The Real Tim Couch

If you haven't heard, former NFL QB Tim Couch has admitted to using performance enhancing drugs to aid in an attempt to make an NFL roster. At least, I think he admitted it. A series of stories at Yahoo! Sports seem to make it sound like he admitted do doing something once - for a week, or an hour, or something. Allegedly, the drug of choice was HGH, and since Couch fell short in his comeback attempt with the Jacksonville Jaguars, we can only conclude on of two things:

1. HGH isn't living up to it's reputation as a performance enhancer, or


2. Tim Couch isn't an NFL calibar quarterback, even with the help of HGH.

While Cleveland Browns fans will readily claim the second explanation (Couch washed out of Cleveland after being selected as the #1 overall pick in the 1999 NFL draft), let's think about this.

Hmmm...after consideration, I'll also take choice #2.

In retrospect, Tim Couch was a system quarterback. The system was the spread offense of Hal Mumme and Mike Leach at Kentucky during the late 90's. At that time, few Division I college offenses had experimented with the spread, run n' gun, or whatever you want to call it. The Houston Cougers used it with a great deal of success in the early 90's, but even late in that decade, the spread was still a new concept in most BCS power conferences.

Couch was the right man in the right place at the right time at Kentucky. In the couple of years it took SEC defenses to adjust to the spread, Couch put up big numbers. Much like "system" QB's Andre Ware and David Klingler before him, Couch leveraged his college stats into NFL riches. but much to the dismay of Browns fans, Couch was exposed when he got to the next level.

I have no idea what separates a Tim Couch from a Peyton Manning or Donovan McNabb, but whatever it is, Couch doesn't have it. And no amount of steroid or HGH will ever help him find it.