He was a superhuman quarterback in college, there is no doubt about that. 110 combined touchdowns in four season, over 12,000 total yards. 2007 Heisman Trophy winner. Two time national champion. University of Florida hall of famer. Tim Tebow is without a doubt one of the greatest college football players of all time. Not only that, but he is also the most overrated NFL quarterback, ever.
So often in the NFL we see highly touted quarterbacks with amazing skill sets not being able to produce at the highest level. Ryan Leaf, Tim Couch, Joey Harrington, the list goes on and on. It seems as though every year there is at least one first round draft pick that doesn’t pan out to his potential. With Tebow, its different. Tebow didn’t even belong in the first round of the 2010 draft.
Tebow’s combine and Senior Bowl performances showed that he wasn’t deserving of a first round pick. Scouts from all around had him graded as a second round prospect all the way to a seventh round prospect. The criticisms were all the same, he just can’t throw. Somehow, Tebow managed to trick coaches and scouts (particularly Josh McDaniels and the Denver Broncos) into believing that he could change his throwing motion. Remember those ESPN segments? During his pro day at Florida, Tebow revealed a “new and improved” throwing motion that would help him better his passing as a quarterback. The end result was him holding the ball up at his ear, fundamentals at its best. However, every time he reared back to throw, Tebow did the same rotating motion with his arm. Nothing had changed, his release and delivery was still so slow and his arm strength still so weak.
Watch tape of Tebow in his (limited) NFL appearances. His throws are reminiscent of Chad Pennington, lame duck after lame duck. I’d be lying if I said that I ever saw Tebow accurately throw a football longer than 30 yards and complete a pass. Watching Tebow throw reminds me of the first time that Smalls threw a baseball in The Sandlot. Somebody needs to call Benny the Jet and tell him to teach Tebow that throwing a ball is just like throwing a paper on a paper route. We’ve all seen Tebow throw, we’ve seen him fail to read defenses, and we’ve seen him underthrow receivers by five yards, consistently. Yet, somehow, we still hold him on some pedestal.
Tebow’s level of overrated is something the sports world has never seen. Some believe that Alex Rodriguez is overrated, but we all know that he can hit a baseball 500 feet. With Tebow, we know he can’t play but people still hold him to a God-like standard. I was speechless when Denver fans put up a billboard calling for the benching of Kyle Orton in favor of Tebow. Orton’s a quality starter who threw for 3,600 yards last year! I understand that its the job of John Elway and John Fox to stand by their starting quarterback, but I blame the “Tebow Mania” on the media. Every morning, I turn on ESPN and they’re talking about Tebow. The craziest thing is that these “expert” analysts seem to be split on Tebow. Some believe that he has the ability and the competitive nature to become a great starting quarterback. The other half see the same thing that I see; a seemingly nice guy who just can’t play quarterback. The old adage is that at some point we all live to see the time when we are no longer meant to play the game we love. Some experience this at 14, others at 40. For Tebow, unfortunately, it looks to be happening now.
When quarterbacks that are drafted so high come into the NFL and underperform, they’re chastised by the media. It happened to Harrington, happened to Matt Leinart and Jamarcus Russell as well. Tebow, on the other hand, is constantly given the benefit of the doubt. Don’t get me wrong, I admire the fire Tebow brings, and I think his drive is unquestionable. But, when it comes down to it, the NFL is a business. The goal is to produce wins and be the last team standing when the last whistle blows in February. Tebow will never be able to do that, not as a quarterback. These are just words, we all know that when we wake up tomorrow there will still be Denver fans praying to their Tim Tebow pictures and proudly wearing his jersey.
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