Should Tim Tebow Have a Job in the NFL?

Aug 22, 2013; Detroit, MI, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tim Tebow (5) warms up on the sidelines in the third quarter of a preseason game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

I guess it’s been a while since I’ve gone on a Tim Tebow rant, and I know how many people think of the former Denver Broncos, New York Jets, and even more briefly New England Patriots quarterback.

People don’t think Tebow can play quarterback in the NFL, and I get it. He has a bad throwing motion. Even in his moments of glory with the Denver Broncos, it wasn’t exactly pretty.

But I will say this. I have seen Tim Tebow make enough throws to win games. I have seen Tebow create offense out of nothing, putting points on the board in critical situations when his team needed it most. I have seen Tebow win an NFL playoff game.

Obviously when he was with the Broncos in that magical run back in 2011, Tebow didn’t do it on his own. He had the benefit of a tough defense that kept the Broncos in almost every game as best they could, giving the team at least a semblance of a chance to win at the end of games after the offense could do almost nothing the entire game.

The Broncos ran a pretty bad looking offense that featured a lot of designed runs for Tebow, likely because of their pre-conceived notions of his inability to throw the football. I’m not going to get into an argument about Tebow’s inability to complete passes, but I will say that when the Broncos were in desperation mode and they needed Tebow to make throws, either something really clicked inside him and he was able to make them or receivers found ways to haul in some of the worst passes of all time, at least according to Tebow’s biggest critics.

My question is, why does Tebow not have a job in the NFL? If you figure every NFL team has three quarterbacks (and some do NOT), there are 96 quarterback jobs across the league, or at least hypothetically there could be.

So, even if you knock out 64 QB jobs for starters and a backup, that leaves 32 jobs out there for which no one is willing to give Tebow a shot.

Is he that bad? No. If you think Tebow is bad enough that he’s not worth a third QB spot on an NFL roster, in my opinion you are sorely mistaken. We’ve seen the likes of Thad Lewis, Scott Tolzien, Case Keenum, Josh McCown, Blaine Gabbert, and Josh Freeman start games. Don’t even get me started on who has been playing for the Cleveland Browns, who have gone through three quarterbacks. The Buffalo Bills alone have sent out every possible quarterback they could possibly come up with, including a guy named Jeff Tuel who was an undrafted free agent this offseason.

Give me a break.

I don’t buy that Tebow isn’t better than some of the crappy quarterbacks we’ve seen put out on NFL fields this season, and if he is that much worse, it’s odd that he’s been able to bring a terrible 1-4 team out of a huge hole and get to the playoffs and win a game.

The reason why Tebow isn’t on an NFL roster is the fact that he brings so much distraction through the media because everyone wants to create a controversy about why he will play, why he won’t play, whether or not he’s contending to be a starter…

Reporters have gone so crazy over Tebow-mania and the fans have created such a hysteria around him that he’s been given far more credit than any young QB deserves, but there’s no denying that all the hype aside, the guy found a way to make plays in 2011 and the Jets never gave him a chance in 2012.

People assume Tebow is no good because the Jets had him on punt coverage instead of playing QB. Still, the fact that no team was willing to use one of 53 roster spots on Tebow is a tough argument to overcome. Even the biggest Tebow supporters can’t really argue with that fact. However, I don’t think it’s because he’s seriously that bad of a football player. I feel like Tebow is/was just as good (albeit not as fast) as Terrelle Pryor is, a guy who is starting for the Oakland Raiders this year.

Oh and by the way, with Pryor out this weekend, Matt McGloin is getting the start.

Here’s an NFL weekend where Scott Tolzien and Matt McGloin are starting, but Tebow is still looking for work. You can make all the throwing motion arguments you want, but if you’re going to have third or fourth string QBs slinging the ball around on any given Sunday, why would you not throw Tebow out there?

It just strikes me as odd. Hopefully this year out of football will settle down the Tebow hype, and the guy will be able to snag a job in the NFL again next year and be playing at some point when guys like Matt McGloin and Scott Tolzien are coming into the game.

Good grief.