Tim Tebow has been out and about since signing with ESPN and now many wonder if he will be at the NFL combine in 2014 and this comes as a number of teams will be scouting quarterbacks, including the Houston Texans, Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings.
The NFL combine gives teams and scouts the chance to analyze, meet, dissect, evaluate and measure players based on a number of areas, including physicals skills, mental makeup and medically as well. The league loves the combine and how big it has gotten and a few years ago Tebow was right in the middle of all of it, much in the same way Manti Te'o was last season and Michael Sam will be this year, although his was all about football and not due to off the field issues.
Back then in 2010, no one knew if Tebow would get drafted in the first round (or at all believe it or not) or if he even would come into the league as a QB and everyone in Indy watched his every move. Obviously we know the story now, as he was taken in the first round and then traded to the New York Jets by the Denver Broncos, but at the time it all was a mystery. Tebow had a good showing back in 2010, but his other connection to the combine is that the Jets reportedly tried to shop him there last season in a trade.
The team eventually drafted Geno Smith and released Tebow, but at the time they hoped to get some value out of him after completely screwing up his acquisition in the previous offseason. The team could have used him way more and more effectively and they basically tried to railroad him and never gave him the chance to succeed. The team then held onto him late into the offseason as all the other backups got deals and when they cut him loose, only the Patriots were there to sign him. That was short-lived as well and now Tebow is in television after being out of the NFL all season, although he remains steadfast that he will continue to work towards an NFL career.
When Tebow as at the combine he had a huge contingent of scouts watching him and this came after his 2007 Heisman win and his national championships, so the attention was at an all-time high for the QB. Tebow did not throw at the combine back in 2010 and he did that on his own throw day, but clearly the Denver Broncos were impressed enough with his workout and his r 9,285 yards and 88 touchdowns while at Florida.
This year the quarterbacks along with Jadeveon Clowney and Michael Sam will be the center of attention and a number of franchises will be looking for new QBs. While many will not throw at the combine, names like Johnny Manziel, Teddy Bridgewater and Blake Bortles as well as players like Derek Carr, AJ McCarron and David Fales will get major looks as well. Zach Mettenberger and Aaron Murray are coming off of injuries and it will be interesting to see where they fall as well.
As they say for the combine, the rest is history.