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University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow is about as headlined as any college athlete of all time. He’s won two National Championships and a Heisman Trophy, and is generally considered the perfect college football player, despite the heightened questions surrounding his prospects for the NFL. He virtually guaranteed a title last year after an early-season loss at home — and delivered — and the lore surrounding Tebow’s three-plus years in Gainesville grows with every passing Saturday. It’s probably safe to say that The Swamp is Tebow’s playground, his world, if you will.

But in all the hype and glory Tebow has earned, and even the overdose he hasn’t, the 6-foot-3, 245-pound senior may have an equal, someone playing 2,500 miles to the northwest in a highly-contrasted climate, wearing a similarly opposite color scheme on his back each week.

In so many ways, Washington’s Jake Locker is the opposite of Tebow. Tebow throws left-handed, is a polished player with 40 wins under his belt and a lot of national recognition, including his bronze statue, awarded in December, 2007. He plays in warm weather all season long and has had one of the country’s best coaches coordinating his games from the get-go.

Tebow throws the touch pass well, is considered among the strongest players in the country at his position and gives oddsmakers another aspect to think about with his will to win and leadership. He’s thrown for over 7,000 yards and 72 touchdowns and his career quarterback efficiency rating is north of 170.

All of the above join together to dwarf the statistical accomplishments of Locker, a fourth-year junior who missed most of 2008 with a broken thumb, and also suffered through the Ty Willingham years at the school. Locker has managed less than half the yards and one-third the passing scores as his Southeastern Conference counterpart, not to mention the 30 fewer wins and the prominent presence of raw, untapped potential.

But the only real difference between the two is the other 90 or so players that each quarterback has called their respective teammates the past three or four years.

The Gators annually recruit with the best in the country and Urban Meyer is among the nation’s best coaches, while Locker has been dealt… well, let’s just say he hasn’t been dealt even a halfway equal deck of cards, and that may be an understatement.

Locker is equally as tough as Tebow, both mentally and physically, and I don’t think you’ll find an objective observer in the country that would disagree, and his arm strength, leadership and foot speed grade out very similarly as well. In fact, ESPN.com’s Mel Kiper and Todd McShay both grade Locker’s arm strength and speed higher than that of Tebow’s, and the junior’s leadership abilities have never been questioned.

Sound familiar?

The debate about either player’s future in the NFL is not relevant to this discussion, but the two players are nearly mirror images of each other, right down to their height, versatility and the fact that if they were staring each other in the face with their throwing arms in the upright position, each would be holding the ball on the same side.

Jake Locker’s strong start in 2009 has put the Ferndale, Washington native on the map of college football, and if his Dawgs continue their resurgence under first-year coach Steve Sarkisian — and Locker, like Tebow, returns to school for his senior season — the similarities between the two star QBs could grow to more ridiculous heights — ya know, with all the winning Washington may very well be into at that point, if not sooner.

And if the stars align a little more toward the west this winter, Tebow may find himself asking his mother for a Jake Locker jersey this Christmas. A Christmas Tebow may be spending in Locker’s world.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 25th, 2009 at 12:03 am and is filed under College Football, Huskies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.