Lonestar
04-29-2010, 03:50 PM
Woody's Mailbag: Bank on Tebow being a big-time NFL QB
Robert from Atlanta asks Woody why the Broncos drafted Tim Tebow
By Woody Paige
The Denver Post
POSTED: 04/29/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT
UPDATED: 04/29/2010 12:21:00 PM MDT
Would you mind leading us all in a rendition of "Happy Trails" for Broncos coach Josh McDaniels after his idiotic 25th pick in this year's NFL draft of Tim Tebow? Does he really think Tebow is a franchise quarterback? I'd rather take my chances with Brady Quinn and draft a center or nose tackle with that pick. I'm not a general manager or a head coach, but I do know that if you're going to draft a QB in the first or second round, you had better expect him to be your franchise player. Tebow is not that.
— Robert, Atlanta
Robert: I bow to your expertise and welcome your opinion from Buckhead, except ... How in the name of God Shammgod (former NBA player) can you sit there staring at your computer screen in Atlanta and claim Tim Tebow won't be a franchise quarterback? Based on what? Your barber told you so?
I vividly remember writing in 1982, when the NFL strike was going on and I decided to travel around to see college players (Eric Dickerson, Herschel Walker and several others), and I wrote a column saying: "I have seen the future of pro football, and his name is John Elway."
I recommended that the Broncos find a way to get him. You know what people wrote, via snail mail: "Elway's a loser. He never got Stanford in a bowl. ... He's too cocky. ... He should play baseball, not football. He's not good enough to make it as a quarterback. ... Elway's a papa's boy. ... He can't throw short routes and doesn't read defenses. ... Elway won't be a franchise quarterback."
Five Super Bowls. Hall of Fame. (I gave his nominating speech: "Gentlemen, John Elway.")
Your reply is: "I've seen Elway, and Tebow is no Elway."
Tebow's assistant
The Broncos' first-round quarterback pick, Tim Tebow, talks with the media Friday. Some doubt his NFL abilities, which Tebow says inspires him to work harder. (Joe Amon, The Denver Post)
coach at the University of Florida in his senior season (and a main reason Tebow returned) was Scot Loeffler, a former NFL quarterbacks coach and one-time Michigan quarterback and Michigan assistant. He played with Tom Brady and was a graduate assistant helping Brady his senior year. Loeffler worked with Chad Henne, the Dolphins' starter. Loeffler has compared Tebow favorably to both guys.
Of course, Loeffler is biased. But he was brought in specifically to help Tebow get ready for the pros. Tebow did have a low start-up point on his throws in college, but he hired three former NFL coaches, and he has corrected the hitch.
Some claim he will go back to it. I don't believe so.
The young man has worked too hard over the years to correct flaws and get himself prepared to play high school, college and, now, pro football.
How many times have you talked to him, Robert? Let me guess.
How many times have you seen him play in person? How many of his coaches and opposing coaches and NFL coaches have your talked to?
I talked to Tebow twice in college, and I've spent some quality time with him in Denver the past week. He has that same aura Elway had as a rookie.
When he comes into a room, you can tell he's a quarterback. There's a je ne sais quoi. But there's a special quality.
John totally was a natural athlete, and maybe he didn't have to work so hard early on (although he did more as he got older and wanted so badly to win a Super Bowl).
Tebow always has worked harder than everyone around him and made himself into a quality player.
When he was in high school, Tebow attended a "Friday Night Lights" weekend at the University of Florida. After a meeting of young players and coaches, the Gators' strength and conditioning coach took Tebow downstairs to the weight room for a cheeseburger.
As the two sat there having lunch, Tebow asked what the Florida record was for most leg lifts. Mickey Marotti, the coach, replied: "Oh, 18, I think, by some lineman." After he finished his fries, Tebow walked over to the weights, did 19 lifts, and left.
He has a body that punishes defensive linemen. He can run better than Elway did. He can pass in this offense, just as Brady does at New England (under McDaniels for three years), and Brady can't run a lick.
I will tell you who to compare Tebow to: Steve Young. Out of high school, nobody wanted Young as a quarterback. Recruiters thought he was a running back or a safety.
