Tim Tebow to Jets: Wildcat Success Will Ultimately Lead to Starting Gig

After hitting a snag that almost caused the trade to collapse, the New York Jets finally reeled in former Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow on Wednesday in exchange for fourth- and sixth-round draft picks.

Despite what the Jets are saying, a full-blown quarterback controversy could be in the works.

According to Evan Silva of Pro Football Talk, Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum says that the team plans on utilizing Tebow in the Wildcat package. Although the Wildcat has fallen out of favor across the league, former Miami Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano started the craze, and he will run it as the Jets' offensive coordinator.

The Jets can say that Tebow will be the Wildcat quarterback all they want, but the Wildcat is pretty much the norm for Tebow. He almost always had a run-pass option with the Broncos, and that is the entire premise of the Wildcat. That is a formation that Tebow can and likely will succeed in.

With that in mind, incumbent signal-caller Mark Sanchez could be on a short leash. No matter how many votes of confidence Sanchez receives from head coach Rex Ryan and the front office, it's clear that the organization isn't totally married to him.

They signed him to an extension this offseason, but that was only after they whiffed in their pursuit of Peyton Manning. Now, after extending him, they go ahead and bring in more competition in order to put unnecessary pressure on him.

Provided Tebow does some good things on the ground and through the air in the Wildcat, Sanchez will start to feel like he has to be Superman out on the field. At the first sign of trouble, fans will start to clamor for Tebow, and Sanchez's confidence will be shot even more than it already is.

It's impossible to say whether the Jets' ultimate plan is to make Tebow the starter, but that result seems inevitable at this point. Sanchez managed to throw for 26 touchdowns last season, but he also turned the ball over 22 times, so he is bound to make some mistakes.

Sanchez always throws up a clunker somewhere along the way where he throws three or four picks, and that will open the door for Tebow.

If and when Sanchez loses the starting job, there is a good chance that he will never regain it. Tebow only completed 45 percent of his passes last season, but he scratched out yardage on the ground, made big plays when it counted and ultimately found ways to win games and get into the playoffs.

While it can be said that competition is a good thing, the Jets can't feel particularly good about Sanchez. Perhaps they are hoping that Tebow's presence will push Sanchez to perform at a completely different level, but I don't see Sanchez as the type of player who can elevate his game in the face of adversity.

Ultimately, this move could lead to the end of Sanchez's tenure in New York, and that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Sanchez hasn't proven that he can be a top quarterback in the league, and while Tebow hasn't either, he has much more attractive qualities as a leader than Sanchez does.

Tebow's involvement in the offense may start off innocently enough, but at some point next season he will be the main man in the Jets offense.