NFL Playoffs 2012: Alex Smith Overtakes Tim Tebow as Best Urban Meyer Product

For all the hoopla over and hype concerning Tim Tebow, it's all too easy to forget that the Denver Broncos sensation isn't even the best quarterback in the NFL to have been groomed by Urban Meyer.

That mantle belongs to Alex Smith, a fact about which football fans everywhere were reminded during the San Francisco 49ers' thrilling 36-32 victory over the New Orleans Saints. Smith had the game of his life at Candlestick Park on Saturday, throwing for 299 yards and accounting for four touchdowns, including a spectacular 28-yard run on a scheme that might as well have been ripped from Meyer's playbook.

What's more, Smith's finest hour came when the pressure was greatest, amidst a fourth-quarter shootout with Drew Brees, arguably the best quarterback in the NFL today. Smith had been solid and efficient all season (3,144 yards, 17 touchdowns, five interceptions, a passer rating of 90.7), but until now, he'd scarcely had the opportunity to strut his stuff against elite competition with the game on the line.

Tebow, meanwhile, was decidedly less than impressive in New England, nary a week removed from his seemingly miraculous performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Mile High Stadium. Somehow, Tebow went from throwing for 316 yards and two touchdowns against the NFL's stingiest pass defense to managing just 136 yards and no scores on 9-of-27 passing against one of the league's most pliable units.

Perhaps he was too much in awe of Tom Brady, who torched Denver's D for 363 yards and six touchdowns of his own.

In any case, Saturday provided an interesting case study in ex-Meyer quarterbacks, with one (Smith) rising to the occasion and the other (Tebow) appearing to shrink under the pressure of being matched against elite signal callers.

Of course, a straight-up comparison of this sort isn't entirely fair. Smith should be good enough to hang with the best of the best by now. At 27 and as the former No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft, Smith, whom San Fran selected over current Green Bay Packers superstar and State Farm spokesman Aaron Rodgers, should be in a better position to succeed than a second-year player like Tebow, who's still incredibly raw for the position.

Still, that doesn't (or, rather, shouldn't) take anything away from Smith being considered superior to Tebow here and now. Let's not forget, Smith has endured plenty of his own adversity as a pro, coping with the pressure of playing quarterback for the franchise that spawned Hall-of-Famers Joe Montana and Steve Young.

Not to mention the fact that he had to live up to those lofty expectations while playing under different tutelage during each of his seven years in the NFL. 

And, if nothing else, Smith is still playing while Tebow is already settling into an offseason regimen of learning how to play the quarterback position with some consistency.

Sure, Smith hasn't inspired huge, devout followings or television specials about him, but when it comes to the goings-on between the hash marks, Smith reigns supreme over Tebow.

For now, at least.

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