Tim Tebow: Merril Hoge's Latest Attack on QB is Embarrassing Display of Analysis

Winning used to be the only thing Tim Tebow ever did.

He was the best player in the nation coming out of high school. He won he Heisman Trophy and two National Championships at Florida. But since the moment his Gator career ended, he's done nothing but fight a losing battle.

Draft pundits ranked him as a third-round developmental prospect that wouldn't start for another three to five years.

They said his throwing motion was too long. His footwork was a mess. He couldn't read defenses. The list goes on.

But Tebow was drafted during the first round and eventually made three starts at the end of the season for the lowly Broncos.

Many believed the Broncos would be Tebow's team this year. In fact, the Broncos even put Kyle Orton on the trade block at the start of free agency. Since that time, Tebow hasn't caught a break no matter what he has done, and people in the business have attacked his playing ability and his faith far too many times.

ESPN football analyst Merril Hoge has already attacked Tim Tebow once this summer, but it seems once isn't nearly enough.

According to Pro Football Talk's summation of Hoge's quotes on ESPN, he said:

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"First of all, his delivery is such an elongated motion that you have to have a complete, clear pocket for him to be successful down the field. If you don’t have that, you’re going to struggle."

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So the Broncos gave him a clear pocket and he completed a 43-yard pass to wide receiver Matt Willis against the Cowboys. In fact, he went 6-for-7 in the game for 91 yards. But that wasn't enough for Hoge either as he said: 

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"Yes, he completes it, but that’s a perfect setting. In the National Football League, almost 50 percent of all throws are under duress. So you’re not going to have that every time."

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Forget about the fact that Hoge is a former fullback with no quarterback experience. This is just a poorly-performed analysis by a man paid to do exactly that. In all honesty, it is bad work by ESPN all the way around.

Hoge hasn't analyzed Tim Tebow as a football player—not to my knowledge anyway. He's done the one thing that is easy to do to anyone: he's picked apart his flaws.

I think Tebow could've put the ball out in front of Willis a bit more on the play, but that doesn't lead me to make up excuses for a completed pass such as, "that's a perfect setting...you're not going to have that every time."

That's great work, Hoge. I'm glad you get paid to tell me there won't be a clean pocket every time Tim Tebow drops back in the NFL.

My favorite comment of all (paraphrased by PFT) was:

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Tebow has developed so many bad habits as a passer that it’s too late for him to change. And he said that any player on the Broncos can plainly see that Tebow has no business being their starter.

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Not only is he bashing Tebow again, but he's now speaking for an entire football team as well.

Hoge has officially outdone himself this time, and I'm embarrassed for him.

The 24-year-old Broncos quarterback may never be an elite player in this league, but it won't be for lack of trying.

It would be really nice if the people getting paid to analyze his every move put in even a quarter of Tebow's effort.

Wes O'Donnell