Denver Broncos: A Defense of Tim Tebow

Tim Tebow is the most talked about and debated player in the NFL by a wide margin. Instead of talking about the great seasons players like Aaron Rodgers and Calvin Johnson are having, people have been focusing their attention on a player who has only started one game this season.

If you tune into ESPN, you’ll see angry former NFL players such as Merrill Hodge and Cris Carter screaming that Tebow has no chance of being an NFL quarterback. Besides the fact that neither of them played the quarterback position, how would they have any idea how good Tebow can be when he’s only started four games in his very short career?

The Arizona Cardinals proved that you should wait until you have a big enough sample size to judge a quarterback. The team traded for former Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb in the offseason, hoping he could be a franchise quarterback. Kolb had only started seven games during his tenure with the Eagles, but that didn’t stop the Cardinals from trading their best cornerback and a second round pick to get him.

Despite having one of the best wide receivers in the league, Kolb’s play has been horrendous for the Cardinals thus far. So horrendous that the team should be second guessing their decision to sign him to a six year $65 million contract.

For the sake of argument, let’s assume you can adequately judge a player who has only started four games in his career. Last season Tebow became the starting quarterback in Week 15 for a 3-10 team. In the first start of his NFL career, Tebow threw for 138 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for another 70 yards including a 40 yard touchdown run. He posted a 100.5 quarterback rating and played well, especially for a player in his first career NFL start.

In his second start against the Houston Texans, Tebow led the Broncos to a dramatic come from behind victory. The team rallied back from a 17-0 first half deficit and won the game 24-23 with the decisive score coming on a Tebow touchdown run.

In the final game of the season, Tebow nearly led his team to another fourth quarter comeback against a very talented Chargers team. Despite coming up just short, the Broncos were able to score 28 points against the No. 1 defense in the league.

In Tebow’s three starts last season he kept his team in every game. His ability to throw and run poised a threat for each of the three teams he faced last season. Tebow also showed his ability to orchestrate fourth quarter comebacks, a trait he has also showed twice this season.

Despite his poor play through the first three quarters of last week’s game against the Dolphins, Tebow played excellent in the decisive fourth quarter while helping the Broncos squeak out an overtime victory. This coming a week after Tebow came off the bench in the second half, and almost led the Broncos to a comeback victory over a very good Chargers team.

There is no question that Tim Tebow has a lot of work ahead of him if he ever wants to be considered a good NFL quarterback. However, the extreme criticism he has received this far is not only premature but also unwarranted.