He went to BYU because he was a great-great-great grandson of Brigham Young, and he was playing behind Jim McMahon when the Cougars played Colorado in Boulder in 1981. McMahon lit up CU early, then got hurt. Steve came in and ran and passed the Buffs silly, finishing off a 41-20 BYU victory. I wrote a column about this amazing kid. He was strictly a QB at BYU after that game.
But the NFL didn't think much of him, and people thought the left-hander would have to play another position in the pros. So Young went off to the USFL (signing with the Los Angeles team owned by Denver cable mogul Bill Daniels) and was great.
The Tampa Bay Bucs signed him. After a couple of years with that lousy team, Young went off to the 49ers and sat behind Joe Montana. When Montana was hurt, and later when he was traded, all Young — who didn't have a strong arm, but could throw hard and could run harder — did was become the most accurate passer in NFL history and win a Super Bowl (with Mike Shanahan as his offensive coordinator).
Shanahan loves Tebow. (You can add your own line here.) Tebow is Steve Young, who was a leader, a competitor, a football player, a quarterback, an intelligent young man who commanded respect from the other players.
When Young retired, I went to San Francisco, and in his hotel room he told me that he still had that column I wrote about him in college. "You were the first one to really praise me as a QB."
You can say I'm name-dropping, and that's fine, but I've been around Young and Elway, and I see a lot of the same characteristics in Tebow. All he does is win.
That must not be enough for you, Robert. You would prefer an inside linebacker. The Broncos just signed a veteran inside linebacker, and they still have Mario Haggan on the team, and they will be fine there.
Football and sports are entertainment. What's more entertaining in the NFL than the drafting of Tim Tebow? It will give us something to follow for years, just as Elway's acquisition gave us something to wonder about, then enjoy, in the 1980s and 1990s.
Did you think JaMarcus Russell was going to be a great quarterback? A lot of people were wrong about him. The Raiders are giving up on him.
Kyle Orton is not the long-term solution here. We don't know, honestly, about Brady Quinn. The Broncos will use Tebow 10 to 12 plays a game his rookie season as a wildcat quarterback, a third-and-1 quarterback, a fourth-and-2 quarterback, a change of pace quarterback.
McDaniels will bust himself to make Tebow a better quarterback, and I know Tebow will bust everything he has to prove people wrong who are somewhere off in Atlanta.
Tebow is not that? You don't know. Maybe I don't know. But I do know you and I and everyone else reading this mailbag will pay attention to him, more than Sam Bradford or Colt McCoy or Rolando McClain, and there will be anti-Tebowers and pro-Timmys.
You'd rather take your chance with Brady Quinn and have a nose tackle. The Broncos have three nose tackles. How many do you want, and would you really care if they had drafted Dan Williams out of Tennessee? No.
It was worth the chance, because we're all going to have fun with this for years.
Besides, when I shook hands with Tebow the other day, I was stunned by the large size of his hands. He's not going to fumble.
Now that we have Tim Tebow, a lefty, don't we need to start searching for a stud right tackle because our stud left tackle will be twiddling his thumbs? Isn't that part of what happened to Chris Simms? We didn't have anyone who could protect his blind side.
— Bill O'Connor, Larkspur
Bill: No, what happened to Chris Simms is — as we, especially, I found out — he can't play anymore.
He was away from the game too long, and he hasn't regained his confidence or his passing touch or his control of an offense. The left tackle had nothing to do with it.
One of my first questions to Broncos people after the Tebow pick was: "Will Ryan Clady move to right tackle when Tebow takes over?" Maybe Clady would have, but not now, with his injury.
Maybe Ryan Harris will return fully recovered from his knee and be the right tackle he was.
Maybe Tyler Polumbus continues to develop, as I think he will. Maybe one of these newly drafted kids will become the right tackle.
The Broncos drafted linemen. They have linemen. I don't think you suddenly go in search of a right tackle when you have two who played there last year and did fine, and two on the horizon.
And I will assure you that Tebow can escape a lot better than Simms did.
Woody, good call on Tim Tebow (although you were a round late with your pick). My question is this: Josh McDaniels is all about team first, but do you think Knowshon Moreno (a Georgia Bulldog) will be reluctant to take handoffs from a former chief rival in Tebow (a Florida Gator)? I've heard Knowshon won't even drink Gatorade at the games.
