Tim Tebow: Fans May Chant for Tebow, but He's Still Denver's Third-Best Option

Monday night, the Denver Broncos fell at home to the Oakland Raiders, 23-20, and the fans weren't exactly happy with the result.

At one point, the home crowd was chanting for second-year quarterback Tim Tebow to enter the game in place of starter Kyle Orton. While I understand their frustration, Broncos fans should really slow down on calling for the former Heisman Trophy winner.

Orton didn't look sharp in the opener. He threw for 304 yards with one touchdown and an interception while completing just 24 of 46 passes. It wasn't exactly a confidence-building performance, but Denver's offensive line didn't help matters, as Orton was sacked five times and took six hits.

It wasn't exactly a good night for the Broncos in general, and after the game, when head coach John Fox was asked if he considered making a quarterback change, he ignored the question.

Fans may not be enamored with Orton, but frankly, the gap between the seventh-year pro out of Purdue and Tebow is extremely wide.

Orton ran away with the quarterback position in training camp and fans should expect that he will have a very long leash this season. Other than a pretty good final exhibition game, Tebow had a miserable training camp and showed he has a long way to go before he can legitimately lay claim to a starting quarterback job in the NFL. Fellow backup Brady Quinn is likely the team's No. 2 option right now.

Orton managed to spread the ball around to nine different receivers and move the ball at times. He fumbled once without feeling contact, and that is inexcusable, but demanding him to be pulled after one tough game is just unreasonable.

I do agree that the Broncos should take advantage of the fact that Tebow is on the roster. There's no reason why Denver's staff can't put together some packages where he could come in and use his run/pass ability to create some awkward choices for defenses.

That said, Orton is still a much better quarterback and should be the starter for the foreseeable future.