Denver's Mistake With Tebow

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hacheman@therx.com
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Denver's mistake with Tebow

Tebow isn't afraid to fail, and Denver must challenge him for the player, and the team


By Mel Kiper
ESPN Insider
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"If we were trying to run a regular offense, he'd be screwed."



Give John Fox credit. Not only is the Denver Broncos' head coach incredibly forthcoming about where the team is with Tim Tebow as the starting quarterback (as he was when he said this to Jeff Darlington of NFL.com earlier this week), he and Denver offensive coordinator Mike McCoy are doing everything they can to make sure Tebow is in a system that he can succeed in.

But there's an irony in this:


• If you think the Broncos are attempting to sabotage Tebow by making him appear limited and not allowing him to truly show off his skills, you're wrong.


• If you think the Broncos are getting a good sense of whether Tebow can be their quarterback of the future by seeing this winning start, you're also wrong.


The Broncos are doing neither, and it'll leave them knowing nothing about their quarterback. Here's why.



<OFFER>The Broncos are going to great lengths to make sure they are running a system Tebow can run. Anybody who says otherwise just isn't watching enough football. We know Tebow is extremely limited as a thrower, and the Broncos have installed a number of plays they know can best exploit his skill set.

Let's be real: Teams won't install numerous zone-read option plays and other elements of multiple-option offense in a matter of weeks just so they can say they tried it out. And people are just being foolish if they claim that Fox and the Broncos are somehow trying to limit what Tebow can do, or worse, make him look amateurish in a "college" scheme.



John Elway and Fox simply know what we've been saying since before the 2010 draft: Tebow is extremely limited in a normal NFL offense, and his ability to make quick reads and get the ball out early and accurately isn't a strength, to say the least. Even with the Broncos installing a number of easy reads and throws, including shots down the line of scrimmage, Tebow is completing 44.8 percent of his passes, by far the lowest in the NFL.



Given that, others might come to the conclusion that Denver is doing right by Tebow. So he can't throw it well -- they're playing to his strengths!
But that's where the problem lies.

A lot of us did think Tebow could succeed some initially. I agreed with colleague Trent Dilfer, who said Tebow can win now in the NFL. But I agree with what Trent followed that up with: He can't win if Denver thinks it can continue with this offense.



The reason is this: Not only is this type of offense not going to work in the future, but it doesn't really work now. We can't even talk yet about sustainability, because the current setup is a mess. The current scheme, over five weeks, is averaging about 315 yards per game. Subtract the flare-up against the Raiders by Willis McGahee, and the offense is putting up just 290 yards a game, a total that will have you within range of the worst in the NFL most years.



And again, this is with a team coming out with a lot of new looks and still maintaining something of an element of surprise. Denver got 95 yards on the last drive Thursday against the Jets and still finished with 229 yards total. This was against a team that had essentially one prep day for the offense and was playing at high altitude.

Tebow deserves a ton of credit for rallying his team late for some close wins, but so does the Denver defense for keeping the team in the game while the offense looks routinely disastrous. The defense has statistically morphed into the NFL's best over the past five weeks. In three of the past five games, the D has allowed fewer than 270 yards of offense. Rookie Von Miller has turned into a terror for opposing quarterbacks.

But as Denver finds out about the promise of its defense, it has learned little about Tebow. And that's the issue here.
By turning the scheme into what it's become, Fox and McCoy are playing to Tebow's strengths. The problem is they know it's not a system that can be sustained long-term (these systems didn't even work in the 1970s, much less today), and they also don't know if Tebow will have a capacity to grow as a passer in a more refined attack. Even if Denver manages to keep winning this way, they won't know what their quarterback can really do. I really like Tebow and have enjoyed the chance to talk to him before -- and I know he is a kid who isn't afraid to fail if he's asked to throw the ball more. He has to see the limitations of the current offense.


Just winning is great, but at some point Denver needs to do more than merely escape with a win.


Denver needs to test the idea that Tebow can be not merely a resourceful, brilliant winner of close football games, but a quarterback capable of relying on more than his will and his legs. Denver needs to find out if Tebow has the capacity to throw, and grow.
Right now, I sense an organization that is willing to test-drive the phenomenon that is Tebow, but with no intent to buy.
 

hacheman@therx.com
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The only mistake was not starting him sooner...

Agreed

Even if he doesn't remain a starter long-term, at least he would have had more games under his belt to give him more time to possibly develop, and most importantly, more weapons to work with such and Brandon Lloyd, Denver's best WR and possibly one of the better WR's in the league, to the Rams.
Kind of BS that they throw him in the fire right after they trade Lloyd away...
 

J-Man Rx NFL Pick 4 Champion for 2005
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Long term I see Tebow as a tight end. He's pretty fast and big and strong. Defenses will most likely catch onto his skills and lack of passing accuracy.
 

hacheman@therx.com
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Long term I see Tebow as a tight end. He's pretty fast and big and strong. Defenses will most likely catch onto his skills and lack of passing accuracy.



Who was the guy with the Miami Dolphins 20 years ago who played several different positions?
 

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