Cincinnati Bengals – 22
New England Patriots – 19
Kansas City Chiefs – 18
Seattle Seahawks – 17
Chicago Bears – 16
Denver Broncos – 16
Minnesota Vikings – 16
Carolina Panthers – 15
Indianapolis Colts – 15
Green Bay Packers – 14
Philadelphia Eagles – 14
San Francisco 49ers – 14
Miami Dolphins – 13
San Diego Chargers – 12
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 12
Tennessee Titans – 12
Baltimore Ravens – 11
Buffalo Bills – 11
Dallas Cowboys – 11
New York Giants – 11
Arizona Cardinals – 10
Houston Texans – 10
Pittsburgh Steelers – 10
Cleveland Browns – 9
New Orleans Saints – 8
Oakland Raiders – 8
St. Louis Rams – 8
Washington Redskins – 8
Jacksonville Jaguars – 7
New York Jets – 7
Detroit Lions – 5

In total, there are 124 players drafted from the SEC no longer in the league. 124/401 players drafted gives a 30.9% percent no longer in the league.

Bust Rate for Each School and Pro Bowl Appearances (since 2003)

Georgia: 22/56
Total All Pro/Pro Bowl appearances: 4

LSU: 14/56
Total All Pro/Pro Bowl appearances: 10

Florida: 19/48
Total All Pro/Pro Bowl appearances: 7

Alabama: 10/45
Total All Pro/Pro Bowl appearances: 9

Tennessee: 14/39
Total All Pro/Pro Bowl appearances: 16

Auburn: 7/33
Total All Pro/Pro Bowl appearances: 11

South Carolina: 11/31
Total All Pro/Pro Bowl appearances: 3

Arkansas: 12/29
Total All Pro/Pro Bowl appearances: 6

Ole Miss: 6/21
Total All Pro/Pro Bowl appearances: 12

Mississippi State: 1/16
Total All Pro/Pro Bowl appearances: 1

Kentucky: 6/15
Total All Pro/Pro Bowl appearances: 0

Vanderbilt: 2/12
Total All Pro/Pro Bowl appearances: 1

Total SEC All Pro/Pro Bowl appearances: 80

School breakdown with recent, highest pick:

Alabama: Marcell Dareus 3rd
1st – 11
2nd – 7
3rd – 6
4th – 2
5th – 7
6th – 3
7th – 9

QB – 2
RB – 6
WR – 2
TE – 1
OL – 7
DL – 10
LB – 6
CB – 7
S – 4
K – 0
P – 0

Arkansas: Darren McFadden 4th
1st – 6
2nd – 3
3rd – 4
4th – 5
5th – 4
6th – 2
7th – 5

QB – 1
RB – 4
WR – 5
TE – 1
OL – 7
DL – 5
LB – 1
CB – 2
S – 3
K – 0
P – 0

Auburn: Cam Newton 1st
1st – 7
2nd – 8
3rd – 2
4th – 4
5th – 2
6th – 3
7th – 7

QB – 2
RB – 4
WR – 4
TE – 0
OL – 6
DL – 8
LB – 3
CB – 6
S – 0
K – 0
P – 0

Florida: Joe Haden 7th
1st – 9
2nd – 8
3rd – 6
4th – 8
5th – 6
6th – 3
7th – 8

QB – 2
RB – 3
WR – 7
TE – 4
OL – 5
DL – 13
LB – 4
CB – 5
S – 5
K – 0
P – 0

Georgia: Matthew Stafford 1st
1st – 8
2nd – 8
3rd – 10
4th – 11
5th – 4
6th – 6
7th – 9

QB – 3
RB – 5
WR – 5
TE – 4
OL – 9
DL – 13
LB – 7
CB – 5
S – 3
K – 2
P – 0

Kentucky: Dewayne Robinson 4th
1st – 1
2nd – 1
3rd – 2
4th – 4
5th – 1
6th – 4
7th – 2