— Terry, Athens, Ga.
Terry: I thought the Broncos would trade up to the top of the second round to get Tebow. I was off by a few picks. And if Tebow is the bust that so many La-Z-Boy sitters think he will be, you can tar and feather me and run me out of town. (Clip and save.)
I knew Brian Griese wasn't going to be a quarterback. I knew Bubby Brister wasn't going to be.
I thought Jake Plummer would be, and he was the QB on the last Broncos team that went to the AFC championship game.
I thought Jay Cutler would be a great quarterback, and we still don't know.
I don't think Kyle Orton is a great quarterback. I sincerely don't know about Brady Quinn.
I knew Steve Ramsey — Who? He was the Broncos' starting quarterback in the 1970s, briefly — and Steve DeBerg weren't going to be great quarterbacks.
And, as mentioned, I knew John Elway would be a great quarterback.
I think Tebow will be a great quarterback, and, obviously, McDaniels does too.
When I met and talked to and watched Peyton Manning and Dan Marino in college, I knew they would be great quarterbacks.
Colt McCoy, in my opinion, will not be a great quarterback. He is too short.
McDaniels is risking maybe his entire head coaching career future on this pick.
I think Moreno would take handoffs from Johnny Depp — who can't throw deep — if he can improve his numbers, especially in short-yardage situations.
Guess what: Tebow probably will be the Broncos' best short-yardage runner since Sammy Winder.
I will bet you that if the Broncos beat San Diego in that final regular-season game and Moreno rushes for 150 yards, he will beg his teammates to pour Gatorade over his head.
The Bulldogs and the Gators hate each other, particularly during the "World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" game in Jacksonville, Fla., but they will love to play in the NFL with each other.
Hey, Woody, Can you explain why the Broncos traded up from No. 24 to No. 22 to draft Georgia Tech wide receiver Demaryius Thomas? There was no way the Packers were going to take him at No. 23 with their aging tackles. Why waste a lower draft pick like that when the Broncos could have just taken him at No. 24 anyway?
— Andrew K., Melbourne, Australia
Andrew: Why did the Melbourne Demons of the Australian Football League (Aussie Rules) take Addam Maric No. 21 in the 2007 draft when it's been proven he's injury prone (two reconstructive shoulder surgeries and a hip arthroscopic surgery)? Because they liked the teenage forward.
The Broncos' staff loved Thomas. Several weeks ago I had him No. 2 behind Dez Bryant (and think I brought him up in this space), but I pulled off both of them. Bryant because the Broncos didn't need another diva head case and Thomas because he played in that goofy run-oriented Georgia Tech offense, had broken a bone in his foot and couldn't do the combine or a pro day.
The Broncos liked Thomas because of his size, his hands, his ability to catch in a crowd and how he can pick up yardage after the catch.
McDaniels said, and maybe it wasn't the best choice of words, that Thomas reminded the staff of Brandon Marshall. The player, not the person.
Thomas has an incredible story. His mother and grandmother are in prison for a long time on drug convictions, and there was no father in his life.
People talk about Tebow, but Thomas became a born-again Christian, so he's a character guy. And the Broncos think they got a steal.
Why make the deal? Sitting out at Broncos headquarters, I thought toward the end of the first round a bunch of teams were going to start making trades up and down (the Broncos already had set that tone), and the Broncos must have thought the Packers might trade out of that spot, and someone else would jump on Thomas.
I think you're right, though. He wasn't picked to go that high. So the Broncos gave up a draft pick to get him.
It didn't work out last year in the Alphonso Smith deal — or the Richard Quinn deal, for that matter.
Again, if you like or hate McDaniels, you have to think he has a full set of ... nerves to make these deals when they may determine if he is able to hold onto his job.
He certainly thinks he will be around for a long time, no matter what others may believe.
I've actually seen Josh open up and show more of his own personality lately. He is more than just a clone of the fellow in New England.
I think he's getting into the Denver dynamic, but he won't last beyond three years if all these deals go sour on him.
What did you think about the NFL draft starting in prime time on a Thursday night?
