Tim Tebow–How Can ZERO NFL Teams Want Him?
The Confidential gets that Tim Tebow is not a great quarterback. He does not have the arm or the accuracy or the intelligence or whatever. But ESPN the Magazine had an article indicating that nobody wants Tim Tebow. The Confidential cannot believe that there is not one of 32 NFL teams that can find a spot for Tim Tebow. It is just not fathomable.
The ESPN the Magazine article had this quote regarding Tebow:
But ask an NFC scout what he thinks of Tebow and the response is a gut punch: “He’s not a quarterback. When you look at his run two years ago, when you watch the tape and break it down, he wasn’t really doing anything that impressive. He’s a tough guy, a great leader, a great person. But he isn’t a good enough quarterback to have all the distractions that come with him.”
In the end, this is the formula that ultimately doomed Tebow: Fatal flaws in his throwing mechanics and his cognitive understanding of the position left him as little more than a wildcat specialist, a No. 3 QB or a long-term project. Thanks to his athleticism, work ethic and leadership, that still meant he was an upgrade on at least a third of the rosters in the league — after all, such QBs as Pat Devlin and Ricky Stanzi are currently on rosters. But in the minds of GMs, Tebow’s potential payoff would never outweigh the billboards, the parking lots full of satellite trucks, the endless QB controversies or any of the other distractions and internal conflicts he brings with him.
So let’s just look at this. Pros: Tough guy. Great leader. Athleticism. Work ethic. Leadership. Cons: Throwing mechanics. Cognitive understanding. Media frenzy. Distractions.
That’s not the Confidential speaking. That’s the article. Because the Confidential would add one thing–Tebow is a winner.
But just look at this stats. As a rookie, he completed 50% of his passes. As a second-year player, that dropped to 46.5% of his passes. But even as a second-year player, he ran for 660 yards. Good grief, he led the Denver Broncos to a playoff win. Want to know who DID NOT do that? The mega-stat generating Peyton Manning. Only Jake Plummer has done that since John Elway retired.
You can say all you want about Tim Tebow’s flaws, but the guy has been around for three seasons. He has started, essentially, for one season. Are we really holding the Jets’ debacle against him?
The issue is not that someone should give him the keys to the franchise. He needs work. He needs to be on the bench learning the game. Maybe being a free agent for these months will help inspire him to learn the game and spend more time on his mechanics.
It’s just amazing that NOBODY wants to roll the dice. Jacksonville. 2-14 in 2012. Chad Henne at QB. Know how interesting Jacksonville is? You’ve got to look these details up on Wikipedia. They couldn’t use the “distraction” of Tim Tebow. Guess what… if you starting QB cannot handle the pressure of Tim Tebow, your starting QB is not going to work out. Mark Sanchez–how did he handle the Tebow pressure? Poor enough to lose the faith of the Jets’ faithful. Instead, Jacksonville needs to use Henne, Gabbert and a couple of rookies.
Dallas. They have Tony Romo. His backup? Kyle Orton. You may remember him from losing his job to Tebow. Again, if a guy cannot outplay Tebow, why is he on your roster instead of Tebow?
And so on. There are plenty of franchises that could use Tim Tebow as a backup. Or even Tim Tebow as a project.
Again, the issue is not that he is not starting for a team. It’s that he is not even on anyone’s roster.
The Confidential 
He is a huge distraction and a source of constant media bullshit. He is not a good (or even fair) QB. Considering his on-field contributions are next to zero and his media related BS makes having him on your team a major PITA the thing that is more interesting to me is why there are people (like the author) who think having him on a team is a good idea. Go try the CFL Tim, they have God in Canada too I think…
The guy has started 16 games in the NFL. That his hardly a large sample. He won 9 of those games. Not saying he already is good, just that it is absurd to say that he is terrible.
Moreover, he is not even a bad person. Nobody blames the media thing on him. Which is different than the guys who invited media attention, like Ochocinco.
