Draft Gurus Battle Over Clausen

Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay of ESPN make their livings by talking with NFL personnel about draft prospects and form their opinions off of those conversations. Maybe they have their own opinions as well. While I don't put much stock in either of them, they go "hot and heavy" in disagreement over Notre Dame's Jimmy Clausen.
Kiper loves him and McShay isn't so sure. I am on record that Clausen will not be great at the next level, which is what a top 10 pick is expected to be. Again, his mechanics are likened to Colt Brennan, out of Hawaii a few years ago and hasn't been heard of since. Not only that, but the Redskins are thought to be looking at Clausen as their potential franchise QB, where Brennan has been after setting so many passing records in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Clausen's rating is obviously higher than Brennan's and will get a much greater opportunity to play, but will ultimately see his career go down a similar path to Joey Harrington's.
Chalk this round of draft banter up to McShay.

Draftable QB's Unimpressive at Wonderlic Too

The top quarterbacks in the 2010 NFL Draft did not test their throwing arms at the combine, but they did put their brains to the test in the 12 minute timed "Wonderlic Test."
Every pro football prospect takes the Wonderlic, because the scouts give it to all senior players while making their rounds throughout the country.
The 50 question test has been ridiculed over the years, especially when it leaks that a player scored in the single digits, like Vince Young a few years back. And some writers or others that have taken it, like Bryan Kelly on ESPN.com's "Bleacher Report", say it is an easy test. It may not be the most difficult mental acuity test known to man, but when you are on the clock with pro scouts watching you, it adds a bit of stress to the process and in the samples that are usually shown to illustrate how simple it is, they leave out the extensive questions that are also a part of the 50 questions.
The fact is that great players have scored poorly on the test and poor players have scored very well, so it's not a "be all, end all" to what kind of football player you will be getting, but it could enlighten the evaluator to certain aspects of a player's needs that could be enhanced or may need help.
In 1989, I was told Duke prospect Anthony Dilweg had the highest QB score with a 36, I scored 33 and Heisman Trophy runner-up Rodney Peete got an 18. I can't remember exactly, but I think Troy Aikman scored in the mid 20's and I do not know what Princeton grad (Dallas Cowboys Offensive Coordinator) Jason Garrett put on the board.
This year's top prospects were all in the low to mid 20's, except for Sam Bradford who topped the group with 36.
Don't be fooled, Tim Tebow's 22 on the Wonderlic Test won't drop him down in the draft any further than his bad mechanics have already put him and a 36 wouldn't increase his draft status, because even though his Wonderlic is very pedestrian, Tebow's intangibles are almost unmatched, no matter if he knows if "present and resent" are synonyms, antonyms or neither.

Combine: From Secret to Circus

When I got an invitation to the NFL combine, I only had a small idea of what to expect. My agent sent me a "super-secret" VHS copy of another QB's performance.
The NFL Combine was once one of the greatest secrets around. All the teams were there to see the results of the bench press, 40 times, jumps and shuttles, so there was no real need to keep these tangibles under lock and key.
Today, since the NFL has to try and keep fresh programming on its own TV network, it has been made into a spectacle. The NFL Draft and the NFL Combine are two hot pieces of media that keep the fans going between seasons. No other sports league has anything even in the stratosphere of off-season interest like the NFL.
I was on the other side of the field when Deion Sanders ran his infamous 40 yard dash. Roomed with Troy Aikman, who didn't throw routes with the other guys and it didn't hurt his draft status.
If you are in the top pick area, it is a good idea to wait for your pro day. Throwing routes to guys you've never said hello to is tough to be good throw after throw. My biggest regret was not throwing the deep ball far enough. You want the receivers to get their chance to make catches and you don't know how fast they are, but looking back, I should have launched my deep balls past everybody, instead of allowing the receivers to slow down a bit and get the reception.
The 300+ players that spent last week in Indianapolis have put themselves on tape now. Some small school players have now been on national television. Some bigger school guys may have been exposed in the strength and explosiveness tests. The NFL teams that just measured and interviewed these players will narrow that field and make personal trips to campuses across the country for more one-on-one events and for pro days as the fans get ready for late April and the wall-to-wall NFL Draft coverage coming our way.

Sam Wyche Makes Bold Prediction For Tebow

Former NFL quarterback Sam Wyche, more known for his NFL coaching days and probably best known for his antics as a coach, has gone way out on a limb for Tim Tebow.
Wyche once coached both Joe Montana and Boomer Esiason and says Tim Tebow will be in that class of elite NFL QB.
That isn't a hard bet to take. Being an elite QB is difficult enough. Many were thought to have that kind of potential and failed, some miserably and some just never lived up to the hype. Timmy Tebow, on the other hand, has very little in the way of expectation, so if he becomes a good quarterback at the next level, Sam Wyche gets a little justification in his bold prediction. I guess it comes down to what Sam's definition of "elite" really is.
It is the prediction here that Tebow will not become an elite QB, nor will any other QB coming out in this year's draft. Not that they don't have that potential, it's just any easy bet to say that they won't. See, elite means elite. That is very few by the way. Trying to say Tebow, with all of his issues going in to the NFL (slow delivery, bad balance, lack of experience under center, style of offense at Florida), the likelihood of achieving an elite level is extremely small. Tebow has a handful of QB coaches trying to remake his delivery in a very short time, but isn't that what Scott Loeffler tried to do over months last off-season?
He will not throw at this week's combine, but is scheduled to do so at the Gators' pro day in April.

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.