Denver Broncos: Why Tim Tebow Needs to Start

The popular news coming out of Denver this week was the Kyle Orton trade rumors. Obviously, with Orton's $1.5 million roster bonus kicking in at 4 PM Friday, any thoughts of a trade at this point involving Orton are "dead in the water."

Miami, who was the main team of interest for the services of Orton, proceeded to sign former Panthers starter Matt Moore to fill their void at QB and to compete with Chad Henne in training camp for the starting job.

So where does this leave Denver?

Coach John Fox has repeatedly stated that it will be an open race for the job between the three QB's that were on the roster last year: Kyle Orton, Tim Tebow and Brady Quinn.

Fox recently told reporters that "as of this moment" Kyle Orton is the starter, but we know that doesn't mean much, as Tebow and even Brady Quinn have as much a chance as Orton at being the starting QB for the Broncos come kickoff in early September.

The Broncos are coming off a 4-12 season, one of the worst seasons in franchise history, and will simply start whoever they feel is their best option at winning.

So what point does this bring me to?

The point that it brings me to is an opinion echoed by many Bronco fans, while many also disagree with it: Tim Tebow needs to start this season.

And I don't mean later in the season, with Orton handling the reins for the majority of the season, a la last year, before a serious injury took him out of the last three games.

Tim Tebow needs to start at the beginning of the season, until the very end, unless of course, an injury sets back his season.

Denver is simply a better team with Tim Tebow under center, compared to Kyle Orton under center.

The reason is pretty simple: Tim Tebows opens up the playbook. Tebow opens up the offensive attack with his playmaking abilities and versatility that Kyle Orton simply does not possess.

Kyle Orton is a decent quarterback. He can be the Trent Dilfer/Brad Johnson of a great team. The Denver Broncos are not a great team. They are an average team, and that might be a bit generous.

The Broncos lack talent compared to the other teams of the NFL. As long as they continue starting Kyle Orton at QB, you will continue seeing Denver struggle in the red zone. You will continue seeing Denver get blown out. And most importantly, you will continue seeing Denver lose games.

Orton is 11-18 as the QB in Denver. Since starting 6-0 in 2009, Orton has lost 18 of his past 23 games in a Broncos jersey.

Orton is a statue in the pocket. He is the Drew Bledsoe of this generation.

I'll never forget the season opening game against Jacksonville when Denver was down 24-17 on their second to last drive of the game and their last real shot at winning. There was about six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, and it was 2nd-and-10 at the Jacksonville 21. Orton scrambled for a run, in which he gained seven yards, before sliding to make it 3rd-and-3.

The problem that I have with this is that there was nobody around him. There was one Jacksonville player several yards in front of Orton, and Orton could have simply gotten the first down if he had decided to take a little bit of a hit.

If this was Tebow, do you really think Tebow would have slid? Or would he have gone all out like the wrecking ball that he is in order to win the game for his team, knowing they're in the red zone with their last real shot at winning the game?

What proceeded to happen was two conversions of three yards, 3rd-and-3 and 4th-and-3, that saw Kyle Orton throw two straight incompletions to Brandon Lloyd, turning the ball over on downs, and eventually leading to the Jaguars winning over the Broncos by the exact score of: Jaguars 24, Broncos 17.

In a small sample size of how the Broncos played with Tebow under center, in the three that Tebow started, Denver averaged 25 points a game. In the 13 that Orton started? Denver averaged 20.6 points a game.

In a league where a lot of games are dictated by a single possession, four and a half points is a reasonable margin.

What about the running game? In Tebow's starts, Denver averaged 126 rushing yards a game. In Orton's starts, they averaged 89.6 a game.

Tebow is not as good of a passer as Orton. And he might never be. If there was a reason why people want Orton to start over Tebow, it's because of this reason. Orton is a simply a "safe" option as a passer whereas with Tebow, people don't know what to expect passing-wise out of him.

That simply shouldn't matter. Tebow makes up for his deficiencies as a passer with his tremendous running ability. He has the ability to prolong plays when the O-line breaks down in protection—which it does a lot—and he has the ability to make something out of nothing.

Look at his first start against the Raiders. He broke a 40-yard TD run that should have never happened. Don't tell me that Kyle Orton would have done the same in that situation. Chances are he would have fallen down if any LB/DL got within five yards of his range.

Kyle Orton puts up nice stats. Twenty TDs and nine INTs are not bad stats at all. The stats don't tell the whole story sometimes, and in this case it couldn't be any more true.

Would you like a reminder of all of the times that we were in the red zone and failed to score a touchdown?

Orton, although a little bit gifted skill-wise when it comes to passing the ball, cannot punch the ball in the endzone because he lacks the zip to do it.

You know how Brett Favre is known for his ability to thread the needle? Orton is the opposite of that. He cannot thread the needle, which is the reason why Denver couldn't score in the red zone last year, which is the reason you saw so many intended incomplete passes thrown out of bounds for the sake of settling for a field goal instead of an interception.

This may sound like an article bashing Orton. It's not. It's an article that is simply stating facts. Orton can lead a great team. He cannot lead an average team. Why continue starting Orton and continue seeing losing seasons? Where is that getting the franchise?

For the sake of the franchise, Denver needs to make Tebow the starter come opening day. This franchise has gone through a losing skid not seen since the AFL days of the 60's.

The Denver Broncos franchise is used to winning. The first step to making that happen is starting Tim Tebow.