On the same Denver team, Kyle Orton floundered. Tebow led them to the playoffs. How can Orton have a job, but Tebow not? The same team. Orton with his greater skills went 1-4, Tebow went 7-4.
His QB rating in the playoffs was 90.9. That is not great, but that is better than “fair.”
Tebow’s career passing rating has been 75.3. Warren Moon’s passer ratings his first three seasons were 76.9, 68.5, and 62.3. He declined his first three years. Just like Tebow declined from year 1 to year 2.
Unfortunately, wins are not part of passer rating. But even without wins, there is no justification for Tebow to be jobless.
Tebow’s a decent player, but it’s almost impossible to let him develop into something more. The media circus and fanbase that follow him around won’t let it happen. It happened in Denver and it happened in NYC. It’s a real problem for team dynamics when the most popular player with your fans and the most frequently spotted jersey at the stadium is your backup quarterback’s. The coach and GM are living under constant pressure to play the face of the franchise more and the starter is always looking over his shoulder waiting for the moment when the pressure becomes too much and the coach and GM cave to the fan demands. It would take a really successful combination of Coach, GM, and starting QB to take on Tebow and weather the storm of fan and media scrutiny about Tebow’s playing time and give him develop as a QB before throwing him out to fans that expect him to constantly win like he did at Florida and a media that alternates between wanting to see him succeed and decrying him as overrated. The only team I can think of that fits the bill is New England.
Assuming your theory, I think it could work in New Orleans, Baltimore, San Francisco (except its QB position is vulnerable), and Green Bay.
At the same time, Buffalo, Kansas City, and Oakland have nothing to prevent them. All three could use the injection of publicity too.
Tebow needs to use his leadership status as the guy who just wants to help a team win; if that means playing Fullback or Linebacker then whatever it takes. You can be a leader and NOT be the QB.
Alternatively, if he insists on being a QB then I think that Tebow should go spend a season or two playing Arena or in the Canadian Football League where he can use his star power to help draw better crowds to those games, and his sheer athleticism will probably help him stand out and maybe get another shot in the NFL.
I used to hate the guy. But I just don’t get how a 3-year QB with 16 games started an a QB rating of 75 and the ability to rush for 50 yards a game cannot even be a backup QB. Why is everyone turning me into a Tim Tebow fan?
There’s nothing wrong with defending Tebow, its not necessarily his fault that the media drools over his every move.
More importantly, why did you used to hate Tebow?
I meant more in terms of what I thought of the media attention.
“I meant more in terms of what I thought of the media attention.”
I thought that maybe you hated him because at Florida he played football like it was Hodson’s field.
The reality is that the NFL has a higher standard now for running QBs. Cam Newton and RGIII are the prototypical running QB because they can make all of the passes that Tebow cannot. Add in the media blitz and its a recipe for disaster.
All the more reason for Tebow to either switch positions completely, or go Arena or CFL for a year or two.
Since when is the media a negative? The Yankees have a lot of media and a lot of cash. They sell a lot of tickets and sell their TV rights for a lot.
If you are a franchise that is already successful, it might not matter at all. Just more media (i.e. Dallas). Not even perceptible change.
If you are a franchise that is being ignored, maybe some media will help. If you aren’t selling out, why not add a guy that will help.
And since when does anyone care what fans think? Fans always like the backup QB. A good coach deals with it. An idiot like Ryan cannot.
There are 20 great QBs in the NFL That does not mean that teams don’t sign backups just because those backups aren’t top 20 QBs.
Again, someone explain to me why Kyle Orton has a job, when Tebow outplayed him. Just answer that question. Because nobody cares about Orton? That makes no competitive or business sense at all.
Maybe he just has a really shitty agent.
When did generating media attention, of the good kind, turn into something an NFL team wants to avoid? Besides being a winner, he’d crank up sales in every way – eyeballs on TV, butts in seats, merchandise, etc.
If he was generating negative media but running his mouth too much then I could understand it. But he’s just the opposite. Last I heard, NFL teams were still businesses, and generating media coverage is good for business when Tebow is around.
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