The Reasons Why Tim Tebow Is A Problem For NFL Teams

When Tim Tebow arrived in the NFL in the summer of 2010 he was a much-heralded college football player. He had won the Heisman Trophy as a sophomore at the University of Florida and added two NCAA championships to that honor as well. When he was drafted in the first round of the 2010 NFL draft many football experts felt he had been drafted too early. The reason for that opinion was the fact that those same experts thought that his ability to pass the football was suspect. In college Tebow was a running quarterback who operated out of a read option offense that featured him running the ball more than passing it. Experts also criticized his throwing motion which was slow and mechanically flawed so when he was picked in the middle of the first round of the draft it was viewed as a mistake. Tebow was an unconventional quarterback and that fact made a lot of football minds believe that he would have limited success in the league if he had any at all.

When Tebow was installed as the starting quarterback after Kyle Orton struggled through the first 5 games of the 2011 season he had an immediate impact. The team started winning and the fans in Denver fell in love with Tim Tebow. How could they not? He was winning and that is the most important thing right? Wrong. At lest according to the talking sports heads anyway. Even though Tebow was winning his unorthodox style of play was still being criticized. In an effort to maximize Tebow's effectiveness Denver installed a read option offense that was similar to the one Tebow ran at Florida. In that offense he only passed when absolutely necessary and many times threw less than 20 passes in an entire game. But they were winning right? Everything was peachy right? Wrong. And Denver proved it when they traded Tebow to the New York Jets at the end of the season even though he had led them to their first playoff appearance in several years. But why?

Although Tebow was successful winning games and leading the Denver Broncos to the playoffs he still posed a problem and that problem outweighed any success that he had. Any team who has Tim Tebow as their quarterback will have to adapt an offense that is suited to his skill set which is predominantly running. The problem with that is that his skill set is diametrically opposite of the premise that the NFL is operating under which is pass oriented. Because of that Tebow forces any team who plays him to direct its offense polar opposite of the rest of the league possibly sacrificing popularity, revenue and wins. The current game being played in the NFL is a wide open, pass-often style that does not match Tebow's abilities. Though he might have success and be winning teams are fearful that his novelty may wear off and fans may become bored with the running style of play that Tebow's talents demand. That is why Denver unloaded him in favor of Peyton Manning and why other teams are afraid to take him on. Its a sad state of affairs when style trumps substance and winning. But that's how it is.

Tim Tebow's playing style puts teams in a position to adapt what they want to do on offense to him but there is another reason that makes Tebow more toxic and that is the fact that he puts enormous amounts of pressure on teams to play him. Why? Because Tim Tebow is such a polarizing figure and fan favorite wherever he goes he creates a lot of pressure on any team he is on to play him. Fans, the media and even non-football fans want to see Tebow on the field. Tebow brings with him an aura of curiosity that makes everyone want to see how well he will do. That in turn places tremendous pressure on coaches and organizations to play him. This always forces teams to alter what they may want to do because of the constant Tebowmania that follows him. That fact also makes him a problem for NFL teams.

There is no doubt that Tim Tebow is a football player and a very good one. The problem with that is he has been playing football at the quarterback position. At the lower levels he was able to get by with marginal passing skill but now at the NFL level in a pass oriented league he is finding difficulty in achieving NFL passing effectiveness. In the two years that Tebow was away from football he worked with retired major league baseball pitcher Tom House. They reportedly worked on his throwing motion and his mechanics and were able to produce a more technically sound, quicker and more accurate throwing motion. As it turned out Tebow made it to the last cut with the Eagles before being released by them for an undrafted second year quarterback from Jacksonville proving once again he is toxic material.

In light of these developments it is hard to figure out what Eagles coach Chip Kelly had in mind when he brought Tebow into camp. For all intent and purpose it seems once again Tim Tebow was used for nefarious reasons that we probably will never understand. But then that's what mad scientists do right?