— John F., Akron, Ohio
John: Mixed feelings, honestly, from a personal standpoint.
The Nuggets and the Avalanche playoffs were going on, and it was tough for me trying to be at all things.
And at Broncos headquarters, the staff must have hidden all the TV remotes. We were forced to watch the NFL Network the entire time, and, at least (and in spite of my involvement with ESPN), I would have liked to jump back and forth between the networks to get more and varied reaction.
ESPN had gigantic ratings for the draft (the NFL Network is still not in that many homes), and I know, from people at ESPN, that the network loved the weeknights, especially when it beat some of the over-the-counter network programming.
The coaches liked it because they got to spend more time overnight working on the second and third rounds, and the people who care about the draft overwhelmingly seemed to like the change.
So I have no problem, as if it would matter if I did.
I got a bit tired by Saturday morning, watching the draft at 8 a.m., and watching the parade of presenters. (Mack Brown?)
I wouldn't be surprised if soon it isn't stretched out to a week-long miniseries.
If the NFL were selling toothbrushes and pots and pans on TV, millions of people would watch. The draft is big business.
I do think having a prime-time special to release the 2010 NFL team schedules was a little much (although I got the schedules about 30 minutes before it started, so I didn't watch).
Woody, I feel the same way about the Broncos as I did about Nebraska under Bill Callahan. Little to cheer about, little hope until a new head coach is brought in. The Tim Tebow pick furthers my skepticism of the direction of this Denver team. Is there any reason I should be optimistic?
— Chris, West Point, Neb.
Chris: Look what has happened at Nebraska. Bo Pelini has turned the program back in the right direction.
Callahan was a bad choice right away. He wanted to take Nebraska away from what it does best, and he took all the old All-America photos off the walls.
If you care about the Broncos, here's what to cheer from my perspective:
The defense is set. They will have the same four starters in the backfield, three of the four at linebacker (Robert Ayers has got to be improved, you would think). The Broncos also signed, in the middle of the draft, veteran free-agent linebacker Akin Ayodele, who hasn't missed a game in years and was the Dolphins' third-leading tackler last year. (The knock is he didn't make plays and missed tackles.)
Plus, the Broncos signed three veterans in the defensive line. The window on the defense isn't open long, because of the old-timers, but it is open for at least two years.
Offensively, Knowshon Moreno probably will be better behind a bigger offensive line. If Demaryius Thomas can play right away — and don't sleep on Eric Decker, sort of an Ed McCaffrey wannabe — then the Broncos will be fine at wide receiver.
They may not have one guy who can catch 100 passes for 1,000 yards, but the balls will be spread around to six guys (Brandon Stokley is still stoked, and Jabar Gaffney is good, and the other Brandon, Lloyd, is not a bad fifth wide receiver).
They do have to find a tight end to complement Daniel Graham, and they do have to develop a center right away.
Kyle Orton has to play better (or as well as he can), or Josh McDaniels will need to make a move right away to one of the other two guys. (Tom Brandstater, we hardly knew ye.)
The Broncos really need to win that game in London over San Francisco (which will be a vastly improved team) and get through the first half of the season before they have to face that load of AFC West teams.
If you are a fan of the Broncos, cheer for the Broncos to do well under McDaniels and hope that he improves as a coach.
Cheer for Tebow when he plays a dozen plays, and cheer for Thomas to be a good receiver, and cheer for that defense to be as strong all season as it was at the beginning of last season.
Cheer that the Broncos can beat San Diego in the Nov. 22 and Jan. 2 meetings and that the Broncos can make Philip Rivers look bad, finally.
Cheer that the Raiders won't be a lot better (although I suspect they will) and that the Chiefs are still a mediocre team.
Cheer for the Broncos to wear their throwback uniforms, and cheer for the fact that Pittsburgh won't be coming in and getting all the tickets at the stadium, and cheer for Champ Bailey to be in another playoff game here before he is traded or retires.
Cheer for Elvis and Eddie because they're great guys, and cheer for the Broncos' cheerleaders to actually watch the game so they don't cheer when the other team scores, and cheer for Broncos fans, who deserve to have another championship contender.
