April 17, 2006 - When you think quarterbacks, are you thinking MAC? If not, maybe you should. Ben Roethlisberger. Byron Leftwich. Chad Pennington. Charlie Frye.

Who's next? Try Omar Jacobs of Bowling Green.

Jacobs is the kind of player fans like to say they "discovered".

"Did you see that kid from Bowling Green play? He's better than Leinart. Better than Young."

That's what the converts say.

It's like finding that great restaurant across town then telling friend after friend to try the Friday Special. There's something about Jacobs that has his fans talking non-stop about his play. Something about the kid that catches your attention the instant you watch him throw. Something you want to tell everyone who watches football to look out for at the next level. Something that tells you he's more than just the flavor of the week.

IGN Sports caught up with Jacobs to talk about the upcoming draft. He gives us his take on why he's the best quarterback on the board, Bowling Green, and the combine. Here's what he had to say

IGN Sports: Convince me why you're the best quarterback in the draft?

Omar Jacobs: Like I tell everybody, I'm the total package. I've got the height, speed, accuracy, and arm strength. You want to talk production, how about 70/11 touchdown/interception ratio in two years. Good teammate. Good person on and off the field. Coachable. Willing to learn. That's why I'm the best quarterback in the draft.



IGN Sports: With the stats you threw up, why are so many people still calling you a sleeper?

Omar Jacobs: That's the question I'm trying to figure out. I don't know. When I came out, I was the number two quarterback in the nation, then I got hurt and missed two games. I guess when I missed those two games, I lost all of the skills I had. [laughs] I hurt my left shoulder at thatmy non-throwing shoulder. The thing is, I did well at the combine, did well at my Pro Day, so we'll see what happens on draft day.

IGN Sports: Do you think it's because you played at a smaller school?

Omar Jacobs: I don't even think that's an issue. Your eyes should be on the MAC quarterbacks. Look what they've been able to do. Roethlisberger. Leftwich. Pennington. They should be looking at those MAC quarterbacks by now.

IGN Sports: It seems like everybody who watches you play is not only an instant fan, but tries to covert their friends into your fans by watching you play. What's it like to have such devoted followers?

Omar Jacobs: It's cool because a lot of guys don't get to watch me, then when they finally see a tape or a game, they realize my talent. When I am on TV against big schools, I've been able to play my best against the biggest schools we played. I think that should show people that I can get it done at the next level.

IGN Sports: For people who haven't seen you play, who would you compare your style of play to?

Omar Jacobs: I don't like to compare myself to anybody, but a lot of people like to compare me to Daunte Culpepper. I'm trying to create my own identity right now. I try to take a little bit from everybody I watch. I want to be command like Peyton. I want to be a leader like Brady. I want to be strong like Culpepper. I want to be elusive like McNabb. That's what I'm trying to do.

IGN Sports: Did you have a favorite player growing up?

Omar Jacobs: I was a Bills fan growing up, so I was into Thurman Thomas and Bruce Smith. I'm still a fan.

IGN Sports: Did you go out and get the Thurman Thomas throwback?

Omar Jacobs: Man, throwbacks cost too much money. You gotta have throwback money. When you're in college, living off that college budget, you want to eat, you're not searching for throwbacks. [laughs]

IGN Sports: At 6-4, 232, are people surprised how damn big you are for a QB?

Omar Jacobs: Oh yeah. I'm 6-4, but even at that, I seem to have a bigger presence than some people. My agents tell me that Kyle Orton is also 6-4, but they say when I walk up on them, I'm a lot bigger than him. When I walk around and meet people, everyone is always telling me that they didn't realize I'm this big. That's the way it is in the league. The defenders keep getting bigger, so I need to get bigger.


IGN Sports: Out on the field, you don't seem like the type of player who gets rattled easily. What is it about your personality that enables you to keep your cool?

Omar Jacobs: I'm a laid back dude. It's never over. It's never the end of the world. If you throw an interception, you can make it up. You need to have a short memory at quarterback because you're rarely going to play perfect game. Something is always going to happen where you need to overcome adversity. You need to overcome something, and you can't show your team that it got to you because you are the leader, you are the general out on the field. Basically, if you're cool, they're cool. They're cool, we're straight.

IGN Sports: What about the combine. You said you did well out there. Did any of those crazy tests get you rattled?

Omar Jacobs: That stuff was crazy. I'm a junior, so I've never seen these tests before. A lot of these guys who are seniors, they've taken some of these tests back at school. For me, I took a semester off, so I wasn't even thinking about going to the combine and figuring out math problems. It took me a second to get my mind right for these tests. They give you practice tests, but my mind was about trying to go in there and perform on the field. I wasn't thinking about taking tests. They'll give you things like sand, pebble, rock, boulder. Compare the four. The first three are small, the boulder stands out as the big item. You get a lot of questions like that.

IGN Sports: While you were watching the different drills, did anyone's performance blow you away at the combine?

Omar Jacobs: I already had high expectations for everyone going in, so nobody really blew me away. I have high expectations for myself just the same. As a quarterback, you only get a few throws at the combine. I was trying to take advantage of every throw, and I surprised myself personally. Just going through the warm-ups, then waiting around and throwing two times per turn, it's tough. Quarterbacks like to get in a rhythm, and the combine never really lets you find that rhythm. They want to see you perform in the toughest circumstances with all of the pressure on you.



IGN Sports: How did you like your character in NCAA Football last year?

Omar Jacobs: They had me tight on there. I was a 97 passer, so I was pretty good. 80 speedI was straight.

IGN Sports: What advice do you have for EA Sports when making your character for Madden NFL 07?

Omar Jacobs: My Madden character, that's going to be my screensaver. [laughs] I just hope they do me some justice. Capture my dreads and my accuracy and I'm going to be on that game all nightwhen I'm not studying my playbook, that is. [laughs]