Tony Dungy made some interesting comments on the Dan Patrick show today, including how Florida quarterback Tim Tebow should be drafted high in the first round.

From SI.com:

Dungy also had interesting comments on Tim Tebow. Dungy loves winners. He thinks Charlie Ward would have been a great NFL quarterback because he won at every level. Dungy said that Tebow is like that. He just wins, and that will translate to the NFL.
Dungy said if he ran St. Louis, he’d draft Tebow high in the first round. “Franchise quarterbacks are hard to fine, and I believe in this guy,” Dungy said.

Dan asked Dungy if Sam Bradford, Colt McCoy, Jake Locker and Jimmy Clausen were available, would he take Tebow over all of them. Dungy said yes, he’d take Tebow.

Far be it for me to question a man of Dungy’s stature, but Tebow isn’t a high first round prospect. I know he’s won at Florida, but he’s also had some of the best talent in the country around him, so it wasn’t all him. Tebow isn’t a prototypical drop back passer – he’s a battering ram built for the Wildcat or maybe even the H-back position.

Some Gator fans argue that Tebow can make all the throws at the next level. I disagree. He might be able to make all of the throws some of the time at the collegiate level, but he’s not a guy that is going to take a seven step drop and complete a 10-yard out route without having the defensive back jump it for a pick six. He just isn’t.

That said, Tebow is one hell of a football player and there is a place for him in professional football. I would think that a team would take a shot on him in the third round and use him in a variety of ways. But he certainly isn’t a franchise quarterback like Dungy is suggesting. Not in my humble opinion anyway.

After a one-week hiatus, Florida is back in the top spot in the AP Poll, while Alabama was dropped to No. 2 again.
No. 3 Texas got seven first-place votes after its 41-7 victory at Missouri.

The last time two teams flip-flopped in the top two spots of the AP Top 25 from one week to the next was 1992, when Miami and Washington did it.

Like Texas, No. 4 Southern California, No. 5 Cincinnati, No. 6 Boise State and No. 7 Iowa held their places in the latest media rankings.

TCU jumped two spots to No. 8 after a 38-7 victory at Mountain West Conference rival BYU. LSU stayed at No. 9 and Oregon moved up two spots to No. 10.

The Ducks host USC on Saturday in a game with huge Pac-10 championship implications.

Florida began the season as an overwhelming No. 1 in the AP poll. Alabama started five and steadily gained on the Gators before finally jumping past them last week, when Florida needed a field goal in the waning seconds to beat Arkansas at home.

This is hardly surprising. The AP was looking for a reason to get the Gators back into the top spot and when ‘Bama almost lost yesterday at home to Tennessee, they got one. Florida didn’t earn many style points in Mississippi State, but the game wasn’t really in doubt like the Tide’s win against the Vols was at the end.

Either way, I think most objective college football fans would agree that neither Florida nor Alabama was very impressive yesterday.

Nobody should be surprised at the outcome in Starkville on Saturday night. No. 1 Florida (which has struggled in Starkville since its last win there in 1985) got a great effort from its defense, but the Gators struggled at times offensively and Mississippi State gave them a fight before finally falling 29-19.

But if Florida was looking to silence its critics, it certainly didn’t do even tonight to accomplish that. Outside of gaining 88 yards on 22 carries and one rushing touchdown, Tim Tebow wasn’t very good. In fact, one could argue that the only reason this game was close was because Tebow kept the Bulldogs in it by throwing two interceptions that Miss State returned for touchdowns. (He also took a truck load of sacks by holding onto the ball too long.)

Even though the Gators only held on to a 13-10 lead at halftime, this game was never really in doubt. The Bulldogs were horrid offensively and couldn’t sustain drives. Again, the only reason they were even in the game is because their defense gave an outstanding effort and managed to produce two touchdowns.

That said, did Florida do enough to remain No. 1 in the BCS standings? Before you say no, remember that Alabama wasn’t that impressive either. The Tide needed a blocked field goal to hold off Tennessee at home, as they too struggled offensively. No. 3 Texas might have an argument after routing Missouri 41-7 on the road, but it’s highly unlikely that the conservative BCS voters would make a move like that and rank the Longhorns No. 1.

Chances are that Florida will find itself atop the BCS standings for a second consecutive week. But for the second consecutive week, the Gators weren’t all that impressive either.

In the Oct. 19 issue of ESPN the Mag (a.k.a. “The Body Issue”), Bruce Feldman argues that speed is far more important in college football, where the hash marks are wider, the preparation isn’t as good and the talent disparity is greater, than it is in the NFL, where everyone is fast.