And cheer for me to get a nice little Christmas bonus for doing this long-winded mailbag every week.
Robert from Atlanta asks Woody why the Broncos drafted Tim Tebow
By Woody Paige
The Denver Post
POSTED: 04/29/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT
UPDATED: 04/29/2010 12:21:00 PM MDT
Would you mind leading us all in a rendition of "Happy Trails" for Broncos coach Josh McDaniels after his idiotic 25th pick in this year's NFL draft of Tim Tebow? Does he really think Tebow is a franchise quarterback? I'd rather take my chances with Brady Quinn and draft a center or nose tackle with that pick. I'm not a general manager or a head coach, but I do know that if you're going to draft a QB in the first or second round, you had better expect him to be your franchise player. Tebow is not that.
— Robert, Atlanta
Robert: I bow to your expertise and welcome your opinion from Buckhead, except ... How in the name of God Shammgod (former NBA player) can you sit there staring at your computer screen in Atlanta and claim Tim Tebow won't be a franchise quarterback? Based on what? Your barber told you so?
I vividly remember writing in 1982, when the NFL strike was going on and I decided to travel around to see college players (Eric Dickerson, Herschel Walker and several others), and I wrote a column saying: "I have seen the future of pro football, and his name is John Elway."
I recommended that the Broncos find a way to get him. You know what people wrote, via snail mail: "Elway's a loser. He never got Stanford in a bowl. ... He's too cocky. ... He should play baseball, not football. He's not good enough to make it as a quarterback. ... Elway's a papa's boy. ... He can't throw short routes and doesn't read defenses. ... Elway won't be a franchise quarterback."
Five Super Bowls. Hall of Fame. (I gave his nominating speech: "Gentlemen, John Elway.")
Your reply is: "I've seen Elway, and Tebow is no Elway."
Tebow's assistant
The Broncos' first-round quarterback pick, Tim Tebow, talks with the media Friday. Some doubt his NFL abilities, which Tebow says inspires him to work harder. (Joe Amon, The Denver Post)
coach at the University of Florida in his senior season (and a main reason Tebow returned) was Scot Loeffler, a former NFL quarterbacks coach and one-time Michigan quarterback and Michigan assistant. He played with Tom Brady and was a graduate assistant helping Brady his senior year. Loeffler worked with Chad Henne, the Dolphins' starter. Loeffler has compared Tebow favorably to both guys.
Of course, Loeffler is biased. But he was brought in specifically to help Tebow get ready for the pros. Tebow did have a low start-up point on his throws in college, but he hired three former NFL coaches, and he has corrected the hitch.
Some claim he will go back to it. I don't believe so.
The young man has worked too hard over the years to correct flaws and get himself prepared to play high school, college and, now, pro football.
How many times have you talked to him, Robert? Let me guess.
How many times have you seen him play in person? How many of his coaches and opposing coaches and NFL coaches have your talked to?
I talked to Tebow twice in college, and I've spent some quality time with him in Denver the past week. He has that same aura Elway had as a rookie.
When he comes into a room, you can tell he's a quarterback. There's a je ne sais quoi. But there's a special quality.
John totally was a natural athlete, and maybe he didn't have to work so hard early on (although he did more as he got older and wanted so badly to win a Super Bowl).
Tebow always has worked harder than everyone around him and made himself into a quality player.
When he was in high school, Tebow attended a "Friday Night Lights" weekend at the University of Florida. After a meeting of young players and coaches, the Gators' strength and conditioning coach took Tebow downstairs to the weight room for a cheeseburger.
As the two sat there having lunch, Tebow asked what the Florida record was for most leg lifts. Mickey Marotti, the coach, replied: "Oh, 18, I think, by some lineman." After he finished his fries, Tebow walked over to the weights, did 19 lifts, and left.
He has a body that punishes defensive linemen. He can run better than Elway did. He can pass in this offense, just as Brady does at New England (under McDaniels for three years), and Brady can't run a lick.
I will tell you who to compare Tebow to: Steve Young. Out of high school, nobody wanted Young as a quarterback. Recruiters thought he was a running back or a safety.
