Running bowl thread

Because the people who are supposed to know this stuff inside-out, whose careers depend on these things, took Jamarcus Russell No. 1, Ryan Leaf No. 2 and Tom Brady No. 199.

In other words . . . nobody really has a freaking clue what Tebow will do in the NFL. Hence, there will ALWAYS be debate.

 

Sounded like it was coming from the back of the room, where the boosters hang out.

 

Arm strength isn't all its cracked up to be. Coaches look at a lot of other factors, athleticsm, smarts, being a leader, ability to avoid tunovers before they look at arm strength. Of course you need a certain ability, but in today's NFL, smarts is more desireable than a big gun.

 

I think Tebow will be to draft prognosticators what snow is to weathermen. Hype it, talk about the chances of him being a high draft pick even when you know it probably won't happen. It will keep people tuned in. You can't afford for Tebow to be a bust. A third round surprise like Montana? Sure. But the draft is about minimizing your risk.

 

The above was a scouting report on Tom Brady.

 

There is no way the Jaguars take Tebow in the first round to sell tickets. If he could start at QB and be a quality player, this theory would hold water.

His mechanics are terrible and have not changed since his freshman year. He drops the ball down ball below his hip when he throws. The NFL speed will read his throws with ease.

The other myth about Tebow is that he will play TE. There is no way he plays TE. He is too slow and doesn't appear to have the hips to run routes.

A great college player whose legend is way overblown. He won one title and one Heisman as a starter. He was 35-6. Matt Leinart went 37-2, won a Heisman and a share of two titles as a starter and his career wasn't as celebrated as Tebow.

Last night there was a picture of Tebow and Meyer together and Brennahan said it would be hard to imagine college football without those two guys. Give me a break. Players and coaches come and go and Meyer is hardly iconic.

 

Another guy who's skills were effective in the colleges but won't be in the pros -- much like the vast majority of QB Heisman winners. Want some Gino with that?

 

Without swimming through 39 pages; A couple observations from yesterday.

In Bobby Bowden's press conference, I thought at one point, he was going to lean over to his wife and do one of two things.

1. Bend her over the table, give her the Seminole Screwing for a couple of minutes to the delight of photogs everywhere, or
2. Scream to her "DAD-GUMMIT WOMAN....I'LL BE DONE HERE IN 10 MINUTES. GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!"

Someone mentioned it earlier on this page, but the dumping of Gatorade on Meyer had disaster written all over it. I was only slightly upset that FSU didn't dump Gatorade on Bobby nor Penn State with Pa.

How is it that the two best bowls we've seen so far, are ones that no one saw? The Humanitarian on Wednesday that was at 330 in the afternoon, or the Outback that was on at 10AM, on New Years Day. I wish Fitzgerald would have went for the tie. Then, we could have seen a qb throw it 90-100 times in a game. Threw it 78 anyway.

The Capital One Bowl was a travisty. Neither team has offense for shit. They must not have heard of tarps in Orlando.

 

Gilbert Arenas thinks these dudes are amateurs.

 

Can we stop with the nonsense that "no one has a clue" about player evaluation and that the draft is a "crapshoot"? We endure this trope when it comes to college recruiting, now we're trotting out every exception to the rule for the NFL Draft, as well.

Player evaluation is an inexact science by nature, and the scouts and personnel people - just like college coaches when it comes to recruiting - do a damned fine job of it considering how difficult projecting can be. Of course they make mistakes. It's sports, and that's the nature of it.

Look at it this way. We have a difficult time predicting the score of any individual baseball game throughout the season. But we are pretty damned sure that, in the end, the Yankees will end up with a better record than the Royals. This is similar. It's not a "crapshoot." GM's aren't "clueless." I'd love to go back and examine drafts from the '50's to now to see how much more efficient they are at predicting NFL performance with the level of sophistication that scouting has reached.

P.S. I wouldn't say "no one saw" the Outback Bowl (response to a subsequent post). I watched every delightful minute of it. I was disappointed more people weren't on here during the game. Reminded me of an old Holiday Bowl.

 

For all the angst & general hand wringing about the bowl system, that was a pretty entertaining group of New Years Day games. Sugar Bowl stunk...but those games have happened since bowl games have existed (and would happen in a play-off). Nice farewells to Bowden & Tebow, Big Te-leven saved some face, even a good, old-fashioned mud game. The sort of day that reminds me why I love college football.