Tebow is the Tyler Hansbrough of college football, an extremely talented college athlete, who doesn’t have the skills to transition to the pro level. Someone else already said that on one of these threads, sorry but I can’t remember who and I am way to lazy to go back and search for it, but I agree big time, I am a huge Tar Heel fan and I love Tyler Hansbrough, but I know that he will not be the same dominant player if or when he goes to the pros. The same thing with Tebow, he’s a great fit for the college game and the system he is in, but I honestly don’t see him being a great NFL QB.

Surely we’re not going to rake me over the coals for exercising a little bit of overstatement through the use of all caps. I think the reasons that Tebow is a deeply flawed player – or to be more specific, a deeply flawed prospect in terms of NFL skills at the quarterback position.

I think it’s no secret that Tebow’s claim to fame is his athleticism: or rather, that the guy is huge and runs like a half-back. Now, that’s obviously no knock on his potential. In today’s NFL, the better a QB can run, the more useful he is likely to be considered. There shouldn’t be any question that Tebow is enough of an athlete to play at the NFL level. I was actually very surprised by his college stats because I didn’t realize that he had been as good of a passer in 2007 as he actually had been. It was a very fine year through the air for Tebow. Nearly 67% completion percentage. 32 TDs, 6 INTs.

Like I said, I didn’t realize he had that good of a year. In perspective, though, it was actually (marginally) worse than Alex Smith’s final year at Utah in nearly every significant statistical passing category, but the problem with college stats is that they mean so much less than pro-stats without a scouting edge to them. Alex Smith was criticized for playing in a gimmick offense. Tebow has to have to the same criticism (hell, it’s the same coach!). Tebow is a system QB with a strong arm who has a reputation for doing more damage on the ground than he’s ever done through the air. His accuracy on short and intermediate throws has been called into serious question by scouts. His mechanics are generally reviled, as his footwork is bad and has never improved and his release is very long. All of these are things that will give him trouble at the NFL level.

At best, transitioning from the option offense at Florida to an NFL offense will take him a couple of years. He has the habit of locking onto his receivers and telegraphing his reads. When he’s been forced by defenses to play in the pocket in the past, his vulnerabilities have been exposed, as he’s by far the more effective player when he’s disrupting defenses and making plays outside of the pocket.

As a quarterback prospect, he’s just extremely raw from his mechanics straight to his system experience. He has all of the physical tools, but he’s struggled with his accuracy (despite that shiny completion percentage), and he’s considered by some to be more likely drafted as a fullback than anything else.

He may not be a DEEPLY flawed player. But he’s at least a deeply flawed one. And a serious project for QB at that.

With the Favre thing, if they trade him to the Vikings or Bears, being at the QB position Favre can control a game much more than, say, a WR could. Like you said, the nature of trading lends itself to uncertainty — you know what you have, and you’re willing to give it up for an unknown commodity. Even if what you’re getting is a proven veteran, you don’t know how well they’ll mesh with your team or fit into the system.

Given the nature of uncertainty in trading, it really comes down to having the balls to take chances. If you make a bad trade within the division, sure you’ll get it rubbed in twice a year, but most fans will still rub it in enough if it’s still outside the division. If you have a situation like Boldin, where he’ll be unhappy and potentially a “cancer” on the team, I think you should definitely consider offers within the division, especially if you get perceived equal value. Trading takes guts, and if you’re not trading within the division based on fear, then I don’t think you are going to be a good GM. IMO, you need to assume you’ll eventually make a mistake, but as long as the majority of your other moves are solid, it will be okay.