Tim Tebow to Jets: ESPN's Merril Hoge Rails Against 'Overrated' Tebow, Trade

The firestorm of controversy that has surrounded the New York Jets acquisition of quarterback Tim Tebow is seemingly growing by the day, and ESPN's Merril Hoge wasn't shy about making his feelings about the trade known on Saturday.

In an interview with the New York Post, Hoge, who played eight seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears before beginning a broadcasting career, blasts both Tebow and the Jets organization for acquiring him, saying that Tebow is "overrated" and that the third-year pro, who Hoge has long criticized, will never be a quality starting quarterback in the NFL.

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“I don’t understand it all,” the ESPN analyst and former Steelers running back said of the Jets’ trade for Tebow. “He’s so overrated. I’ve never seen someone so overrated.”

“He never will be able to throw consistently enough in this league ever to play 16 games, consecutive years and win you anything,” he said. “His elongated motion and his accuracy are not even his greatest flaws. He has no clue what he’s looking at. That is the most disturbing thing about it at all. It’s mind-boggling that a guy could play two years and have no concept of route combinations and coverages.”

“He doesn’t have a clue what he’s looking at,” Hoge said. “His football IQ is not very good when it comes to throwing the football, reading coverages, identifying coverages he has no clue — none, zero.”

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Hoge doesn't stop with just eviscerating Tebow, however, as the analyst saved plenty of vitriol for general manager Mike Tannenbaum and the Jets front office. He leveled harsh criticism at what he believes will ultimately prove a futile acquisition that will undermine the confidence of starting quarterback Mark Sanchez much more than it will help New York on the playing field.

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“It’s a flash-in-the-pan vision,” he said. “It’s like, ‘Let’s see if we can get it done this year with all these gimmicks.’ That’s what they’ll end up being: a gimmick offense. At the end of the day, what are you going to do if Sanchez gets hurt or he throws a couple of pick sixes? Change the entire offense like the Broncos because you can’t run the pro-style system [with Tebow]?”

“I just think Sanchez ended up being the most fragile quarterback in football and had almost zero confidence by the time he got done playing last year,” he said. “With just how it’s going to be in the locker room with Sanchez — just dicey. How many times are you going to take him off the field? How big will this package be for him?”

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Although Hoge's criticisms have to be taken with something of a grain of salt given his obvious disdain for Tebow, he does make some valid points. Anyone who has seen Tebow play can tell you that throwing the football is not his strong suit, something that his 47 percent career completion percentage attests to.

Also, one has to wonder what effect Tebow's acquisition will have on Sanchez's confidence, especially after an offseason that saw the Jets sign Sanchez to a three-year contract extension after a failed pursuit of Peyton Manning, only to follow up that extension by trading for Tebow.

Regardless of whether you agree with Hoge or feel that the team trading for Tebow was a savvy personnel move, the Jets' decision to make a play for the wildly popular and equally erratic quarterback would certainly seem to be more an indictment of Sanchez's shortcomings than a ringing endorsement of the fourth-year pro as New York's starter.

For reasons that I'll admit remain a mystery to me, a Jets team that saw controversy and dissension derail their 2011 season has puzzlingly decided to kick off their 2012 campaign by igniting what has all the makings of a full-blown quarterback controversy in the Big Apple. And there's a very good possibility that it's going to end badly.

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