Denver is heading in to its bye week this weekend, and the early decision to start Tebow–after Orton was benched at halftime of Sunday's game in favor of the 24-year old NFL sophomore Tebow–gives him extra time to get in reps with the first team offense.
It's no secret that Tebow has had his fair share of critics and so-called "haters" during his short professional career thus far. But I think this is the right move for the franchise at this point. Give him his shot to prove he can win games, and if he brings success by the end of the year then the franchise will have a solid quarterback (Orton) to use as trade bait and improve the overall squad.
Sounds like a logical plan to me, anyways.
Now Tebow clearly isn't a pocket-passer and, in fact, he really isn't much of a passer at all (45 for 92; 48.9 career completion % in nine games). But an argument could be made to defend that notion: he is simply a run-first type of quarterback. There's no doubt he scores touchdowns, because in just three starts last season Tebow generated 227 rushing yards and six TDs on the ground. The only quarterback to score more on the ground was Philadelphia's Michael Vick.
From a football standpoint, Tebow is not a pocket-passer and he may struggle to win games because of that. But how will we know this if he isn't given a chance to prove his worth?
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Earlier today, while waiting for one of my classes to begin, I was sitting in our Student Union reading the USA Today's sports section (they give those out for free at my school!) when I came across an interesting article on Tebow.
It was not written from a football standpoint, but rather a fantasy football standpoint. Huge difference, I know.
But the writer, Pete O'Brien, made valid arguments for Tebow being a top fantasy quarterback. He pretty much stated that, in the world of fantasy football, it didn't matter that Tebow's flaws (inability to read defenses, long throwing motion, inaccuracy, etc.) overlooked his strengths (power, running/big play making ability, heart).
His Week 5 successes were equal to those of Tom Brady and Philip Rivers, both top five quarterbacks. He also argued that only Michael Vick and Ben Roethlisberger had over 20% of his completed passes go for 20 or more yards...25% of Tebow's completions went for 20+ yards.
According to ESPN.com's FFL, Tebow scored 114 fantasy points. That's more than 38 other quarterbacks who scored at least one point that season. Oh, and by the way, Tebow made just three starts all season (played in seven games total) for a team that finished 4-12.
He'll never be considered a top 10, or even 20, pure passer in this league. But there's no doubt that Tebow has a lot of heart, willpower to win and is more than capable of leading your fantasy team to a championship down the stretch.
I agree 100%, Pete O'Brien. Tebow can put (fantasy) points up on the board like it's nothing.
Photo credit: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images
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