Not sure where the person you're responding to above stands, but my answer would be that Tebow, not McElroy, or anyone else is currently the backup (#2) QB for the Jets. Being the backup implies that you aren't as good as the starter, but that if the starter goes down, you're the next man up. Or are you saying that because someone's a backup, he can't become a starter? I don't think you are, except possibly in Tebow's case. Many, many current starters have spent time as backups. Many, many backups remain backups for their entire careers, however short or long lived those careers may be. But if you're saying that if someone's the backup — and is also valuable enough to be given other important roles — that means that he's not capable of starting, well, that seems a bit silly.
Since Newton is the clear starter, no I don't see him being used as a punt protector. If Newton was a backup quarterback though behind someone who was clearly better then him, do you think his coach might try and get his athletic ability onto the field? No I don't think that all of the teams that passed on Tebow are full of haters. I think most were relatively happy with their quarterback situation at the time.
address this one: I am just saying he has upside and potential and you are the one being unreasonable and saying he does not. who has the more extreme opinion?
Whether someone else passed on Tebow has nothing to do with his ability. It just means they passed on him. Brady didn't get drafted until the 6th round and was sitting on the bench until an injury got him on the field. If Bledsoe didn't get hurt, one of the greatest QBs ever might not have ever seen the field. There weren't a ton of GMs looking to give Brady big dollars or even sign him prior to his getting the starting job. That is why your argument fails.
Brady didn't have NFL game experience to be judged on. Once he did, it was clear he had the goods. Tebow, on the other hand has plenty of NFL experience, after which his value was determined to be someone who is a trick play guy. The would never in a million years let the guy play special teams if they ever felt he would be a valuable QB prospect. Rex Ryan = Tebow hater?
So Rex is going to allow a trick play guy to be the next man up, if Sanchez goes down. Rex Ryan hates the Jets?
Wasn't Danny White both the starting "franchise QB" in Dallas AND the punter ? Could have sworn that this was the case.
Still waiting for any evidence those facts are cherry-picked or have been owned by any of the Tebow-phobes on this board. Here they are again. And again, not one of these facts has been disputed. The cherry-picking on this thread is being done by you...
You're missing the point. The point is that because someone is not selected by a front office to be a starter does not have any bearing on whether or not they have the skills to be a starting QB. GMs also select many guys to be a starting QB who don't pan out. GMs make mistakes. Their decisions should not be viewed as the absolute truth concerning personnel. Tebow is the backup QB and that is a fact. In some ways, he is the most useful backup QB in the entire NFL, as most of them never see the field unless the starter is injured. Because Tebow has so much value, he is going to be on the field. Most people who have a Porsche 911 never take it to the track, but some people do. That does not mean the Porsche that is taken to the track has no value, it means that some people aren't going to buy a car like that and put it in the garage all week and just cruise the boulevard with it on Sunday. A Porsche is built to be driven hard. Might as well use it. Same as Tebow. Why not use all that athletic ability to help the team. He's built like a tank. He won't get hurt protecting punts. Get as much value out of him as you can. If he becomes the starter, I doubt he will punt protect, but while he is a backup, might as well use him.
Cowboy: it's not my opinion. It's the opinion of every single GM in football. They believe making him a traditional QB is a massive waste of time, and that what he is good at is running trick plays and playing specials. I'm not the one who traded him for a 6th rounder. I'm not the one who told him he wouldn't start over Blane Gabbert. I'm not the one who put him on special teams. The experts did that. John Elway = Tebow hater! What does he know about the QB position.
1) At some point in life, you have to begin to make your own opinion. If you base your opinion on the opinion of others, then you have no opinion of your own. While I respect GMs and front offices' opinions, I form my own. At no point would you ever hear me say, "Well he thinks that, and he is an expert, therefore it is true." You place much too much emphasis on what GMs say or do. The same GMs make the wrong choices continually. On picking QBs, I'd say their percentage on drafting a great QB is less than 5%. I'm just estimating here. How often do they get it right? Much less than they get it wrong. 2) John Elway was a great QB, that does not mean that his opinion is fact. Mr. Elway was no fan of Tebow's, that is a given. It doesn't make him a bad guy or unwise. It just means that Tebow did not fit his image of what he wanted as a QB for his franchise. I respect that. Now how hard is it for you to respect our points of view, of those who enjoy watching Tebow play? The Broncos got Peyton Manning, who is a better QB than Tim Tebow. It was a wise choice for the short-term, granted he stays healthy. I think you need to let the hate go. I know that Tebow was not kind to FSU during his years at UF and that is what bothers you so much. Don't take it personally... it was his job to win and destroy other teams. FSU included. Charlie Ward was my 2nd favorite QB. It doesn't matter if he beat up my school.
The part that is most amazing is that he did while not even being able to throw it right. He's at a mechanical disadvantage and still gets productivity. The NFL is supposed to be a league that is so advanced, you can't do it on talent, athletic ability, and desire. (And really, that perception is correct). Which is what makes Tebow so fascinating -- he truly has "disruptive talent." Talent that affects the outcome of the game even though he misses so many opportunities to score conventional gains and completions (either because they are never called or he whiffs the opportunity). When he gets to "C level" on some of the more conventional techniques, he's going to be amazing.
Here's what I've seen him improve the most on in this year's preseason -- when the primary is open, even by a little bit, he's been pulling the trigger and hitting him with a good throw. Most of his best throws this preseason were first read throws. He's still below average on going through progressions. And he's always been a "first read?" type thrower, because of the offense he ran in college. But last year, he started declining to throw that first read a little too often, pulling it down and just drifting around in the pocket looking for something to happen. He's got to feel it out now -- start getting a few plays where he feels comfortable when to fire the first read, and then add to it a second progression where he hits that BAM, right after. Right now, you can still see him looking downfield, and too many times you see secondary receivers crossing the field open, and he's ignoring them because it's too late. That's fixable, though. He's retraining a lifetime of making pre-snap reads based on formation, and knowing which receiver is going to pop open based on presnap (that's sort of the spread in a nutshell -- it uses formation to force the D to tip it's hand). He used to looking and seeing if his presnap read "comes true," and then running if not. Spread doesn't really have progressions.
He was traded for a 4th b/c that was the best offer out there, and a 6th which turns out for Danny Trevathan who looks like one of the steals of the draft. Shows what the rest of the league thinks of him as a "QB"
Actually, it was an exchange of a 6th and a 7th. That Trevathan was taken with that pick and might be the steal of the draft is just pure dumb luck, and can't be factored in.
