Report: Tebow Scores 22 on Wonderlic

Now his intelligence is being questioned.

The Palm Beach Post is reporting that former Florida Gator legend Tim Tebow scored a mere 22 on his Wonderlic test. The average score for QBs is cited as 24. Just for comparison, Sam Bradford scored a 36, Colt McCoy scored a 25 and Jimmy Clausen scored a 23.

One thing to keep in mind about the Wonderlic. It is not a "tell-all" indicator of a person's actual intelligence. It's a test of general intelligence and none of the questions on the test are football related. That has been a widely criticized aspect of the test. There are also different types of tests and the one the NFL uses is a personnel test. The same one you or I may have taken in a pre-screening process in order to obtain employment.

Some prominent players have scored low and are in the Hall of Fame. It's said that Terry Bradshaw scored a 15 and Dan Marino got a 14. It works the other way, too. There are QBs that have scored high and have not fared well in the NFL. Alex Smith got a 40. David Klingler (remember him Bengals fans?)scored a 30. How have those draft picks worked out?

I've knocked Tebow ever since he announced his intentions as pursuing an NFL career as a QB. I've never thought he was mechanically sound enough to be one. Many in NFL circles have publicly stated the same. That in itself have given NFL scouts enough reason to be highly skeptical of Tebow's prospects.

This leakage of his score has led to threads being started on message boards going so far as to proclaim Tebow as an idiot. That's where the line has been crossed. To dissect his throwing motion is an essential part of evaluation process. To watch film of his days at Florida are also instrumental. The Wonderlic proves not a thing about Tim Tebow.

Something else just hit me. Why isn't anyone saying anything about Clausen's score? He only scored 1 point higher and it's below the QB average, too.

Tebow's troubles at Senior Bowl practice

There's only a couple of football names that can steal the headline from Super Bowl XLIV.

One is Brett Favre, naturally. The immense speculation of yet another possible Favre retirement has most on "Favre Watch". On that front. Vikes head coach Brad Childress has said there's no timetable for a Favre decision. Here we go again!

The other, is Mr. NCAA Football, Tim Tebow (left). There are reports of his demise and they are not exaggerated.

I'll cut him a bit of a break. He has only had two days with the Miami Dolphins staff, but the news isn't good for the one that many perceive as college football's greatest player ever.

I'll put football aside here for just a bit. Tebow was asked of his upcoming ad that will air during the Super Bowl. It is reportedly an anti-abortion ad that has attracted much attention. To Tebow's credit, he finds a ground and/or cause and firmly stands behind it. He provides no excuses for his beliefs. He shouldn't. We all may not all agree with his stances, but he nevers wavers from them. That is an admirable quality that NFL scouts won't lose sight of.

I thought the question was insightful only because it further revealed the one thing scouts in Mobile (site of the Senior Bowl) always rave about, the intangibles. Tebow is loaded with them. Leadership, heart, intensity, tenacity. He does lack in this area one bit. He's off the charts here.

Now, on to the football side of things, I knew this week would be tough. Tebow has been adamant that he wants to play quarterback in the NFL. It's his dream. And he wants to pursue that. He needs to clean up a few things.

1. It's a new scheme. It's nothing like the zone read concept he was in at Florida. He needs to key on more than one player. He has the whole field to read now. The most recent QB I can think of that had problems adapting and has had some NFL success is Titans QB Vince Young. Young ran a similar offense at Texas, but Young had to account for only half of the field. It proved very successful in college, but when VY made the jump, he struggled. Young didn't have a Senior Bowl in order to speed his maturity as he came out after his junior year. Young is still developing, too.

2. Tebow is now under center. Again, it goes into the scheme, but when was the last time he took a snap under center? He botched some snaps yesterday and ball security is heavily emphisized in the NFL. Just ask the Minnesota Vikings about that.

3. He has an elongated throwing motion. This influences so many things, but more paticularly Tebow's accuracy and release time.



As I watch video, I see Tebow taking the ball below his waist line and winding up just like some baseball pitchers do. Think of another baseball analogy of swinging at the ball. If you decide to take a big hack at a pitch, the odds are that you will miss. Batters are told to shorten their swings in order to make contact especailly when they have two strikes on them. They have a better chance of making contact.

Shortening his motion should increase his accuracy and decrease his release time. Decreasing the release time will also increase his ability to read defenses. The issue from there would be the velocity and if Tebow could maintain that witrh a shorter motion.

4. Tebow's footwork is not ideal. He must take those 3, 5, 7-step drops and show the skill to firmly plant his back foot, stick it into the turf and make a throw. Reps, reps and more reps are all he needs here.

5. Can Tebow develop a sense of timing and rhythm in the passing game? This is the most critcal. Once Tebow has adjusted his mechanics (and they need to be), how much time will pass before that timing and tempo begin to show? He was a bit better with this on the second day of practice.

Any team that drafts Tim Tebow will know that he is a project as far as being an NFL quarterback. A good quarterbacks coach will be crucial to Tebow's development. Or you could have a Hall of fame quarterback that advocates your selection such as Buffalo Bills great Jim Kelly and be willing to help.

I think Jim Kelly knows what it takes to play in the NFL.

Is Tim Tebow Heisman Worthy?

It’s a question that needs to be explored. The ever growing hype machine has Tebow as the Heisman favorite. But how? I, for one, am not buying it. To understand my opinion (and we all know about opinions), we must first look into the trophy itself.

If you go to the website for the Heisman, the trophy is presented to “the Most Outstanding College Football Player in the United States.” Tebow is a former winner, but the season he had when he won, was phenomenal to say the least.

Now that we know whom should win the trophy, we must now look at the statistical realm.

