Tim Tebow and 5 NFLers Who Should Change Positions

A couple of years ago, the Bears' Devin Hester played primarily at the cornerback position, but his electrifying returns proved he was most dangerous with the ball in his hands in space. Hester changed his position to wide receiver, and although the move has not been highly successful, it gave the Bears another weapon in their arsenal. 

Like Hester, there are many players who should switch to a position more suited their talents.

Here are five of them.

Quarterback Joe Webb

New Position: Wide Receiver

With Donovan McNabb in Minnesota leading the team right now, the future at the position is already taken care of with Christian Ponder, the team's first-round pick.

While Joe Webb had his moments at quarterback, his poor accuracy, vision and mechanics will probably never allow him to be a legitimate quarterback. Webb only had a 60.9 passer rating and threw three interceptions, but did run for 120 yards on only 18 carries (6.7 average), displaying his abilities running in open space.

At 6'4'', 220 pounds, Webb runs a mid-low 4.4 in the 40-yard dash and could be an asset as a wildcat quarterback or a full-time receiver. The Vikings lost their possession receiver in Sidney Rice, leaving the team with only one true starting-caliber receiver with Percy Harvin.

Webb would take time to learn routes, but he seemingly has the physical tools to make the jump from quarterback to receiver.

Safety Taylor Mays

New Position: Linebacker

Some may say moving from the last line of defense to the second line of defense would be a difficult task, and while it probably is, Panthers weakside linebacker Thomas Davis successfully proved it can be done.

Davis was originally drafted as a safety, but struggled mightily in coverage very much like newly-acquired Bengal Taylor Mays. At the time of the conversion, Davis was only 225 pounds and when healthy, he was one of the better weakside linebackers in the game.

In fact, I speculated that Mays would be a perfect fit as a weakside backer.

At 6'3'', 230 pounds, Mays has elite track speed that the 49ers quickly discovered never translated on the field. As a safety, Mays would be overaggressive on a number of plays and would go for the big hit rather than the sure tackle. He also had trouble covering the slot receiver whenever called upon.

Playing the weakside could allow Mays to cover tight ends where he would have more success. And Mays could be a terror of a blitzer because of his great speed.

Quarterback Terrelle Pryor

New Position: Tight End

Am I the only who never really saw much of an actual quarterback in Pryor at Ohio State? I certainly saw an athlete who could hit the open receiver, but had terrible flaws in his game.

Is it probably too early to write him off at quarterback? Yes, but the Raiders can do so much moving him to a position where he can contribute.

Pryor's arm strength is decent, but his accuracy, presence and mechanics are horrid.

With great speed (he ran a 4.4), Pryor could be almost impossible to cover, especially at 6'5'', 240 pounds.

The Raiders signed Kevin Boss, but his greatest attribute is his blocking skills. Developing Pryor early on as a tight end would be the best move.

Running Back Reggie Bush

New Position: Wide Receiver

Even though the Dolphins plan on making Reggie Bush the lead running back in the offense, they will quickly learn that his inability to run inside the tackles will hurt the team tremendously, especially with a young quarterback in Chad Henne.

Bush is exclusively an outside runner, something the Saints discovered after Bush's rookie season.

Bush, though, has proven his worth as a pass catcher with 294 receptions in 60 games played. A permanent move to wide receiver would allow Daniel Thomas to take over as the starter and would take pressure off of Brandon Marshall, who needs a speedy-type receiver across from him.

At his pro day, Bush ran a 4.3 in the 40, so the speed is clearly there, and his solid hands could make him a quarterback's best friend.

Quarterback Tim Tebow

New Position: Running Back/Full Back

Love him or hate him, Tim Tebow is arguably the most polarizing figure in football.

Tebow has fallen out of favor with the coaching staff and with the front office, and experts such as Boomer Esiason and Merril Hoge have completely bashed Tebow's game. Both think the Broncos severely reached for him in the first round.

One source inside the Broncos organization even said, "If everything was totally equal, and this were a competition based only on performance at this camp, Tebow would probably be the fourth-string guy. Kyle is far and away the best, and Tebow’s way behind Quinn, too. And I’m telling you, Adam Weber is flat-out better right now."

Tebow does not have much arm strength, isn't accurate and has seemingly irreversible mechanical issues.

What Tebow can do is run and plow over people. At 235 pounds, Tebow is not scared to take a hit and could excel at running back, especially in short yardage. He ran for 227 yards and six touchdowns last year in limited time of play.

Instead of letting Tebow waste his talent away as the third-stringer, the Broncos should convert him to a position of use, which would allow him to showcase his best talent.