Is Jacobs a steal for Steelers?

By Darrell Laurant  |   Thursday, May 04, 2006  |  Comments( 10 )

Pittsburgh Steelers
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We usually hear about college football players -- most notably Matt Leinart -- who stay in school for their senior year when they could have bailed out for the NFL. That's always a crapshoot, and Leinart was assailed by a flurry of "I told you so" type remarks when he tumbled to No. 10 on April 29 after being considered a lock for No. 1 as the Heisman holder in 2005.

Omar Jacobs, however, had the opposite dilemma. The Bowling Green quarterback was dazzling as a sophomore, but his junior year stats suffered due to a shoulder separation that cost him 2 1/2 games and raised the injury flag.

Given that, a lot of his fans and advisors recommended that Jacobs return for another college season and put those concerns to rest. But the Falcons' star, looking at a rather shallow quarterback draft pool and the fact that Bowling Green was expected to slip as a team next season, decided to come out. Then he suffered through the entire first day and part of the second before being chosen in the fifth round by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"I was surprised, to be honest," Jacobs said of the depths to which his star had fallen.

A bad break for Jacobs, a good break for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Jacobs has NFL size (6-4, 232 pounds), a strong arm (albeit with a three-quarter delivery that makes coaches cringe) and the ability to run away from trouble. As a Bowling Green sophomore, he threw for an eye-popping 41 touchdowns and amassed 4,302 yards in total offense.

Last season, even with the injury, Jacobs threw for 2,591 yards and 26 touchdowns against only seven interceptions. That TD-INT ratio is one of the things that mistake-phobic Steeler coach Bill Cowher liked about him, noting: "I think we got good value and a good young player."

The Pittsburgh Steelers' top three quarterbacks are now all from the Mid-American Conference -- starter Ben Roethlisberger (Miami of Ohio), backup Charlie Batch (Eastern Michigan) and Jacobs.

"In my meeting room, we'll have more MAC updates than any other place in the country," said Steeler quarterback coach Mark Whipple.

Except for all the money he might have lost, it's a good situation for Jacobs. Roethlisberger is the unchallenged starter, but his style leaves him vulnerable to injury. Batch is the kind of backup who follows the Hippocratic Oath ("Above all, do no harm"), but doesn't scare opposing defenses.

After some seasoning, Jacobs could scare them plenty.
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CommentsComments: 10  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
millie leone		09:31 AM
05/04/2006
I am a Steeler fan..born & raised in Pgh...I think the Steelers, with the draft picks they have acquired, have a good chance to...
No.2
Steeler fan in DC		04:39 PM
05/04/2006
Im a huge Steeler fan, and it seems like Omar is a good pick. From a laymans perspective, isn't a 3/4 release a good thing? It...
No.3
Joe Pa		04:49 PM
05/04/2006
Well the knock on that style of throwing motion is that he'll have a lot of passes batted down at the line of scrimmage, but then...
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