Here are Tebow’s stats from his sophomore year when he won.
Passing: 234 for 350, 66.9%, 3,286 yds., 32 TD, 6 INT, 172.47 QB rating
Rushing: 210 rush, 895 yds., 23 TD

That’s impressive. And a deserving season. He was the best player in the United States that year. Let’s fast forward to this season. He are Tebow’s 2009 stats:
Passing: 145 for 223, 65.0%, 1,945 yds., 14 TD, 4 INT, 155.42 QB rating
Rushing:  178 rush, 706 yds., 11 TD

Tebow does have two games remaining (Florida State and SEC Championship v. Alabama). The stats from his bowl game will not be included as the presentation will have already taken place.

But I have two other quarterbacks that have comparable, if not, better numbers. These stats and the QBs are legit college players. They are not fabricated.

Exhibit A: (10 games played)
Passing: 154 for 264, 58.3%, 1,865 yds., 14 TD, 4 TD, 132.14 QB rating
Rushing: 105 rush, 619 yds., 12 TD
Exhibit B: (11 games played)
Passing: 230 for 321, 71.7%, 2,533 yds., 22 TD, 5 INT, 157.44 QB rating
Rushing: 151 rush, 626 yds., 14 TD

If you compare Tebow’s stats to Exhibit A, there are pretty much the same. The two main differences are completion percentage and QB rating, and those two stats go hand-in-hand.

But, compare Tebow’s ‘09 campaign to Exhibit B. Tebow is below Exhibit B in passing yards, completion percentage,  passing TD, QB rating, and rushing TD. Granted our player in Exhibit B has more pass attempts and completions and that could transfer to more yards and passing TD. You cannot deny the rushing comparison. Exhibit B has less rushes, less rushing yards, but more rushing TD.

In other words, the stats from Exhibit B are better than Tebow’s overall. He’s accounted for more total TD (36 to 25). I say that’s another reason for selecting Exhibit B over Exhibit A and Tebow.

Can Kiffin sing and cash checks?

I've been wondering about a couple of things. Is it possible that Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin is getting his vocal chords warmed up? And if said vocal chords do get warmed up, does he even know all the words to "Rocky Top"? The answer to both question may be "no" because Kiffin should be getting ready for the drubbing of his coaching career.

And he will have earned that drubbing.

Kiffin announced his arrival and brashness upon his being hired by Tennessee when he made an extreme error in judgement. We've all seen the video. (If you haven't, click here to watch it.) Last December, Tennessee is holding a news conference announcing that Kiffin is the new guy in Knoxville. During his "speech", Kiffin stated that it would be a blast singing "Rocky Top" all night long after they beat Florida...this year! Needless to say, that comment raised some eyebrows in Gainsville.

But Kiffin didn't stop there. He even took the opportunity to make a verbal swipe at Florida's Urban Meyer. Kiffin accused the head Gator of breaking NCAA recruiting rules. After review, Kiffin was in the wrong and he later issued an apology to Meyer. The SEC has something to do with that because Kiffin also received a reprimand for his actions.

Kiffin's main issue should be the location of this Saturday's game. At 3:30 PM, the Volunteers will be in The Swamp. Any road game in the SEC is a tough game, but Kiffin placed his team in the crosshairs by the statements he's made. And he has to live with the results.

Since Meyer has come to Florida, the Gators have reeled off four straight wins in this rivalry. Here are the scores during that four year span.
2005: 16-7 (at FLA)
2006: 21-20
2007: 59-20 (at FLA)
2008: 30-6
Total: 126-53
With the exception of 2006, the Vols have been within a touchdown only once. I look at the last two games because Tim Tebow was the Florida starting quarterback in those games and the combined final score: 89-26. Ouch. You know Tebow will keep those comments in mind. Like the guy needs any more motivation.

And 40 is the magic number. Since 2001, Florida is 40-0 when scoring 40 or more points. Almost scary all those 40's. You know that if Meyer has the oppotunity to run up the score, he will. And I can't say I blame him. He will have just cashed in on a chance to throughly beat a conference rival. That's all.

Kiffin? Will he be able to cash the check he wrote?

Doubt it. That bank wasn't covered in the bailout.

Does Tebow really need to campaign for Heisman?

The college football season starts today. And with it are bold predictions (Lou Holtz suggesting that Notre Dame will win the National Championship for one) and expectations. The obvious question: Will Tim Tebow win the Heisman Trophy?

The Heisman Trophy: college football's most coveted singular award. What I find almost irritating is the fact that some schools actually campaign for their "candidate" to win. Schools sending out "information" to voters about their "candidate", er, I mean player. Along with launching a campaign comes spending money on that campaign. There's politics involved in this on some level. Funny how the election of a Heisman winner has become so eerily similar to electing our nation's President.

Will Tebow win it? I ask you a better question: Does Tebow actually need a "campaign" in order to win it?

No way. He already has a free, organized Heisman campaign: the media.

Every week (if not every day) of the upcoming season, there will be a "Tim Tebow for Heisman" watch rather it's called that or not. All we will need to do is watch any sports network and there will be Florida Gator highlights with Tebow front and center. If we miss that, I'm sure we could get our fix via You Tube. The national media has Tebow so far hyped that those in Gainesville need not spend a single cent to garner votes for their guy. Even during the past offseason, every time college football was mentioned, so was Tebow.

I'm not suggesting that Tebow doesn't deserve the coverage. I'm not hating on Tebow and his obvious and immense talents he possesses as a football player. What I am suggesting is that Florida can issue the money they would've spent on Tebow's Heisman "junk" and redirect it to the school's general scholarship fund.

That would be money well spent.