QB – 1
RB – 2
WR – 4
TE – 1
OL – 0
DL – 4
LB – 1
CB – 1
S – 1
K – 0
P – 0

LSU: JaMarcus Russell 1st
1st – 12
2nd – 5
3rd – 12
4th – 9
5th – 4
6th – 3
7th – 11

QB – 3
RB – 7
WR – 11
TE – 1
OL – 4
DL – 14
LB – 3
CB – 7
S – 5
K – 0
P – 1

Mississippi State: Fletcher Cox 12th
1st – 2
2nd – 0
3rd – 1
4th – 3
5th – 5
6th – 3
7th – 2

QB – 0
RB – 4
WR – 0
TE – 1
OL – 2
DL – 4
LB – 4
CB – 0
S – 1
K – 0
P – 0

Ole Miss: Eli Manning 1st
1st – 5
2nd – 2
3rd – 2
4th – 2
5th – 2
6th – 5
7th – 3

QB – 1
RB – 2
WR – 1
TE – 0
OL – 8
DL – 3
LB – 2
CB – 2
S – 2
K – 0
P – 0

South Carolina: Troy Williamson 7th
1st – 5
2nd – 2
3rd – 3
4th – 3
5th – 4
6th – 4
7th – 10

QB – 0
RB – 3
WR – 4
TE – 2
OL – 3
DL – 5
LB – 5
CB – 7
S – 3
K – 2
P – 0

Tennessee: Eric Berry 5th
1st – 7
2nd – 5
3rd – 6
4th – 2
5th – 11
6th – 3
7th – 5

QB – 2
RB – 3
WR – 4
TE – 3
OL – 4
DL – 10
LB – 7
CB – 2
S – 3
K – 0
P – 1

Vanderbilt: Jay Cutler 11th
1st – 2
2nd – 1
3rd – 2
4th – 1
5th – 2
6th – 2
7th – 2

QB – 1
RB – 0
WR – 1
TE – 0
OL – 3
DL – 1
LB – 3
CB – 3
S – 0
K – 0
P – 0

Players drafted from SEC/players drafted total:

QB: 18/128 = 14.1%

RB: 42/223 = 18.8%

WR: 48/324 = 14.8%

TE: 17/147 = 11.6%

OL: 58/432 = 13.4%

DL: 90/450 = 20%

LB: 46/302 = 15.2%

CB: 47/310 = 15.2%

S: 30/192 = 15.6%

K: 3/21 = 14.3%

P: 2/22 = 9.09%

Top NFL Pipelines by School

http://www.profootballrosters.com/2012/08/13/top-nfl-pipelines-by-school/

The Florida Gators are tied with the Notre Dame Drunken Irish and others for #9 on the list of college football programs that are pipelines to the NFL.

19 Days to Gator Football – #19 Ike Hilliard (’94-’96)

Isaac Jason Hilliard, from Patterson, Louisiana, was one half of the greatest Gator receiver tandem, with the other half being Reidel Anthony. Ike played wideout under Steve Spurrier, where he was part of three SEC championship teams in 1994-1996. As a junior in 1996, he and Reidel both posted 1,000-yard seasons and were both named consensus 1st team All-Americans and All-SEC. His final year in Gainesville was his finest–his famous catch sealed the 52-20 win over Florida State in the 1997 Sugar Bowl, and he set three bowl records including his 150-yard total, an 82-yard reception, and 3 touchdowns. He finished his college career with 126 receptions for 2,214 yards and 29 touchdowns. After retiring from the NFL in 2008 due to neck injury, he was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Association as a Gator Great.

70 Days to Gator Football

Image via Wikipedia

70 – Cooper Carlisle, T (1995-99)

Cooper Morrison Carlisle of Greenville, Mississippi, was a tackle on Steve Spurrier‘s Florida Gators from 1995 to 1999. Although he was redshirted his freshman season in 1995, Carlisle did a great job protecting Danny Wuerffel’s blindside during the 1996 national championship season. He must have done something right, because Danny won Florida a national championship and a Heisman Trophy. He was team captain his senior season, and first team All-American. Cooper was on the SEC Academic Honor Roll all four years, and earned his bachelor’s degree in 1999 before heading off to the NFL.

