McNown impresses Bucs' Dungy
Posted: Sunday February 21, 1999 07:46 PM
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A wise investment? Cade McNown's stock has been on the rise since the end of his senior season. Tom Hauck/Allsport |
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- At least one NFL head coach thinks UCLA
quarterback Cade McNown will be taken in the first round of the April
draft.
Tampa Bay
Buccaneers coach Tony Dungy said Sunday at the NFL Scouting Combine
that he's sold on the lefty quarterback, considered by some to lack a
big-league throwing arm.
When asked if McNown would still be on the board when Tampa Bay picked
15th overall, Dungy said: "I hope so. But I wouldn't be surprised if he is
not. ... I'd like to have a chance at him."
Dungy coached McNown at the Senior Bowl in January. In that game,
McNown led his team to three scoring drives and was named the game's MVP.
"To me, I'm big on production," Dungy said. "Cade is a guy who has
produced. His arm was better than I heard it was going to be."
McNown would welcome the opportunity to play for Tampa Bay, but he
said the draft remains wide open.
"It would be a great situation," McNown said of possibly going to the
Buccaneers. "I'd love being around Coach Dungy. That's nice of him to say."
McNown's stock has been rising since the end of the season. Unlike
some of the high profile quarterbacks -- like Kentucky's Tim Couch and
Central Florida's Daunte Culpepper -- McNown participated in all the drills
at the combine.
He was measured at 6-foot-1, 213-pounds, which is slightly taller than
NFL scouts were led to believe. Next, McNown must convince scouts that his
left arm is up to par.
"I'm not going to throw the ball as hard as Brett Favre," McNown said.
"But I have got a strong enough arm to play. I will make any throw that is
asked of me."
McNown comes off an impressive senior season where he threw for 3,130
yards with 23 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. In a loss to the University
of Miami, he was 26 of 35 for 513 yards.
"In everything I do, I want to win," he said. "It doesn't matter what
it is.
"Everybody right now is trying to get into position to get what they
want. Right now, I'd say 100 percent of these teams don't know exactly what
they want."
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