Gruden Grills the QB's

I couldn't wait to see "Gruden's QB Camp" on ESPN this evening. He critiqued Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, Jimmy Clausen and Tim Tebow on their play this past season, and for Bradford, he had to go back to 2008 to get a look at what he used to do.
Gruden's office is just down the road from my house here on the edge of Tampa, Florida. He is in his element giving each of these great college football players "the business", like Eddie Haskell used to do on "Leave It To Beaver", back in the old days. It is just this kind of good old-fashioned ribbing that could wear on veteran players after a while.
There is no doubt that with all the time he spends behind those closed blinds in that unmarked office building, he really pulls a lot out of the film. I will be honest, this was a very risky proposition for these quarterbacks and I'm not sure I would have exposed my player to this national television show before the draft. I don't think any of them did poorly in their interviews, but didn't think Colt McCoy's accent has anything to do with his future success.
I was glad to see Gruden make a strong point about footwork and not allowing yourself to be lazy. Good, quick and properly placed footwork has much to do with the success of quarterback at every level.
As I have said many times though, there wasn't much mechanics and technique training discussed. Even for the one-of-a-kind delivery of Tim Tebow, basically it was Tebow saying he isn't changing much, but is going to carry it a bit higher. I'm not sure who has told him to keep his balance 80-20 on his legs while waiting for the snap. The truth is that the balance should be basically 50-50 all the way through drop and delivery. The time that it changes is as you are releasing the ball, the back leg pushes all of its balance into the front knee and leg until all 100% goes into the front leg. Tebow still doesn't understand what a good throwing motion is supposed to look like and that is obvious throughout the video. He never extends his arm out to the target. He is always held back with a bent wrist and elbow and will not throw with the power and spin that he should be able to generate.
I also watched Todd McShay and Mel Kiper, Jr. continue to disagree about Jimmy Clausen's value in this draft. I am with McShay on this and will continue to say that he will not develop into a top pro. McShay has Clausen at #38 on his board, a second round pick, while Kiper has him as the #4 guy on the whole board and above Sam Bradford. Kiper is wrong on both counts--big time.
Nothing has been written about Clausen's throwing motion, and ESPN The Magazine even went so far as to put him on the cover with a story about how great his delivery is. It couldn't be further from the truth. He has a very awkward delivery that will also break down, like Tebow's, at the next level. You can quote me on it.
Overall, I enjoyed the Gruden QB Camp, but would have liked to see him get on the field with all four guys and let them rip it!

Gurus Quite Amusing

Colt McCoy's arm strength and size were question marks for Mel Kiper Jr., draft guru for ESPN, throughout his senior season, but now the aforementioned guru has had a chance to reassess both and now McCoy is at a higher on his draft prediction board.
Did McCoy grow from the first week of January until the last week of March? Or did good reviews from his individual workout last week change the rating?
The fact is, McCoy was good enough and big enough before last week and it goes to show how ridiculous most of these evaluators are with personal workouts on air. Colt McCoy has four years of game film to evaluate, but his size was an issue and now it is not, because he has had more time to evaluate his size? Come on Mel, you aren't kidding us.

2010 Draft Class: Weak

When the best QB prospect in the NFL draft only played a handful of plays during his junior year and is coming off an injury to his throwing shoulder, you know there is trouble brewing for the entire class.
That is the state of the potential quarterbacks for the April draft that are currently preparing to show their stuff at the annual combine coming up soon.
Mel Kiper, Jr. and Todd McShay, ESPN's resident draft gurus slate Sam Bradford as the top pick at the most important position in sports, followed by either Jimmy Clausen or Colt McCoy, with Tim Tebow finishing #5 on both boards.
Compared with recent years, this seems to be one of the weakest QB classes in some time. None of the top names will sell any more season tickets for their teams, but they may land on decent football teams, since they probably won't go near the top, even though there are plenty of teams in need of a long-term signal caller.
I too would put Sam Bradford at the top of the board, if his shoulder is deemed sound. I've always liked Colt McCoy as a player, but the injury in the BCS Title Game was a little scary and mysterious. He says he is just about ready to throw at the combine, but will leave that up to his advisors.
I have written in this column before that I don't have a good feeling about Jimmy Clausen's mechanics and I just don't see him endearing himself to an NFL team or town.
Obviously Tim Tebow is the crowd favorite, but I agree with the masses, that his "unique" mechanics will not allow him to be successful as an every down QB at the top level. He is working with a couple coaches to "fix" his throwing motion, but I doubt we will see a difference at the combine or in mini-camps with whatever team takes the chance on him.