Case in point, the Oakland Raiders:

Or you can just look at the Oakland Raiders. Much like the Gators’, their performance separates them from the pack in recent years — just not in a good way. No one in the NFL covets speed the way the Raiders do.

Al Davis, the man who pursued such speedsters as the aptly named James Jett, is downright enamored of fast guys, perhaps even more so than Meyer is. (Of the nine fastest players tested by the NFL over the past 10 years, four — Fabian Washington, Stanford Routt, Ashley Lelie and Carlos Francis — have played for the Raiders.) According to an NFL scout, the Raiders had 15 players on their roster last season who’d run a verified 40 of 4.5 or faster — four more than the next “fastest” team. And what did it get them? A sixth-straight season with double-digit losses.

It’s a good read.

The SEC has suspended the officials that made some horrendous calls that favored Florida in their victory over Arkansas last Saturday.

From SI.com:

Referee Marc Curles’ crew called a personal foul on Arkansas defensive lineman Malcolm Sheppard in the fourth quarter as the Gators were rallying for a 23-20 victory. The league said there was no video evidence to support the call.

The same group of officials called the LSU-Georgia game earlier this month, which included a late unsportsmanlike conduct penalty the league said shouldn’t have been called.

“A series of calls that have occurred during the last several weeks have not been to the standard that we expect from our officiating crews,” SEC commissioner Mike Slive said Wednesday. “I believe our officiating program is the best in the country. However, there are times when these actions must be taken.”

SEC associate commissioner Charles Bloom said this is the first time the league has publicly suspended a football crew like this.
Good for the SEC. Those were brutal calls that affected the outcome of the game. The penalties gave the Gators excellent field position and the momentum needed for them to score and steal a win from the Razorbacks.

Granted, this won’t give Arkansas the win and Florida the loss, but hopefully the sack-less BCS voters are paying attention. The Gators should probably have one loss right now, making Alabama the undisputed No. 1 team in the nation.

Here’s video of the horrible calls:

According to ESPN.com, Florida quarterback Tim Tebow won’t practice on Monday and hasn’t been medically cleared to play LSU on Saturday. Tebow suffered a concussion two weeks ago in a win over Kentucky.

But Meyer said the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner is no longer dealing with post-concussion symptoms.

“From what I understand, there’s no symptoms and I think he’s cleared to act like Tim Tebow,” Meyer said. “Everything but practice right now. I know he’s allowed to watch TV. Earlier in the week he wasn’t allowed to do anything focused. I guess that’s normal protocol. And then after a week they acclimate.”

Meyer said Tebow has been without headaches and other symptoms for several days. He said Tebow was given balance and memory tests Friday, Sunday and Monday, and the results were “very positive.”

First and foremost, it’s good to hear that Tebow isn’t suffering any post-concussion symptoms. Hopefully the medical reports will continue to be positive and he can continue playing soon.

But speaking only from a football sense, this is horrible timing for Florida. If they were playing Holy Trinity Sisters of the Poor in five days, resting Tebow for another week would make sense. But with LSU and their ferocious defense coming up, the decision on whether or not to play Tebow gets a little cloudier.

That said, if he’s not medically cleared to play, then there’s no debate – he needs to sit out. But what if he’s medically cleared at the end of the week and he missed five days of practice? Should Florida still play him?

This is going to be an interesting dilemma for Meyer.

According to ESPN.com, Florida quarterback Tim Tebow was released from a Kentucky hospital on Sunday morning after taking a hard hit to the head in the Gators’ 41-7 win over the Wildcats on Saturday.

Coach Urban Meyer said Tebow sustained a concussion when he was sacked by defensive end Taylor Wyndham in the third quarter of Saturday night’s 41-7 win. Tebow’s head struck teammate Marcus Gilbert’s leg, violently bending his neck forward.

“Tim is doing fine this morning,” Meyer said in a statement. “His CT scans came back and indicated that Tim suffered a concussion. Our medical and athletic training staff will continue to monitor him to determine how much rest and recovery he needs. We will have additional information and updates this week.”

It’s good that the Gators are off next week because some players rush back onto the field after receiving concussions, which is extremely dangerous. Hopefully Tebow won’t suffer any post-concussion symptoms and he can play in two weeks. (Although his health is the most important thing – not his playing status.)

Good to hear that he’s heading home after what has been a long week for Tebow (who was also suffering from the flu) and the Gators.