Superman returns: grading Tebow’s 2nd start

Once again, I graded Tebow’s pass attempts in order to dis-spell the rumor that he is a one-trick pony. The statistics do not lie. Tim Tebow proved once again that he can make NFL throws. The critics will still knock his mechanics or cry that the Raiders and Texans are not quality opponents, but if one looks at the body of evidence young Mr. Tebow is showing that he does belong in the NFL. It is too early to anoint him the Holy One, but we can call him Superman again for pulling out a win with a less-than-stellar offense and a playbook that is still rather bland.

1. 1st and 10 at DEN 40 Tebow pass short left to K.Moreno to HST 38 for 22 yards (B.Cushing; T.Nolan). Nice opening pass play to test the weak Houston pass defense.

2. 1st and 10 at HOU 38 (Shotgun) Tebow pass short right to J.Gaffney to HST 17 for 21 yards (K.Jackson). FUMBLES (K.Jackson), recovered by DEN-R.Harris at HST 11. R.Harris to HST 11 for no gain (T.Nolan). Nice pass, bad ball handling by Gaffney. Houston’s defense is man-handling Denver already.

3. 1st and 10 at HOU 11 Tebow pass short right intended for B.Lloyd INTERCEPTED by J.Allen at HST 0. Touchback. Bad throw, but the first non-bubble screen toss. Denver’s OC needs to be fired. Worst throw of the game from Tebow.

4. 3rd and 7 at DEN 44 (Shotgun) Tebow pass short left to J.Gaffney to HST 45 for 11 yards (B.Pollard). Nice throw out of the shotgun.
[1st and 10 at HOU 45 (Shotgun) Tebow scrambles up the middle to HST 44 for 1 yard (B.Cushing; A.Smith).] Remember this play later in the game.

5. 3rd and 15 at 50 (Shotgun) Tebow pass short right to E.Royal to HST 41 for 9 yards (J.Allen). Nice pitch and catch.

6. 1st and 10 at DEN 22 Tebow pass deep right to B.Lloyd to DEN 41 for 19 yards (G.Quin). This was all Tebow. Great throw. This is what Tebow looks like when not tossing bubble screens.

7. 2nd and 10 at DEN 41 (Shotgun) Tebow pass incomplete short right to E.Royal [A.Smith]. Meh. Tired of screen passes already.
[3rd and 10 at DEN 41 (Shotgun) Tebow scrambles up the middle to DEN 42 for 1 yard (T.Jamison).]
1st QTR summary: Not much to see here other than screen passes, a piss-poor offensive line, and bad run support.

Tebow – C/ATT 5/7, 82 YDS, 11.7 AVG, 0 TD, 1 INT, 70.8 RAT, 2 CAR, 2 YDS, 1 Rush AVG

——————————————-

8. 1st and 10 at DEN 33 Tebow pass incomplete deep left to B.Lloyd. Smart throwaway against the onrush.

9. 3rd and 6 at DEN 37 (Shotgun) Tebow pass short left to E.Royal to 50 for 13 yards (G.Quin). This is about as good as one can run a screen.
[1st and 10 at 50 L.Ball FUMBLES (Aborted) at 50, and recovers at 50. L.Ball to HST 49 for 1 yard (B.Cushing; A.Okoye). Bobbled snap by Tebow and hasty handoff to Ball.]

10. 2nd and 9 at HOU 49 (Shotgun) Tebow pass short left to C.Buckhalter to HST 44 for 5 yards (J.Allen). Good rollout, good delivery on the run.

11. 3rd and 4 at HOU 44 (Shotgun) Tebow pass incomplete short right to E.Royal. So-so results in the face of a heavy blitz.

