It's Called Scouting, Not Wishing

“Tebow's intangibles are off the charts.”
-Yahoo Sports' “Shutdown Corner” post-draft analysis

Someday, I'd love to see how you “chart” intangibles.

Does “heroic tendencies” go on the X axis? Is “dedicated humility” on the Y axis?

Okay, so that was a stupid sportswriter cliché, right? Well, I could swear I've heard somebody else say that about Timmy Rah Rah (Nickname hat tip: Colin Cowherd). Somebody who is a supposedly “smart” NFL talent evaluator, or former coach.

All they can rave about with Tebow, is the “intangibles.”

Or in other words, things that really won't help him play his position in the pros.

The following things are known – repeat KNOWN – issues with Tebow as a pro quarterback.

He locks onto single receivers.
Feels pressure poorly.
Looks to run too quickly.
Bad delivery motion.
Holds the ball too low.
Average arm.
Played in a system not suited to the pros.
Big, but not elusive.

These are the kind of things you pay actual money to “scouts” to tell you about prospects. And every college player is just a prospect. A maybe. A guy who you better make full due diligence on if you decide to draft him.

Especially in the first round.

Yet, here's the narrative on Tebow to the Broncos: Josh McDaniels fell in love with him.

Fell... in.... love.

For chrissakes. Why even have scouts if that's how you are going to acquire talent?

A young punk coach, with no background whatsoever in talent evaluation... “fell in love.”

Maybe true love will prevail. Maybe they'll fix all of Timmy's faults and he'll be super motivationally awesome in the NFL.

But that is no way to spend 1st round picks. If you or I had pulled a move like this in fantasy football, we'd be the ridiculed butt of everybody's jokes. But I suppose if it's McDaniels, you call it “aggressive” or a “hunch.”

Now, where's my graph paper. I need to go back and re-chart some intangibles.