He went to BYU because he was a great-great-great grandson of Brigham Young, and he was playing behind Jim McMahon when the Cougars played Colorado in Boulder in 1981. McMahon lit up CU early, then got hurt. Steve came in and ran and passed the Buffs silly, finishing off a 41-20 BYU victory. I wrote a column about this amazing kid. He was strictly a QB at BYU after that game.
But the NFL didn't think much of him, and people thought the left-hander would have to play another position in the pros. So Young went off to the USFL (signing with the Los Angeles team owned by Denver cable mogul Bill Daniels) and was great.
The Tampa Bay Bucs signed him. After a couple of years with that lousy team, Young went off to the 49ers and sat behind Joe Montana. When Montana was hurt, and later when he was traded, all Young — who didn't have a strong arm, but could throw hard and could run harder — did was become the most accurate passer in NFL history and win a Super Bowl (with Mike Shanahan as his offensive coordinator).
Shanahan loves Tebow. (You can add your own line here.) Tebow is Steve Young, who was a leader, a competitor, a football player, a quarterback, an intelligent young man who commanded respect from the other players.
When Young retired, I went to San Francisco, and in his hotel room he told me that he still had that column I wrote about him in college. "You were the first one to really praise me as a QB."
You can say I'm name-dropping, and that's fine, but I've been around Young and Elway, and I see a lot of the same characteristics in Tebow. All he does is win.
That must not be enough for you, Robert. You would prefer an inside linebacker. The Broncos just signed a veteran inside linebacker, and they still have Mario Haggan on the team, and they will be fine there.
Football and sports are entertainment. What's more entertaining in the NFL than the drafting of Tim Tebow? It will give us something to follow for years, just as Elway's acquisition gave us something to wonder about, then enjoy, in the 1980s and 1990s.
Did you think JaMarcus Russell was going to be a great quarterback? A lot of people were wrong about him. The Raiders are giving up on him.
Kyle Orton is not the long-term solution here. We don't know, honestly, about Brady Quinn. The Broncos will use Tebow 10 to 12 plays a game his rookie season as a wildcat quarterback, a third-and-1 quarterback, a fourth-and-2 quarterback, a change of pace quarterback.
McDaniels will bust himself to make Tebow a better quarterback, and I know Tebow will bust everything he has to prove people wrong who are somewhere off in Atlanta.
Tebow is not that? You don't know. Maybe I don't know. But I do know you and I and everyone else reading this mailbag will pay attention to him, more than Sam Bradford or Colt McCoy or Rolando McClain, and there will be anti-Tebowers and pro-Timmys.
You'd rather take your chance with Brady Quinn and have a nose tackle. The Broncos have three nose tackles. How many do you want, and would you really care if they had drafted Dan Williams out of Tennessee? No.
It was worth the chance, because we're all going to have fun with this for years.
Besides, when I shook hands with Tebow the other day, I was stunned by the large size of his hands. He's not going to fumble.
Now that we have Tim Tebow, a lefty, don't we need to start searching for a stud right tackle because our stud left tackle will be twiddling his thumbs? Isn't that part of what happened to Chris Simms? We didn't have anyone who could protect his blind side.
— Bill O'Connor, Larkspur
Bill: No, what happened to Chris Simms is — as we, especially, I found out — he can't play anymore.
He was away from the game too long, and he hasn't regained his confidence or his passing touch or his control of an offense. The left tackle had nothing to do with it.
One of my first questions to Broncos people after the Tebow pick was: "Will Ryan Clady move to right tackle when Tebow takes over?" Maybe Clady would have, but not now, with his injury.
Maybe Ryan Harris will return fully recovered from his knee and be the right tackle he was.
Maybe Tyler Polumbus continues to develop, as I think he will. Maybe one of these newly drafted kids will become the right tackle.
The Broncos drafted linemen. They have linemen. I don't think you suddenly go in search of a right tackle when you have two who played there last year and did fine, and two on the horizon.
And I will assure you that Tebow can escape a lot better than Simms did.
Woody, good call on Tim Tebow (although you were a round late with your pick). My question is this: Josh McDaniels is all about team first, but do you think Knowshon Moreno (a Georgia Bulldog) will be reluctant to take handoffs from a former chief rival in Tebow (a Florida Gator)? I've heard Knowshon won't even drink Gatorade at the games.
