I’ll bet there are at least 5 players who are playing out of position who would make for better qb’s than Tebow. Then on top of that there are 5 guys who aren’t in the league who are better qb’s than Tebow.
How much success did he have this year? Even when the starting QB went down, the Jets started the 3rd stringer because they know Tebow sucks as a NFL QB.
The successes that Tebow had were, by and large, in wins. And if you look at the games the Broncos won when he was in, it was the defense, not him, that won those games.
The Broncos built the only offense that Tebow could run, that read/option/run around awhile and hope a guy gets so open even you can make the throw. And even with the entire offense built to accommodate Tebow at his best, the offense still sucked.
And almost the entire NFL has realized this, which is why he’s not starting, why no team is really interested in having him as a starter and why, if he does play, it’s as a gimmick.
There is nothing wrong with being an amazing college football quarterback. If only Tebow’s fans would let him be that instead of pretending that he’s even a competent NFL QB.
He could also make for a decent blocking TE who’s an occasional threat to throw. Apparently, the inclination to convert isn’t there, either.
Tebow is listed at 236 pounds which is light for a blocking TE. If you lined him up at Tight End, the D-linemen would pound him every chance they got. To survive that, he would need to bulk up, making him even slower. He also hasn’t shown any ability to catch. So the only time he would be any kind of threat is when he lines up in the backfield.
Interesting. He started out the season at 250 lbs, which is still a bit on the low end for a blocker but pretty solid for an athletic guy. Apparently, he didn’t lose much speed with the extra pounds, either. The Texans use James Casey at that hybrid FB/TE position and he’s only 230-235 or so.
Yeah, and listed weight in the NFL is not too reliable. But anyway, if (huge if) Tebow can prove he can catch, using him as some sort of FB/TE might work. Particularly when lined up in the backfield where he can run the Wildcat.
But even then, he isn’t a starting QB in the NFL.
If you’re an NFL team whose starting QB is in the bottom quartile, while you may be in the situation that you view your QB as a “project”, and you’re going to pour resources into him in order to improve him, it’s much more likely that you’re in one of these two situations:
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You know that he’s not a very good QB by NFL standards, and isn’t likely to improve much, but, at the moment, he’s the best you have. Maybe he’s really your second-stringer, and your starter is hurt. Maybe your starter retired last year, and your succession plan wasn’t as good as you thought it was. (BTW, this is where the Bears were for most of the 1990s.)
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You’ve discovered that your starter isn’t as good as you thought he was (or hoped he would become). This is the Mark Sanchezes and Matt Leinarts of the world. As has been noted, you may well be sticking with him in part because he has a huge contract, and cutting him would be disastrous to your salary cap.
However, in both of these cases, this “bottom 25% starter” is holding the job by default, and his team is, almost undoubtedly, going to be trying to figure out how to upgrade at the position.
Using him as a passing/wildcat TE/FB would require him to make some snap judgement throwing calls that he has not proven he can make, either. He can make long throws when the WR is handed to him on a platter and he can run well for a QB. That is it.
The simple answer to the OP’s question is NO, Tebow is not a good quarterback.
One thing I noticed while watching a few of his games last year is it seemed like they punted a lot. Indeed, I looked it up, and they punted 78 times in the 11 games he started for a 7.09 punt per game average. The NFL average per team per game in 2011 was 4.84. Indeed, you have to go back to the expansion Houston Texans of 2002 to find a team that punted more often than Tebow’s Broncos.
Punting is better in most cases than a turnover, but it still is the result of an unsuccessful drive. The Broncos had drives end in punts more often under Tebow than any team in recent history. And that, my friends, is not the sort of statistical footnote you’ll see attached to the resumes of good quarterbacks.
To move this discussion in a slightly different direction, there’s another reason that hasn’t really been touched on yet as to why Tebow ended up traded away from Denver and stuck as the third stringer with the Jets. In the immortal words of Allen Iverson…
Just Google the words “Tim Tebow Practice” and you can find any number of stories - here’s one and here’s another if you’re interested. The upshot (and what everyone generally agrees on) is that the one thing Tebow does do well is run - and specifically, he scrambles well when a play breaks down, keeps things alive, and makes something good happen out of a sure disaster of a play. The problem is that while defenses can’t prepare for that in a game, Tim’s offense can’t prepare for that in practice either. If you’re trying to install a ten yard out route, you need your quarterback to actually throw that out route on time and on target. Your rookie wide receiver doesn’t learn how to run a fifteen yard button-hook when Tebow can’t hit him on time, and your pricey free agent veteran wide receiver can’t get into the necessary rhythm and timing of his new team’s route tree if the QB just takes off and runs without reading through his progressions.
In short, the only things that Tebow does well during games are exactly the things you don’t do in practice. So on the one hand he never looks good enough in practice to warrant getting a start on game day, and on the other hand if he is your starter, he makes Monday through Friday a living Hell for his coaches and teammates because his shortcomings as a passer make everyone else unable to properly do their jobs and practice the way they’re supposed to.
I can’t stand to watch him throw. Every 25 yard pass is done in a way that looks like he’s going to hail marry the thing 60 yards down the field.
I can’t even imagine him making one of those lighting quick five yard slant route passes that players like Rodgers and Brady make look so easy.
The Jets’ problem is they’ve got three good back-up QB’s and no good starter.
I love Tebow. I would love to see him play. He’s a scrappy guy and fun to watch.
But it’s true…he just cannot throw at an NFL level.
I would love to see Tebow switch to RB or FB. have him behind the QB, toss to him on a sweep, have a receiver go deep on that side. Make him decide to throw or run. Run it a couple times, then turn it into play action where you fake the toss, the QB keeps it and throws the out on the other side of the field. Take that as a base and run multiple variations. I think it could work, but no-one will try it. He doesn’t want to be anything but a QB.
That play can’t work as you’ve scripted it. The offensive line have to stay behind the line of scrimmage, lest they become “ineligible receivers downfield”. Types of plays where a running back or wide receiver pass the ball are gimmick plays that work, at most, 3 or 4 times per season for a team, and that might be generous.
Last weekend the Packers ran Cobb out of slot back position. I could see at Tbow doing something like that.
Are you honestly trying to compare a north south running, 4.7 40, 240 pounder with a scatback, sub 4.4, sub 200 pounder?
Coaches make their decisions on something most people never watch. Practices.
If all your forming you opinion of a QB on is game performance that’s a miniscule sample of what the guy can do. They make what, 30, 40 pass attempts per game once a week?
These guys throw hundreds of passes a day in front of coaches. Every conceivable route, receiver, situation. At the end of a week after watching a guy throw a thousand passes or so I think a coach has a much better picture of the guy’s abilities than your average fan who saw him make 35 attempts last week.
Wow. I honestly never realized how big TT is. Not sure anyone would call Cobb a scatback though.
My mistake labeling him as such, but he is on the smaller side of NFL players. The larger point is that he is much quicker than Tebow, and that quickness serves the position he is placed in; Tebow lacks the quickness required of that position. He’s too slow both with his feet and his arm for defenses to respect either aspect enough to allow him to exploit it.