12. 3rd and 6 at DEN 13 (Shotgun) Tebow pass incomplete short left to J.Gaffney (J.Allen). DEN-J. Gaffney was injured during the play. Bad call by Tebow–left Gaffney out to dry. (Later in the game, Gaffney appears to forgive his QB for the set-up.)

2nd QTR summary: Not much to see here. Production dipped as the offense went to sleep and started bobbling the ball.

Tebow C/ATT 7/12, 100 YDS, 8.3 AVG, 0 TD, 1 INT, 50.7 RAT, 2 CAR, 2 YDS, 1 Rush

———–
13. 1st and 10 at DEN 35 Tebow pass deep middle to J.Gaffney to HST 15 for 50 yards (T.Nolan). Wow! That deep ball to Gaffney was awesome! It appears that Gaffney is alright after some halftime recovery.

14. 1st and 10 at DEN 20 Tebow pass deep left to B.Lloyd to DEN 38 for 18 yards (B.Pollard). Very nice drill to Lloyd while taking a shot in the back. This is what you do against a blitz–stand tall and fire away!

15. 1st and 10 at DEN 38 Tebow pass deep left to B.Lloyd to HST 21 for 41 yards (J.Allen). Holy cow! Jump ball to Lloyd. Poorly thrown with a long wind-up, but still caught at its highest point by Lloyd. Should be marked down, but one cannot argue with the result.

16. 1st and 10 at HOU 11 (Shotgun) Tebow pass incomplete short left to B.Lloyd. Overshoots Lloyd. Good call to throw it away, I guess.

17. 3rd and 8 at HOU 9 (Shotgun) Tebow pass incomplete short right to E. Royal. Right decision to throw to Eddie Royal, but overthrown. Bad.

18. 1st and 10 at DEN 26 (Shotgun) Tebow pass short right to L.Ball to DEN 39 for 13 yards (G.Quin). Yay. Another screen pass. Meh.

19. 1st and 10 at DEN 39 Tebow pass incomplete short left to B.Lloyd. Threw it away carelessly with pressure in his face. Almost intercepted.

3rd QTR summary: Tebow adds 122 yards in this quarter alone and shows off his long-bomb arm while trusting the receivers to make the jump ball catches. He shows that he can do well when standing tall in the pocket, but he also falters as a rookie does against an all-out blitz.

Tebow 11/19 C/ATT, 222 YDS, 11.7 AVG, 0 TD, 1 INT, 77.1 RAT, 2 CAR, 2 YDS, 1 Rush

——-
20. 2nd and 9 at HOU 49 Tebow pass incomplete deep left to J.Gaffney. Short-hopped. Bad throw. Gaffney was wide open.

21. 3rd and 9 at HOU 49 (Shotgun) Tebow pass deep right to B.Lloyd to HST 31 for 18 yards (B.Pollard). On the money! 18-yard gain after side-stepping and firing a bullet.
[2nd and 3 at HOU 24 (Shotgun) Tebow right guard to HST 19 for 5 yards (T.Jamison).] Classic Tebow run up the gut.
[1st and 10 at HOU 19 Tebow FUMBLES (Aborted) at HST 19, and recovers at HST 20. Tebow to HST 20 for no gain (M.Anderson).] And here is why the Broncos are 3-11.
[2nd and 11 at HOU 20 (Shotgun) Tebow sacked at HST 23 for -3 yards (T.Jamison).] Can we get someone to block that guy?

22. 3rd and 14 at HOU 23 (Shotgun) Tebow pass short left to C.Buckhalter for 23 yards, TOUCHDOWN. Good screen after a nice fake. Touchdown!

23. 1st and 10 at DEN 46 Tebow pass incomplete short left to J. Gaffney. Incomplete as Timmy as getting chased.

24. 3rd and 10 at DEN 24 (Shotgun) Tebow pass short right to C.Buckhalter to DEN 46 for 22 yards (G.Quin). Nice 22-yd gain by Buckhalter. Soft 2-deep coverage, Tebow drills it to the check-down receiver coming out of the backfield.