— Terry, Athens, Ga.
Terry: I thought the Broncos would trade up to the top of the second round to get Tebow. I was off by a few picks. And if Tebow is the bust that so many La-Z-Boy sitters think he will be, you can tar and feather me and run me out of town. (Clip and save.)
I knew Brian Griese wasn't going to be a quarterback. I knew Bubby Brister wasn't going to be.
I thought Jake Plummer would be, and he was the QB on the last Broncos team that went to the AFC championship game.
I thought Jay Cutler would be a great quarterback, and we still don't know.
I don't think Kyle Orton is a great quarterback. I sincerely don't know about Brady Quinn.
I knew Steve Ramsey — Who? He was the Broncos' starting quarterback in the 1970s, briefly — and Steve DeBerg weren't going to be great quarterbacks.
And, as mentioned, I knew John Elway would be a great quarterback.
I think Tebow will be a great quarterback, and, obviously, McDaniels does too.
When I met and talked to and watched Peyton Manning and Dan Marino in college, I knew they would be great quarterbacks.
Colt McCoy, in my opinion, will not be a great quarterback. He is too short.
McDaniels is risking maybe his entire head coaching career future on this pick.
I think Moreno would take handoffs from Johnny Depp — who can't throw deep — if he can improve his numbers, especially in short-yardage situations.
Guess what: Tebow probably will be the Broncos' best short-yardage runner since Sammy Winder.
I will bet you that if the Broncos beat San Diego in that final regular-season game and Moreno rushes for 150 yards, he will beg his teammates to pour Gatorade over his head.
The Bulldogs and the Gators hate each other, particularly during the "World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" game in Jacksonville, Fla., but they will love to play in the NFL with each other.
Hey, Woody, Can you explain why the Broncos traded up from No. 24 to No. 22 to draft Georgia Tech wide receiver Demaryius Thomas? There was no way the Packers were going to take him at No. 23 with their aging tackles. Why waste a lower draft pick like that when the Broncos could have just taken him at No. 24 anyway?
— Andrew K., Melbourne, Australia
Andrew: Why did the Melbourne Demons of the Australian Football League (Aussie Rules) take Addam Maric No. 21 in the 2007 draft when it's been proven he's injury prone (two reconstructive shoulder surgeries and a hip arthroscopic surgery)? Because they liked the teenage forward.
The Broncos' staff loved Thomas. Several weeks ago I had him No. 2 behind Dez Bryant (and think I brought him up in this space), but I pulled off both of them. Bryant because the Broncos didn't need another diva head case and Thomas because he played in that goofy run-oriented Georgia Tech offense, had broken a bone in his foot and couldn't do the combine or a pro day.
The Broncos liked Thomas because of his size, his hands, his ability to catch in a crowd and how he can pick up yardage after the catch.
McDaniels said, and maybe it wasn't the best choice of words, that Thomas reminded the staff of Brandon Marshall. The player, not the person.
Thomas has an incredible story. His mother and grandmother are in prison for a long time on drug convictions, and there was no father in his life.
People talk about Tebow, but Thomas became a born-again Christian, so he's a character guy. And the Broncos think they got a steal.
Why make the deal? Sitting out at Broncos headquarters, I thought toward the end of the first round a bunch of teams were going to start making trades up and down (the Broncos already had set that tone), and the Broncos must have thought the Packers might trade out of that spot, and someone else would jump on Thomas.
I think you're right, though. He wasn't picked to go that high. So the Broncos gave up a draft pick to get him.
It didn't work out last year in the Alphonso Smith deal — or the Richard Quinn deal, for that matter.
Again, if you like or hate McDaniels, you have to think he has a full set of ... nerves to make these deals when they may determine if he is able to hold onto his job.
He certainly thinks he will be around for a long time, no matter what others may believe.
I've actually seen Josh open up and show more of his own personality lately. He is more than just a clone of the fellow in New England.
I think he's getting into the Denver dynamic, but he won't last beyond three years if all these deals go sour on him.
What did you think about the NFL draft starting in prime time on a Thursday night?
— John F., Akron, Ohio
John: Mixed feelings, honestly, from a personal standpoint.