BCS Title Game: A QB Story

It was supposed to be Colt McCoy's swan song, like his friend Tim Tebow, two of college's most heralded quarterbacks of all time. Tebow's Gators didn't make it into the championship game like they had planned at the season's outset, but in his career finale, he left the Sugar Bowl with the best personal stats of his career and a huge blowout win. The game had even more build-up and emotion because of Urban Meyer's recent announcements.
Colt McCoy entered the BCS Title Game as the winningest QB in college football history, starting since his freshman year. But only moments into the game, he took a hit on the back of his right shoulder and his world changed, as well as the fate of the Texas Longhorns.
Enter true freshman QB Garrett Gilbert, one of the biggest recruits last season. With Colt McCoy in Heisman Trophy contention, Gilbert got spot work this year after McCoy put his team well ahead in some of their games, but this was no UTEP. This was the top ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, who had recently made Tim Tebow look very mortal. No one was ready for this, not the QB and not the coaches who dramatically changed the game plan for their young signal caller.
Things couldn't have gone worse for Gilbert in the first half, with even a shovel pass (low risk right?) getting intercepted and returned for a touchdown. I felt for the kid and his family (father Gale, a former NFL QB himself). I have two sons that could be in that situation down the road and it was hard to watch, but Gilbert did gather himself after the break and put up two TD passes. He and the Texas defense also got them back to within 3 points before Alabama woke back up and slammed the door shut in the final moments.
This game was another example of just how important the QB position is to the game of football, even more so now with all of the spread formation teams.
Colt McCoy has been fun to watch run that spread offense of Texas for four years. I hope his shoulder heals and he gets all he hopes and dreams for in the NFL. He seems to be a great person, like his buddy Tim Tebow.

Colt McCoy Sweeps QB Awards

Colt McCoy left the Heisman Trophy presentation empty-handed once again, but he was good enough to sweep all of the QB specific awards including the Davey O'Brien, Maxwell, Johnny Unitas and has repeated as the Walter Camp Award winner as Player of the Year.
As you've read this blog throughout the season, it is obvious that he has been the best QB in the nation this year. Sure there were other guys putting up big numbers, even in his own state of Texas, but it wasn't the same environment or pressure to perform and get to the national title game that he has the Longhorns playing in come January.
For that, Colt McCoy is also America's Best Quarterback for 2009 collegiate class.

Best QB's in 2010 Draft?

After a tough finish to the 2009 season for Notre Dame, QB Jimmy Clausen has decided to take off for the NFL, following his former coach's advice, citing he has learned all he can through his junior year at the school that plays on national TV every week.
He now joins a growing field of signal callers expected to be top prospects in next year's draft.
Colt McCoy and Tim Tebow will be in New York this weekend to see who will be named the winner of the Heisman Trophy, with McCoy and Alabama's Mark Ingram seemingly atop the list of favorites.
If I was a NFL personnel executive, I would list Sam Bradford as the #1 prospect, but he missed virtually all of his junior season, reinjuring his throwing shoulder the first game back in the lineup after missing the first half of the year. A thorough medical examination needs to be combed through to find out what his durability would be moving forward.
Colt McCoy would be #2 on my list. He throws and moves and makes plays and also has played on a pretty big stage each week.
I haven't seen enough of Jake Locker to give him an informed grade or evaluation, but after seeing Clausen play many times, I would agree with Todd McShay of ESPN.com, that he is a second tier QB for the NFL. As I have written here previously, I think his mechanics will break down at the pro level.
Unfortunately for Tim Tebow, his mechanical flaws in this throwing ability are obvious and will not be corrected in time to enhance his draft stock. He is a true gamble for any NFL team and will be a hybrid player as far as I can see. Right now, Pat White, Josh Johnson and Michael Vick or hybrid QB's and none of them are getting much playing time.