25. 1st and 10 at DEN 46 Tebow pass incomplete short left to J.Gaffney. Mis-fire at Gaffney. Announcer puts this on the receiver, Jabar Gaffney.

26. 2nd and 10 at DEN 46 Tebow pass short left to B.Lloyd to HST 39 for 15 yards (Z.Diles; J.Allen). Tebow off his back foot to Lloyd while evading the rush. Nice Tebow-esque play. McShay, Kiper, and Cowherd will hate this play, but it did gain 15 yards.

27. 1st and 10 at HOU 39 Tebow pass short left to J.Gaffney to HST 31 for 8 yards (G.Quin). Hit Gaffney in stride and the former Gator makes a one-handed catch.
[1st and 10 at HOU 27 (Shotgun) Tebow scrambles left end pushed ob at HST 16 for 11 yards (B.Pollard).] Tebow is learning when to shuffle out of bounds and when to take a defender head-on.
1st and 10 at HOU 16 (Shotgun) Tebow up the middle to HST 10 for 6 yards (B.Pollard). Nice 1st down run, out of bounds to freeze the clock.

28. 2nd and 4 at HOU 10 (Shotgun) Tebow pass incomplete short left to E.Royal. Throws out of bounds as receivers are covered.
3rd and 4 at HOU 10 (Shotgun) Tebow pass incomplete short left to E.Royal. PENALTY on HST-G.Quin, Defensive Pass Interference, 9 yards, enforced at HST 10 – No Play. Bad throw against the blitz, but negated by penalty.

29. 1st and 6 at HOU 6 (Shotgun) Tebow pass incomplete short left to E.Royal. Pass to Royal too high. It appears that the OC has given Tebow a license to kill as long as the play is open.
[2nd and 6 at HOU 6 (Shotgun) Tebow left end for 6 yards, TOUCHDOWN. Obvious QB draw after run-fake to the right. Touchdown Tebow!]

4th QTR summary: The Broncos have serious issues in the Red Zone. Tebow makes the best of the bad RZ play-calling by running it himself. Classic case of Tebow willing the team to win despite a bad playbook, bad offensive line, and limited receivers.

Tebow 16/29 C/ATT, 308 YDS, 10.6 AVG, 1 TD, 1 INT, 89.4 RAT, 10 CAR, 27 YDS, 2.7 AVG, 1 TD, Long 11 YDS Long

Overall game summary: Nice come-from-behind victory. Tim Tebow was not perfect, but he willed the team to a win. The screen plays are here to stay and Tebow executes them well, but his deep-ball outside the Red Zone is very good. In the Red Zone, these receivers really need a running game for support. Timmy did well in the pocket or under shotgun, but he showed that he can win games if you let him be himself. He still needs to work on play action fakes. Haters will point out that he could not elude linebackers like Brian Cushing, but only Jamison succeeded in sacking Tebow despite a very heavy rush and blitz all day long.

Grading out the Champion:
The following passes get an A: 1 (22-yard gain on screen play), 2 (21-yarder to Gaffney), 4 (11-yarder to Gaffney), 5 (9-yarder to Royal), 6 (19-yarder to Lloyd, not a screen pass!), 9 (13-yard screen to Royal), 10 (Wow, 5-yard rollout toss to Buckhalter!), 13 (best pass of the game, 5- yards to Gaffney), 14 (2nd best pass of the game…standing tall against the blitz for 18 to Lloyd), 21 (Zing! 18 yard rocket to Lloyd after side-stepping the rush), 23 (Touchdown after a nice fake), 24 (22 yard bullet to outlet receiver coming out of the backfield to Buckhalter…good reads by Tebow, good scamper by Buckhalter), 26 (the experts will grade this a D, but one cannot argue with the result, 15 yards to Lloyd), 27 (hits Gaffney in stride for 8 yards)

