The future looks bright for former Bearcat.

By Coden Mruk

MORGANTOWN, WV – Cincinnatti QB Tony Pike has finished his college career as a two year starter for the Bearcats throwing for over 5,000 yards and 49 touchdowns. In his final season at Cincinnati, Pike led his team to a 12-0 regular season record and a birth in the 2009-2010 Allstate Sugar Bowl. Improving each year, Pike saw his touchdown numbers shoot from 19 to 29 this past season. Just as impressive was that he threw those touchdowns without turning the ball over, throwing only 6 INTs on the season. Coming in to the final game of the season against Pitt for the Big East championship Pike had only thrown 3 interceptions on the year. He managed to match his 3 additional interceptions with 3 touchdowns and the all important game winner to take the conference and finish out a perfect regular season. Also note that he threw 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions in Cincinnati’s only loss to Florida.

Much of this past year’s success can be credited to the Bearcats high flying offense led by Pike and senior wideout Mardy Gilyard. The duo hooked up for a total of 9 touchdowns in as many games. Pike missed 3 regular season games due to injury but before going down was considered a candidate for the Heisman trophy.

Now, after impressing everyone at the Senior Bowl including ESPN’s and Scout.com’s Todd McShay, Tony Pike finds himself right in the middle of the draft process and there is a ton of buzz around this guy. In fact, Mcshay called Pike the “best all around prospect” at this years Senior Bowl. Pointing out Pike’s upside,Mcshay calls his ball “deadly accurate”, and continued by noting Pike “shows good poise in the pocket”. If he can continue to improve on his pocket awareness and ability to read coverages he becomes an elite NFL QB prospect standing 6’6 and weighing in at 225 lbs. He has the body of your prototypical quarterback resembling Peyton Manning and Carson Palmer. Scouts and GMs both love what Tony Pike brings to the table at the quarterback position.

Lets be realistic, there are about ten total teams whose quarterback position can be considered up in the air or unsettled. From the Rams to the Vikings, throw in the Jaguars, Cardinals, Panthers, and Seahawks…to name a few. I’m not saying that ten teams are going to draft a quarterback, especially not within the first three rounds of this years draft. What I’m saying is that if you are one of these GMs and you see a quarterback on your draft board who you feel can make your team better you draft him. As we all know the quarterback is the leader of the offense and by default the scape goat when things turn sour. Having a quarterback whose abilities only allow him to manage an offense puts a strain on defenses that few teams can afford. That’s why the strong arm and accuracy of Pike has a lot of people taking a closer look. Here is a short look at a few of those scenarios.

Minnesota Vikings- This whole situation revolves around Brett Favre’s decision to come back or retire. For sake of this argument lets say he retires. The Minnesota Vikings are stacked on the defensive side of the ball however they are aging quickly. The offense has a premiere running back, three good wide receivers, and a tight end already in place. We have all seen  what Minnesota can do with an effective passing game and we have also seen just how ineffective Tavaris Jackson can be. Minnesota could address the  defense early and Tony Pike could find his way on the Vikings draft board come round 3.

Seattle Seahawks- There is a new sheriff in town in Seattle and he wants to win. Pete Carroll had a short stint in the NFL prior to this gig with the Seahawks but his professional coaching career turned out to be a bust. He moved on to USC where he experienced win after win, bowl after bowl. He’s going to want to win and win now. To do that, don’t be surprised to see the Seahawks draft a quarterback to play and learn behind Matt Hasselbeck, who could be looking for work if he doesn’t get the job done soon.

Arizona Cardinals- It looks like kurt Warner’s career has finally come to an end. Originally, Arizona’s plan was to move in to the future featuring Matt Leinart at the helm. The time Leinart has spent on the feild, though it short, has not been by any means impressive. To me, it is obvious that Matt Leinart is not the answer for the future unless he improves significantly. This improvement could be sparked by creating a small quarterback controversy by drafting a guy like Pike. Give yourself two young quarterbacks both of whom are looking to prove something. Announce Leinart as your starter going in to camp giving him the confidence of the coaching staff and front office and let Tony Pike learn from the sideline.

Do I think Tony Pike is going to be a great NFL quarterback? No. Do I think any team should bet the farm on a guy like Pike? No.I do think that Tony Pike has put himself in position to be considered an elite prospect at the quarterback position. If I’m a GM I take a chance on Pike in round 3. If he falls to round 4 or 5 its a steal.