The Nuggets and the Avalanche playoffs were going on, and it was tough for me trying to be at all things.
And at Broncos headquarters, the staff must have hidden all the TV remotes. We were forced to watch the NFL Network the entire time, and, at least (and in spite of my involvement with ESPN), I would have liked to jump back and forth between the networks to get more and varied reaction.
ESPN had gigantic ratings for the draft (the NFL Network is still not in that many homes), and I know, from people at ESPN, that the network loved the weeknights, especially when it beat some of the over-the-counter network programming.
The coaches liked it because they got to spend more time overnight working on the second and third rounds, and the people who care about the draft overwhelmingly seemed to like the change.
So I have no problem, as if it would matter if I did.
I got a bit tired by Saturday morning, watching the draft at 8 a.m., and watching the parade of presenters. (Mack Brown?)
I wouldn't be surprised if soon it isn't stretched out to a week-long miniseries.
If the NFL were selling toothbrushes and pots and pans on TV, millions of people would watch. The draft is big business.
I do think having a prime-time special to release the 2010 NFL team schedules was a little much (although I got the schedules about 30 minutes before it started, so I didn't watch).
Woody, I feel the same way about the Broncos as I did about Nebraska under Bill Callahan. Little to cheer about, little hope until a new head coach is brought in. The Tim Tebow pick furthers my skepticism of the direction of this Denver team. Is there any reason I should be optimistic?
— Chris, West Point, Neb.
Chris: Look what has happened at Nebraska. Bo Pelini has turned the program back in the right direction.
Callahan was a bad choice right away. He wanted to take Nebraska away from what it does best, and he took all the old All-America photos off the walls.
If you care about the Broncos, here's what to cheer from my perspective:
The defense is set. They will have the same four starters in the backfield, three of the four at linebacker (Robert Ayers has got to be improved, you would think). The Broncos also signed, in the middle of the draft, veteran free-agent linebacker Akin Ayodele, who hasn't missed a game in years and was the Dolphins' third-leading tackler last year. (The knock is he didn't make plays and missed tackles.)
Plus, the Broncos signed three veterans in the defensive line. The window on the defense isn't open long, because of the old-timers, but it is open for at least two years.
Offensively, Knowshon Moreno probably will be better behind a bigger offensive line. If Demaryius Thomas can play right away — and don't sleep on Eric Decker, sort of an Ed McCaffrey wannabe — then the Broncos will be fine at wide receiver.
They may not have one guy who can catch 100 passes for 1,000 yards, but the balls will be spread around to six guys (Brandon Stokley is still stoked, and Jabar Gaffney is good, and the other Brandon, Lloyd, is not a bad fifth wide receiver).
They do have to find a tight end to complement Daniel Graham, and they do have to develop a center right away.
Kyle Orton has to play better (or as well as he can), or Josh McDaniels will need to make a move right away to one of the other two guys. (Tom Brandstater, we hardly knew ye.)
The Broncos really need to win that game in London over San Francisco (which will be a vastly improved team) and get through the first half of the season before they have to face that load of AFC West teams.
If you are a fan of the Broncos, cheer for the Broncos to do well under McDaniels and hope that he improves as a coach.
Cheer for Tebow when he plays a dozen plays, and cheer for Thomas to be a good receiver, and cheer for that defense to be as strong all season as it was at the beginning of last season.
Cheer that the Broncos can beat San Diego in the Nov. 22 and Jan. 2 meetings and that the Broncos can make Philip Rivers look bad, finally.
Cheer that the Raiders won't be a lot better (although I suspect they will) and that the Chiefs are still a mediocre team.
Cheer for the Broncos to wear their throwback uniforms, and cheer for the fact that Pittsburgh won't be coming in and getting all the tickets at the stadium, and cheer for Champ Bailey to be in another playoff game here before he is traded or retires.
Cheer for Elvis and Eddie because they're great guys, and cheer for the Broncos' cheerleaders to actually watch the game so they don't cheer when the other team scores, and cheer for Broncos fans, who deserve to have another championship contender.
And cheer for me to get a nice little Christmas bonus for doing this long-winded mailbag every week.