The following passes get a B: 15 (best highlight reel pass, but it was a jump ball for 41 yards that Lloyd bailed out Tebow on), 18 (13-yard screen to Ball)

The following passes get a C: 7 (incomplete screen pass), 8 (throw-away), 11 (meh…blitzed), 16 (throw-away), 17 (throw-away), 25 (incomplete deep pass where the receiver shadowed too deep), 28 (throw-away), 29 (throw-away)

The following passes get a D: 3 (INT in the endzone), 12 (Way to set up your receiver to get injured…Gaffney recovers during halftime), 19 (careless throw-away to Lloyd could have been intercepted), 20 (missed wide open Gaffney)

4*14 + 3*2 + 2*8+ 1*4 = 2.72 GPA. Slightly lower than my GPA from the last game, but this time he wins the game! Rookie mistakes? Yes. Professional quality passes? Definitely. Can we call him Superman? I think so. Go Gators! Go Tebow!

Related Articles

• Tebow’s late TD run caps comeback over Texans (cbssports.com)
• Texans fall to Broncos as Tebow leads second-half rally (chron.com)

Tim Tebow: Grading out as a champion in his first start?

Tim Tebow's famous Heisman pose through the years

Tim Tebow grades out as a champion by making the NFL record books in his first NFL start for the 3-10 Denver Broncos. Little Timmy failed to win in his debut, but he showed flashes of brilliance by making 8 completions in 16 attempts for 138 yards and 1 TD passing and 8 attempts for 78 yards and 1 TD rushing. His 100.5 passer rating far exceeded the debut passer rating for the other NFL rookies drafted this year. Let us not get ahead of ourselves and anoint Timothy Richard Tebow as the Holy One of NFL quarterbacks, but we should be excited for Timmy. Tebow was only the third player to pass for a 30-yard touchdown and run for a 40-yard touchdown in the same game, and was the first rookie to do so.

How good was his performance? Were the Raiders that bad, or was Timmy that good? Let’s take a look at his passing, one attempt at a time. Bad mechanics aside, I grade Timmy’s passing as average with tremendous upside. Timmy’s first two passes were definitely bad. Bad, bad, bad. As he tossed the ball a bit more, his passes definitely got a lot better–downright stellar at times. Nobody is going to accuse Timmy of being a prototypical passer, but he showed me that with mechanics just as bad as Steve Young or Michael Vick he can still perform well.

Pass 1: Facing 3rd and 5 on his own 31, we all knew Timmy was going to have to come out throwing. With a max protection formation, he tossed it wide right of Brandon Lloyd for an incompletion. Yuck.

Pass 2: Out of the offset-I facing 2nd and 9 on the 32, the OC called a bubble play. Timmy does not sell the play-action fake well, and the Raiders swallow the bubble quickly. Thank goodness Royal dropped the ugly pass–it would have been caught for a loss. Yuck again, with some blame on the crappy play call and no freedom to audible.

Pass 3: It is now 3rd and 9, so we all expect a go route. What we get is a throw-away as the Raiders blitz the rookie. Yuck, but it was smart to throw the ball away rather than eat a sack. It would have been nice to have the ability to audible against the obvious blitz.

Pass 4: Facing 1st and 25 due to penalty, Timmy was in a hurry. Big mistake. The Raiders knew better than to blitz with 1st and 25–Timmy was just nervous. Bad incompletion. Bad, bad, bad.

Pass 5: 2nd and 11, still 1st quarter. Timmy has already scored on a 40-yard run, which probably built up some confidence. Are you paying attention, Broncos coaches? Let him do what he does in order to build up confidence! Timmy drops a 33-yard TD pass into Brandon Lloyd’s breadbasket (after the ball slipped through a defender’s mitts). Awesome! Nice touch.

Pass 6: Once again Timmy faces 2nd and 11. Finally Tebow gets to line up in the shotgun and he gets a 17-yard strike to the running back Cory Buckhalter after looking the deep safety off. Great touch pass for a 1st down. Very nice!

