Yesterday’s WWW featured a link regarding former Florida Gator quarterback Tim Tebow and his media festival of a Pro Day. While all NFL teams were represented in Gainsville (with several potential players running through drills), Tebow had the eye of only a handful of teams that are looking to add a quarterback this off-season – one of which was the Cleveland Browns.
It is now being reported by Matt Hayes of Sporting News that the Browns will be one of five teams to hold a private workout with the Heisman winner.
Browns president Mike Holmgren’s history with quarterbacks has been discussed ad nausem since his arrival. Historically, Holmgren has coached quarterbacks that were not considered to be at the top of their draft class into winners at the professional level. With the trade of Brady Quinn and release of Derek Anderson, it is speculated that Holmgren and general manager Tom Heckert will look to the upcoming NFL Draft for his future quarterback.
The Browns select seventh overall, but hold the sixth selection in the second round due to a tiebreaker. The team also holds three third-round selections that could conceivably be packaged together to move into the second round.
When Holmgren was asked about Tebow’s potential at the next level, he proceeded to hold his cards close.
“I’m going to steer clear of that one now,” said Holmgren. “I think Tim Tebow is one of those guys that you root for. If he’s on your team, you have a better team. I’ll leave it at that.”
He later went on to focus on Tebow’s overall resume instead of the much-discussed mechanics that have been headline features.
“If you look hard enough at anybody, you can be really picky about stuff,” said Holmgren. “Be careful about losing sight of the big picture and what kind of a player [Tebow] is and winner he is. There’s a lot of good about this young man.”
Tebow’s draft projection has been one of the most-discussed issues since the end of the NCAA season. There have been rumors circulating around the Jacksonville Jaguars selecting Tebow to help aid ticket sales, though the only selection the Jaguars currently hold within the first two rounds is considerably higher than Tebow’s draft stock has him placed.
The four other teams that will hold a workout with Tebow include the Buffalo Bills, Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots and Washington Redskins. While the Seahawks pick ahead of the Browns in the first round, the Browns are slotted ahead of Seattle in the second round. The New England Patriots have three second-round selections.
ESPN has reportedly invited Tebow to be a part of the draft day festivities. This will undoubtedly be one of the biggest story lines throughout the entire weekend.
