‘Some guy named Tebow’ works his charm

During an elongated press conference, Florida QB Tim Tebow spoke about the adjustment to his throwing mechanics. He will not feature that new motion until his March 17 pro day.

 

Upon the announcement, “Some guy named Tebow at podium C,” it set off a new Olympics event: Sportswriter Cross. It was every man for himself as the competition to get within viewing distance began.

Meanwhile, Packers coach Mike McCarthy on podium A was left to answer questions from crickets.

 

combTebow.jpgTebow was charming, as advertised. But the question that remains unanswered is how NFL teams will value him in the draft. After he spent nearly 17 minutes at the podium, answering questions. He lingered for a while longer to hand back tape recorders to each of the reporters who had placed their devices on the lectern.

 

Click here’s to read the article I wrote on Tebow for The Press Democrat.

 

Here are some other tidbits from the day, thus far:

 

–Cal RB Jahvid Best has sustained two concussions, including the ugly one that kept him out of the final four games of the season. He has been medically cleared to resume his football career. But will NFL teams view his durability as an issue. He said he expects to run very fast when he works out on Sunday. Best will likely have to be a big contributor in the return game. He returned kickoffs at Cal, and he said he practiced returning punts. He never returned a punt in a college game, but said he feels comfortable in that facet of the game, too.

 

–The most impressive-looking draft prospect at the combine, thus far, is easily Maryland OT Bruce Campbell. He’s 6-foot-6 3/8 and a ripped 314 pounds. He makes Vernon Davis look emaciated. “It’s genetics,” Campbell said. “I didn’t really work hard at it until I started to see I had a decent body. So I wanted to lift to see how much bigger I could get.”

 

–Notre Dame WR Golden Tate said he is scheduled to meet with the 49ers (along with six other teams) tonight.

 

–Oregon RB LeGarrette Blount was suspended for all but the final two games of the season after decking Boise State‘s Byron Hout after the season opener. Hout taunted Blount, and Blount knocked Hout to the blue turf. Blount is now trying to remake his reputation. He entered the season as one of the top prospects at running back. “It did hurt my stock because I didn’t play,” Blount said. On the field, he said he squandered an opportunity to continue to work on his game, specifically his blocking. At 241 pounds, he hopes to get run in the mid-4.5s in the 40-yard dash to make him more attractive to NFL that are willing to take the risk that this incident was just a one-team discretion.

 

–OT Vladimir Ducasse, a native of Haiti who played at UMass, believes he can play all positions on the line. He played left tackle exclusively during the season and at the Senior Bowl. “Right now they have me listed as offensive tackle. Left side, right side, I can play any position on the line,” he said.

 

–Ole Miss QB Jevan Snead is one of the few quarterbacks this year who will be taking part in all the drills. He declared for the draft after his a not-always-impressive junior season. There’s a lot of things that played into that. A big one for me was getting my degree. That was number one on my list when I went to college was to do that and I finished up my marketing degree this past December, so I said that was first. I think that really something that sold it for me is that growing up as a kid, my lifelong dream has been to play in the NFL. Once I got my degree out of the way I had had good seasons at Ole Miss’ and I just felt like it was time to capture that dream.”

 

–Texas WR Jordan Shipley could be a mid-round option for a team that wants immediate dividends in the return game. (Do you know any team like that?) He said he has always enjoyed returning punts and kickoffs. He could also enjoy success as a slot receiver.

 

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