Pass 7: 3rd and 6, with Denver leading. Timmy fails to use proper mechanics and tosses an ugly ball without properly setting up the footwork. Incomplete. Yuck again. I am impressed he could get the ball that far downfield using all arm and no leg. The good thing about this play is that he did go through several reads before throwing the long bomb.

Pass 8: Facing 1st and 10 out of the flexbone, Timmy throws a 22-yard strike to Lloyd and the RB Lance Ball does what he needs to do to slow down the rushing Raider defenders. Awesome! For one whole play, the entire offense is playing like a real football team!

Pass 9: Wow. 2nd and 11. Again. This is the one passing play that Tebow should be judged by. He lines up under center, fakes to Buckhalter, drops back five steps, scans the field, and fires a 20-yard laser to…guess who….Brandon Lloyd. With the fake, the drop-back, standing in the pocket, and stepping into the throw Tim Tebow looked every bit like a professional quarterback! Very nice!

Pass 10: This would have been the best play of the day if it were not for numbnuts Lance Ball dropping the ball. Timmy makes a nice fake to Buckhalter, looks off the defenders, and fires a laser into Ball’s breadbasket in the end zone for a….dropped, would-be touchdown. Timmy still gets props for doing what he can with crappy receivers. Woulda been, coulda been nice.

Pass 11: In a 2nd and 10, Timmy ran an anti-blitz, short toss to RB Richard Quinn. The Cowherds and McShays of the world would not like this play, because it looked too much like a Florida Gator play and not a “real NFL play”. End result: 1st down. Very nice.

Pass 12: Facing 3rd and 6 in an obvious blitzing situation, Timmy once again had to run a screen. Crappy play call by the OC. Incomplete pass. It’s a good thing the ball fell incomplete, because this would have been another screen for a loss. Note to Broncos coaches: stop ****ing stealing Addazio’s bubble screen plays! They suck!

Pass 13: Holy crap this was a nice looking play. Facing 2nd and 9 on their own 25 and behind by two scores, the Broncos needed some momentum and that is what they got! Facing a 2-high defense, Timmy fakes the handoff to Lance “Brickhands” Ball and fires off a 32-yard strike to fellow, former Gator Jabar Gaffney. 1st down, Gators Broncos. Note to Broncos coaches: make Ball the permanent faker and don’t throw the ball to him. Tebow stood in the pocket and made a few progressions before firing the strike.

Pass 14: At this point of the game, the Raiders had double-covered the receivers and Timmy had little chance to move the chains. He had no choice but to throw the ball away.

Pass 15: I don’t know how Timmy was able to complete this pass to Lloyd after locking onto him, but he fired an accurate laser into his primary receiver’s gut for 6 yards. There was not much else he could have done. It would have been nice to see Timmy gamble a bit and go deep, but it looked to me that the Broncos coaches put the kid gloves on Timmy and just sent in the short passing plays. Bad play, good throw.

Final pass: Timmy knew it was near the end of the game. Facing 2nd down and 5 on his own 35, Timmy wanted to go deep against the Raider prevent defense. With all the go routes covered, Timmy reluctantly throws to the short, outlet receiver Daniel Graham coming out of the backfield. Sure, it was catchable, but it would have been a null gain. Bad throw, bad call, bad offensive planning by the Broncos.

Summary: Timothy Richard Tebow grades out a champion. Based on one datapoint, he has shown that he can lead an offense, bounce linebackers and safeties, stiff-arm defenders, take a sack, toss a touchdown, run a touchdown, overcome shoddy mechanics, and motivate players. What did he not do? Well, he failed to win the game, sell his play fakes (on most occasions), and stop locking onto his primary receiver. His debut QB performance was amongst the top debuts all-time.

I am no NFL expert, but I foresee great things from young Mr. Tebow in the future. I try not to be a Tebow fanboy or a Florida homer, but I would rather be accused of being either if it means cheering on a bright young man with a bright future ahead of him. Keep proving them wrong, Timmy. Go Gators!

