National Football Post Senior Quarterback Breakdown

(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

With the completion of my top-100 board Wednesday, I typically like to take another week or two to get a feel for the top seniors at each position.

Throughout the next two weeks, I’ll be following up my top 100 with a breakdown of the top players at each position to give readers – and myself -- a good starting point when I begin watching junior tape in June.

To get things started, let’s look at the 2010 senior quarterback class, which is not very impressive at first glance. With junior QBs Mark Sanchez, Matthew Stafford and Josh Freeman all going in the 2009 draft, the talent toward the top end of the position is a bit weak.

Also, with the continued growth of the spread offense in college football, it’s now becoming tougher to find quarterbacks who can fit in NFL-type offenses.

This year, for example, about six to eight of the top senior quarterbacks (depending on whom you’re talking to) come from spread offenses, making the evaluation process that much more difficult.

Here’s a look at some of the more intriguing senior QB prospects for 2010. 

The Top Three

Colt McCoy, Texas (6-3, 216)

McCoy leads the 2010 quarterback class and is likely to have another stellar season at Texas, along with possibly winning the Heisman Trophy and a National Championship. He’s a confident, poised quarterback who does a nice job in the pocket buying time and keeping his rhythm in the passing game.

He displays a nice touch in all areas of the field, although he lacks the arm strength to consistently fit the ball into tight spots...and his passes have a tendency to sail on him when he tries to overthrow.

Nevertheless, he possesses an intriguing combination of accuracy, anticipation and athleticism for the position. Like most quarterbacks in next year’s draft, however, he will need to make a transition from the spread offense.

Tim Tebow, Florida (6-3, 245)

Tebow might go down as the most scrutinized prospect to ever enter the NFL draft. There aren’t two NFL executives, scouts or fans you can talk who have the same feelings about him as a prospect.

My take on him is this: You can’t knock the kid’s production, as we are possibly witnessing the most dominant college football player to come along in the past 10 years. You also can’t knock his attitude, work rate, leadership or moxie as he has all the intangibles needed to become a pro quarterback.

There are rumors out of Florida that Tebow is taking snaps from under center and working on shortening his elongated release to make him more NFL-ready.

If true, those are encouraging signs, but we’ll see how committed Florida is to putting Tebow under center in the heart of the SEC schedule.

For now, I still think he can become a productive starting NFL quarterback. He will need time to develop, but he brings too much to the table to not get on the field.

Tim Hiller, Western Michigan (6-5, 228)

Hiller might be the surprise of the top three, but this king-sized pocket passer possesses all the physical tools and the production to back it up.

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