Tim Tebow Will Prove to Be Denver Broncos' Long-Term Answer at QB

Tim Tebow's first start of the 2011 season will take place in Week 7 against the Miami Dolphins. But if you are expecting the Denver Broncos second-year quarterback to be a bust, you need to think again.

No matter what your personal feelings are about Tebow, he has been dynamite anytime he has stepped on an NFL field. He doesn't always look pretty doing it, but when all is said and done he is putting points on the board. 

The most common criticism of Tebow is his inability to make strong, accurate throws in the pocket. While there is some validity to that, he is also able to make plays outside of the pocket that very few quarterbacks in the NFL can make. 

In just 12 games played, including only three starts, Tebow has 13 total touchdowns. If you want to judge him as a quarterback, you are missing out on all the things that he does well. He can throw, run, break tackles, make players miss. There are few players who can do all of those things as well as he does. 

And now that he is being given a chance to showcase his abilities in the NFL, he will prove to be the right quarterback at the right time for this Denver franchise. 

Let's be honest: For the last three seasons, the Broncos have been irrelevant. Sure, they have had moments where they looked good, but for the most part there was nothing to get excited about with this team. 

The second that they drafted Tebow in the 2010 draft, the Broncos became relevant again. He is a difference maker. He made people take notice of this team for the first time since they last won the AFC West in 2005. 

Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post summed Tebow's value up as well as anyone, saying that he is "more than a quarterback."

"He is a brand, a marketing machine and a hot-button issue more powerful than all the coaches and front-office executives at the team's Dove Valley headquarters. With only a single NFL victory on his résumé, Tebow has done the impossible. Right here, right now, he is bigger in Denver than John Elway.

"Tebow is not in the starting lineup for the Broncos against Miami strictly on pure merit. It happened more because chanting crowds across America that believe in the young quarterback's legend have demanded the move."

Is Tebow going to win a Super Bowl? No one can say. The team surrounding him right now is not going to give him a lot of help. But for a team that needed a spark, he is the best player for this team. 

Tebow will lead this team for the rest of this season, and he will play so well that it will be impossible for John Fox and the front office to trade him after the year. This will be his first start of 2011, but there will be many more to come, and they will all happen in the Mile High City.