Finally back from a little sabbatical and while we were gone, the Denver Broncos drafted Tim (MY!) Tebow. Many were shocked, some outraged ( a 25th first round pick on an unproven commodity as an NFL QB?). Yes, it was surprising, and so is this........
It's a stroke of genius and the Tebow experiment will work in Denver.
Let's break this down a little:
Kyle Orton , a mediocre QB but with the potential to excel in Josh McDaniel's system, will be the pre-season starter. He's also in the last year of a contract the Broncos have about as much interest in extending as I do of becoming a Philadelphia Phillies phan ( 1/2 of philly people think that's how you actually spell it.) Orton isn't the long term solution here and that's why Brady Quinn was brought in to compete for the starting job.
But is Quinn the solution either? In three seasons in Cleveland , he....... oh, wait I cant find his stats on Google because all that comes up on the first page is his career at Notre Dame. That's about right. In other words, the overly hyped QB of an overly hyped program has done about as much as Matt Leinart for the Cards. Yes, Quinn thrived at Notre Dame under a "pro-style" offense with Charlie Weis, but he has been unable to turn that into any success at the actual pro level. A change of scenery will be nice and he desperately needed a new system, you know because Cleveland has such a historic winning tradition.
So that's what the Broncos were faced with before the April draft. They needed a spark, and most importantly a reason to energize and invigorate the team, organization, and FAN BASE that has basically sat through 11 meaningless seasons, the gutting of the franchise coach (Shannahan) and players at QB (the one who's name is not spoken in Denver) and WR (300+ catches in 3 years, Mr. Brandon Marshall), and only one playoff win.
You have to admit like him or hate him, Josh McDaniels definitely has a brass pair. So he decided to pull them out on the table, and collectively slap everyone in the head with them and drafted Tebow ahead of Jimmy Clausen, Colt McCoy, Tony Pike, and many other more tradtional QB's. There was of course a reason for this: The Denver system DOESNT need a QB like Clausen or McCoy. What they do need is an agile, playmaker who can be molded to fit the system McDaniels employs. It is by no means a deep vertical passing game. It is a spread out, quick scheme and you add the athleticism of Tebow as a runner and passer , then a running attack bolstered by Knowshon Moreno and you have yourself a dangerous offense.
On top of that, Tebow is the type of person and athlete that you can be proud to root behind. He hopefully wont be getting his junk out at clubs, involved in gun possession or other serious issues that can interfere with other stars in the NFL.
Its going to take some time and effort to turn Tebow into an every down QB, but even in his rookie campaign dont be surprised to see him in short down situations as a QB/HB or even TE. The versatility this guy gives the Broncos offense will make him the most dangerous Broncos player, especially in the open field, since the likes of Elway, Davis, McCaffrey, and Sharpe.
The taking of Tebow will either be a misguided attempt at landing a future franchise player or a shrewd selection that the Broncos gambled on and created a dynamic, charasmatic face of the franchise. Put me down for the latter.
The Tim Tebow era begins in Denver on August 21 versus the Detroit Lions . I know if I were Ndamukong Suh, I'd be ready for a long night after TIM-MY! planted me in the middle of Buffs country.
And if you don't believe me, maybe you'll take John's viewpoint on it:
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_15015203