Classy QB's in Win and Loss

Saturday was an emotional day for many in college football, probably not more than for Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators and the Nebraska Cornhuskers last second loss to Texas after thinking they had won the game moments earlier.
What I took from those two games was the classy reactions of both Tebow in their loss and Colt McCoy in their win. The two record setting QB's had different outcomes to their evenings and seasons, but they treated the answers to the media's questions with dignity and respect.
Tebow said what everybody else saw during the game. Alabama was the better team and congratulations to them. McCoy, on the other hand, had to explain his decision-making process as the clock was winding down to :00 and throwing it out of bounds as the clock was expiring on his national championship hopes and maybe even the Heisman Trophy as well. Although, Mark Ingram may have wrapped up that trophy with his performance in the SEC Championship game before the Big XII Championship ever kicked off.
McCoy explained that he had everything in control (I couldn't believe they rolled out with that little time on the clock), but if there is no instant replay, his team's title chances go up in confetti for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Regardless, he did get the ball out of bounds with time on the clock and the kick was good.
Both of these senior college players showed great leadership, one in victory and the other in defeat.

Senior QB's Finish On Top

Heisman Trophy candidates Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy finished up their storied regular season careers this weekend in grand fashion! McCoy lead his team to a 49-39 win with four TD's and 175 rushing to go with it. Tebow had a stadium full of well-wishers and eye-black wearers with biblical scriptures to show their tribute to his greatness.
He threw for three and ran for two more TD's as the Gators polished off an over-manned Florida State team that left the long-time rivalry somewhere in yesteryear.
Both Texas and Florida end the regular season undefeated and ready for conference championship games next weekend, whose outcomes and performances could very well decide the Heisman Trophy.

Heisman Race Boring or Exciting?

With no clear favorite for the biggest post-season collegiate award, is the race for the Heisman Trophy a good one or not worth watching? For me, I'm not too interested this year.
The Longhorns' Colt McCoy continues to lead an undefeated team in a major conference and is ready to break the all-time record for wins for a QB in NCAA history. But, his TD to interception ratio is almost 2:1, with 19 and 9 respectively. Kellen Moore leads an undefeated Boise State team that plays in a lesser conference, but if the pollsters and the BCS can justify a top 5 ranking, then he deserves his props for having similar stats to McCoy, except for his almost 11:1 TD to INT ratio, with 32 and 3.
Tim Tebow is doing his thing to keep the Gators atop the polls, but it has been a grind-it-out sort of year, even though he has been good, it hasn't been exciting.
The running backs boast Alabama's Mark Ingram, also from an undefeated team at the top of the rankings. His 1200+ yards have also gone over relatively quiet as the Tide continue to win each week.
If I remember correctly, the foundation only invited four to the award presentation. This year they may need to invite double or triple that, since there aren't really any standouts from the group. For my money, Tim Tebow is the best football player in the nation, but Colt McCoy has continued to lead his team to relatively easy victories and completes 70% of his passes along the way. Tebow may get another of the nation's biggest team trophy, but McCoy could walk away with the biggest individual award after missing it the last couple of years.

Red River Shootout Not About Trophy

Going into 2009, the Texas versus Oklahoma or better known as the "Bradford versus McCoy Bowl", would have been a great preview to the podium in December for the Heisman Trophy, but with Bradford's shoulder injury, it becomes a great football rivalry between two teams once again.

Top College QB's Doubling As Saints

Just finished a great article on Colt McCoy in ESPN The Magazine. Turns out Tim Tebow isn't the only saint leading a top college football power this season. When I speak to groups, I tell them not to put too much faith in people, because people will usually disappoint you (meaning keep your faith in God), but if these two "kids" can come anywhere close to living up to the hype on and off the field, then I say tell your own kids to go right ahead and make Timmy Tebow and Colt McCoy your heroes.
I can't wait to watch these two awesome players fight it out every week for the race to the Heisman Trophy, along with Sam Bradford (who seems to be quite a nice fella off the field as well) of course. With this many players on a "mission", it should be one whale of a year.