Denver Broncos: Why John Fox Admits Tebow Wouldn't Fit in Normal Offense

We live in an environment where information is exchanged faster than ever. I think most Broncos fans have already read or at least heard about what John Fox said in an interview with NFL.com reporter Jeff Darlington.

To sum things up, Fox basically stated "Tebow would suck in any other offense."

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"Do whatever the hell it takes," he laughed. "I mean, what the hell? You don't get points for style in this league. Let me tell you something: My man is really good in this offense. You know what I mean?

"If we were trying to run a regular offense, he'd be screwed."

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Yeah, I don't know any other way to interpret that, other than Fox believing that Tebow at this point in his career would suck in an offense that wasn't heavily dependent upon the read-option attack.

Let me get straight to the point. This is the problem that I have with Fox and Tebow's relationship: I don't believe that Fox is fully behind Tebow.

I know some fans will disagree with this belief. I know some fans are tired of hearing about these "conspiracy theories."

If you read this article, and yes, it can be taken out of context because it's in text, it just screams about coach Fox, "Yeah, I had to design an offense that suited Tebow's strengths or else he'd be screwed."

Regardless of whether that's true, the problem with this is that Fox doesn't have confidence in Tebow. I know people are happy about the Kansas City win, as am I, but it was evident from that game that there is no confidence in Tebow throwing the ball.

Here is another quote from that same article.

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"Check out 91," says Fox, pointing toward Chiefs linebacker Tamba Hali. "He's a great rusher, but look how he has to play. He can't even rush. He's just sitting there waiting. He's reading the option.

"What he does against conventional teams is rush the passer. Well, we don't have a passer. We have a runner. Not to say he can't pass at all, but we're recognizing his strengths."

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This is important because Fox did not want to give credit to Tebow "as a passer." He was fully willing to give credit to Tebow "as a runner."

That is exactly how Fox sees Tebow. He doesn't see him as a quarterback. I might have missed it throughout that article, but I can't recall him stating once that "Tebow is a quarterback." He stated "Tebow is a football player and I'd love to have him on my team any day" but whenever it came to a commitment of saying "Tebow is a quarterback" or, "Tebow is a passer," Fox never gave Tebow that kind of backing.

When asked by Darlington whether he would have drafted Tebow in the first round in 2010 as Josh McDaniels did, here's what Fox had to say:

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"That's hard to say," Fox said. "As a football player, I would have. He's what you're looking for in a football player."

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"That's hard to say?" "As a football player?" Where is the confident statement "Yes. He's a quarterback. I don't care if he isn't the most accurate passer in the world. Quarterbacks win games, and that's what Tim Tebow brings to the table?"

From reading this article, you never get the sense that Fox fully backs Tebow as the quarterback of the Broncos. You never get the feeling that Fox has full confidence in Tebow as his starter.

My main concern in all of this is that I am afraid that this offense will stunt the growth of Tebow as a passer. If the Kansas City game is an indicator of things to come, how will Tebow progress as a quarterback in the NFL?

If you are running the ball 55 times a game and passing the ball just eight times a game, how is that nearly enough reps for a second year player such as Tebow to improve?

This read-option offense is winning games now. You can't argue that. However, there will come a point in time where this offense will get snuffed out by the better defenses of the NFL. No type of offense or defense is unstoppable in the NFL. Fox is going to have to learn how to adapt to those types of situations and have confidence in Tebow passing the football when the read-option attack does get shut down.

There was a point in time in the KC game where the read-option attack was slowed down. During Denver's five consecutive punts before the Eric Decker touchdown in the fourth quarter, the Broncos ran the ball 18 times for a collective total of 70 yards. That is under 4.0 yards a carry. They gained a total of two first downs from running the football.

How many times did they pass the ball during that stretch? Six times.

I couldn't have been the only one thinking, "When is Fox going to allow Tebow to throw the football in order to move the chains of a stagnant offense?"

At some point during that time frame, you have to give your quarterback a chance to throw the football. You can't be running the same read-option plays over and over again. That's if you believe your quarterback can win the game by throwing the football.

Luckily, the Chiefs are so terrible that they couldn't capitalize on the fact that Denver couldn't move the ball for about two consecutive quarters.

If the Broncos are to continue improving as a team, Fox is going to have to have confidence in Tebow as a passer.

From reading this article, it seems as if Fox doesn't have any confidence in Tebow as a passer. That's a problem.

A big one at that.