Tim Tebow: Starting Tebow Week 2 Would Spell Disaster for Denver Broncos

Despite playing effectively in three starts at the end of last season, Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow finds himself in a backup role to start the 2011 season. Tebow seemed poised to take the starting job at the beginning of training camp, but the Broncos were unable to find a suitable trade offer for current starter Kyle Orton.

Tebow ended up third on Denver's depth chart at one point during the preseason and was receiving criticism from all angles, including from analysts like Boomer Esiason and even Broncos fans. Despite that, after a 23-20 season-opening loss to the rival Oakland Raiders at home, whispers have already begun that Tebow should be given a shot.

This revelation is quite curious, especially considering the fact the Orton played quite well on Monday night. He certainly outplayed his counterpart Jason Campbell as he threw for 304 yards, one touchdown and one interception. That's nothing to sneeze at seeing as Orton did that without the benefit of a running game.

At this point, without any semblance of a ground game, Tebow would likely get eaten alive. A veteran like Orton was still able to play well without the running game taking some pressure off him, but opposing defenses would likely prey on the inexperienced Tebow in the same situation.

The Broncos host the 1-0 Cincinnati Bengals next week, and while they may seem like a team Tebow can handle, he would be set up to fail in a starting situation. Widely considered to be one of the league's weakest teams despite their win over the Cleveland Browns in Week 1, Denver will be expected to beat Cincinnati at home.

While it is difficult to call any game a must-win this early in the season, Broncos fans and the Broncos organization as a whole probably view it as such. Falling to 0-2 when both the Raiders and San Diego Chargers have good opportunities to move to 2-0 would be devastating, especially when the Cincinnati game was likely counted by most as a surefire win prior to the season.

In "must-win" games, teams generally want to go with their most experienced players. In this case, one of those players is Orton. He played just fine on Monday and if Knowshon Moreno and Willis McGahee can supply him with some support in the running game, he can easily excel against the Bengals.

The fact of the matter is that Denver likely won't be any better than a sub-.500 team this season. There are certainly pieces in place for the team to be successful in the near future, but the Broncos need time to mesh and develop under new head coach John Fox.

Because of this, many may think that the Broncos have nothing to lose by throwing Tebow into the fire immediately, but the Broncos owe it to themselves and their fans to make a run at it this season, even if their chances of winning the AFC West or making the playoffs in general are slim.

In all likelihood, Denver will be safely out of contention once the month of December rolls around. At that point, it would be stupid not to give Tebow another shot to see if he truly has what it takes to be an NFL starter. Until that time, however, the Broncos need to start the best players on their roster, and right now their best quarterback is unquestionably Orton.