Tim Tebow and the Case Against Starting the Denver Broncos Backup Quarterback

There is a clamoring around Denver that the Broncos should be starting their much talked-about quarterback Tim Tebow (known to some as "the messiah","little Jesus" or simply "Ohmygoditstimtebow!".

Throughout his whole career, both the short one in Denver and his career at Florida, people have gone ga-ga over the big, bruising quarterback built like a full back.

Now, before I go on, and am dismissed as a Tim Tebow hater (I may be, I may not be, but here I'm trying to be the voice of reason), I must say that what he did at Florida was impressive, and that there may never be another player in college football quite like him.

There will almost certainly never be another player as extremely polarizing as Tebow, as most either look at him as either the greatest thing since sliced bread or an over-hyped, third-down half-back.

Tebow worked hard in the offseason to correct what scouts believed would be his downfall, his long windup, his lacking ability to go through his progressions and an overall non-NFL quarterback skill set.

He is much more suited for the NFL at this point in his career, and now that the Broncos season has been pretty much scrapped, does that mean Tebow should be starting for the Broncos?

The answer to that is no. Absolutely not.

But, some of you will complain about the current quarterback, Kyle Orton.

To that I say, Kyle Orton in Denver is nothing like the Kyle Orton of Chicago, who was iffy at his best moments.

Orton has been one of the best quarterbacks in the league this season, putting up a quarterback rating of 93.0, throwing 20 touchdowns against only six interceptions.

His 3,487 yards are fourth in the NFL and he has a good completion percentage at 60 percent. Orton has improved steadily every season since he entered the NFL in 2005.

If this team were 9-3 instead of 3-9 you would be talking about giving him the MVP award, not benching him.

The problems for the Denver Broncos do not lie in the quarterback position, they are elsewhere.

First of all, Denver is in the running for worst defense in the league, giving up an atrocious 380 yards a game, and is ranked 22nd in pass defense and 31st in rush defense.

That is the first thing to concentrate on over the next four games.

Give some younger players more playing time that could make an impact or improve with more playing time on D.

Putting Tebow in at quarterback will not stop the opposing team from 44 points in a game.

Next, you need to take a look at the run game, which was absolutely terrible this year, averaging only 86 yards a game this season.

Try shaking up the offensive line, try shaking up the running back depth chart. If that doesn't do anything for ya, then go from there.

Hell, I'd even be keen to see Tebow take some time as a running back, everyone knows he would be better at that than Correll Buckhalter.

Benching Kyle Orton at this point in the season would be a slap in the face. He has given the team his most productive season ever, and if they were to turn to another quarterback it would be completely disrespectful to him.

Sure, it would be fine to get Tebow a few more snaps here and there, and maybe even a series or two a game to at least see if he can handle himself, but starting the rookie quarterback is in no way a good idea.