EDIT:

I should have summarized the technical points a little better.
The following passes I would give an A or A+ to: 5 ( 33-yd TD), 6 (17-yd to Buckhalter), 8 (22-yd laser to Lloyd against a blitz), 9(PLAY OF THE DAY, 20-yd laser to Lloyd after nice play action fake), 10 (would have been a TD if Ball did not drop the ball…good look-off, good reads), 11 (looked like a Gator play, a short toss to Quinn…this one gets a D from McShay and Cowherd), 13 (holy crap this pass to Gaffney looked pretty…32-yd Gator to Gator strike), 15 (McShay, Cowherd, Kiper, and Holtz would all call me crazy for giving this one an A, but only Timmy can stare down his receiver and still hit him with a laser in double-coverage in a Prevent Defense…this is Timmy trying to “pull an Elway” and will his team to win)
The following passes I would give a B to: 3 (throw-away rather than take a sack),
The following passes I would give a C to: 7 (long bomb incompletion after several progressions), 12 (screen play, would have been a loss if completed…bad OC call, or I am being too protective of Tebow…who cares–it’s my article), 14 (threw the ball away, no play against the Prevent Defense this late in the game), 16 (last pass of the game…ugly…rookie mistake that only resulted in an incompletion…I should mark this as a D, but Tebow had no leverage to do anything else)
The following passes I would give a D to: 1 & 2 (bubble screens, play swallowed by the Raider front EIGHT…bad call from the OC, nervous throws from the rookie), 4 (hurried pass on 1st and 25…pass too wobbly to intercept)

8*4 + 1*3 + 4*2 + 3*1 = 2.875 GPA, or a C+. That is me trying to be harsh using statistics against him. When I watched the game, I gave him a B+ because I could see at TV game speed that he did the best he could with what was given to him. I want to mark up his first two throws to Cs, since they were his first professional throws in a professional start with bad plays. That would put him at an even 3.0 GPA, or a B.

Related Articles

• Tim Tebow: What Did the Denver Broncos QB Prove Against the Oakland Raiders (bleacherreport.com)
• Tim Tebow: Grading Each Drive by the Denver Broncos Rookie Quarterback (bleacherreport.com)

Quick comparison of recent Gator quarterbacks

I saw a discussion on a forum about Johnny Brantley and how he stacks up against other recent Gator QBs. Brantley has been described as a classic, NFL-style QB. He even broke Tim Tebow‘s high school record for passing yardage. I think Brantley will do fine in year 1 of the post-Tebow era as long as he has an offensive line to protect him. Brantley has trained behind good O-lines and has not had to scramble or rush a lot, so nobody is certain how he will do behind a bad line. Rather than compare Brantley to Tebow, I would rather compare him to Chris Leak even though they are not that similar at all. Brantley is about as athletic as Leak, has better defensive reads, better accuracy, and better mechanics. Other than that, there simply is not enough information to assess Brantley as successor to Tebow. As the next season progresses we will see how this plays out.

Cam Newton (2007 HS)

Code:

Height: 6-5.5Weight: 22540-Yard Dash: 4.75Short Shuttle: 4.44Vertical Jump: 35.0"Pos Rank: 14

Tim Tebow (2006 HS)

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Height: 6-2.5Weight: 21840-Yard Dash: 4.71Short Shuttle: 4.56Vertical Jump: 32.5"Pos Rank: 3Areas for Improvement: mechanics

John Brantley (2007 HS)

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Ht:6'3"Wt:190 lbs40:4.64 Shuttle:4.41Vertical:29 inchesAreas for Improvement: mobility

Chris Leak (2007 NFL Combine)

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Height: 5'11"Weight: 21040: 4.66 Vertical jump: 31 inches 4.24 20-yard shuttle8/12 Wonderlic scoreAreas for Improvement: size, strength

Walt Kilar, Cubicle Engineer