from Peter King's Tuesday column:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writ...lbag/index.html
I've thought all along that Tim Tebow would need a redshirt year, but two things now tell me I might be wrong.
First, Denver trading the 40th, 70th and 114th picks in a power draft to pick Tebow is a powerful statement. Check out the draft trade chart that every team uses and you'll see how much Denver wanted to make sure it wasn't leapfrogged in the Tebow derby. The 25th pick is worth 720 points on the chart every team in the league uses -- some more religiously than others. The 43rd pick is worth 470, the 70th worth 240, and the 114th worth 66. That totals 776. The Broncos paid 56 more points than were necessary by the chart -- equivalent to the 199th overall pick, a late fourth-rounder -- to get Tebow. Denver, obviously, wanted to make the deal badly enough to ratchet up the compensation.
Second, and most importantly, I remember something Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels said to me over the weekend when we discussed the Tebow pick. We weren't discussing playing time, or his role, or anything at the time other than why he was smitten with the guy more than many of his peers on other NFL teams.
"When I went to Gainesville Monday to work him out,'' McDaniels said, referring to his hush-hush trip to spend the day with Tebow, "we spent about seven hours together. We went over a lot of things. Now, understand that our offense is pretty complicated, and the terminology and the scheme is totally different from what he did at Florida. But about midway through my time there, we're going through plays, and he starts using our terminology. He's so smart about football that he was able to begin to speak my language and talk apples to apples. He'd already translated what he knew of our scheme into my words. That's something that carried a lot of weight with me.''
McDaniels also said: "The football traits he has is the stuff you die for.''
That tells me McDaniels will find something this year for Tebow to do. I don't know what it is. But last year, I don't think we saw everything McDaniels had to offer in terms of offensive play-calling. There's a lot inside him I think he's waiting to script and put in the hands of some offensive talent he mined and developed.
I think DeMaryius Thomas isn't the receiver Dez Bryant is, but he's a guy the Broncos will sleep better at night having, and he'll step in for Brandon Marshall. Can he be Marshall? I doubt he'll be the impact player, but he'll have the chance. The third-round pick, Minnesota wideout Eric Decker, is intriguing because of his size (6-foot-2, 214); he's the kind of guy who should be able to catch fades with good matchups on shorter corners.
McDaniels made it clear to me the best quarterback will start. He said Kyle Orton is the incumbent, and the starter, today. In camp, who knows? Maybe Brady Quinn lights it up, or maybe Tebow comes along faster than everybody thinks. But the fact Tebow already has a head-start on knowing the offense, and was peeved he had to leave Denver over the weekend to go back home (NFL rules don't permit rookie to be at their team's facilities, other than for a rookie mini-camp, until their class graduates in the spring) is a sign he might come along quicker in the mental part of the game than many draftees would.
I wouldn't be surprised if McDaniels invented some sort of red zone or goal line package for Tebow. Could it be the kind of draw/jump-pass thing Tebow did with the Gators? Maybe. But something to get Tebow on the field a few snaps a game if he doesn't win the job, just to throw a changeup at the opposition. Now, this would be interesting for team chemistry, because whoever wins the starting job (I assume Orton) will have to swallow hard to be OK with getting yanked a couple of times a game for Tebow. But McDaniels is sure to preach the all-for-one, one-for-all team-think attitude in OTAs this spring and training camp this summer, and if the quarterbacks don't buy in, they'll move on.
McDaniels spoke over the weekend about the passion he feels for his job, and how Tebow's a match for that too.
"I love this game so much,'' McDaniels said. "I would die to have 53 guys here who love it as much as I do. I'm looking to find the right group of guys to accept our one singular goal -- to win. I think Tim fits in with that. There're going to be doubts about him. Great doubts -- and I understand that. Some people don't think he has the natural traits of a great quarterback. Here's what I think: Do Jim Furyk and Tiger Woods swing the club the same way, hit irons the same way? No. But they both win tournaments. There're different ways to throw, different mechanics, and you can still get the job done.''
McDaniels has cast his lot with Tebow. He'll sink or swim, over the next three years with him. But if he sinks, he'll be sinking with a kid he believes in. I hear it in McDaniels' voice: This is his guy. Let the training begin. It's going to be fun to watch.
dumbest.post.ever.so because he's religious he got into the NFL, had nothing to do with 2 championships,a heisman trophy,and being the greatest collegiate player of all time? you're a moron
That's a big factor in how this plays out. Intriguing.
