A Look at Tim Tebow the Football Player

Mar 26; Florham Park, NJ, USA; Newly acquired New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow addresses the media at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-US PRESSWIRE

Today, I have decided to take a look at our backup quarterback Tim Tebow. Not from the Tebowmania perspective, but from the perspective of him as a football player. What he has done so far, and talk about his fundamentals a bit. He certainly knows how to win, you can’t take that away from him. Let’s take a look.

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

Let’s be fair, Tebow didn’t have a good college career. He had a WONDERFUL college career. In 2006, although he was the second string, he was used as a situational quarterback and had a great deal of success. He was second on the team in rushing, and his passing was quite efficient, going 22-33 for the season, and was pivotal in the Florida Gators winning the 2007 BCS Championship game.

Tim was named the starting quarterback for the 2007 season, and oh what a season it was. He was second in the nation in passer efficiency with a whopping 177.8, to go along with a 4.3 yard per carry average on the ground. Here are the personal or school records he set in 2007: University of Florida single-game quarterback rushing yards, 166, week 4 SEC season rushing touchdown record, 20 Career high single game rushing touchdowns, 5, Nov. 10 SEC season total touchdowns (passing and rushing), 55

He cleaned up at the end of the season, winning the Heisman Trophy as well as the Davey O’Brien award(nation’s best quarterback), as well as earning first team all SEC and All American. He completed over 66% of his passes, to go along with 32 TDs and only 6 INTs.

In 2008, Tebow let the Gators to a 12-1, an SEC title, and a National Championship game win over Oklahoma. Tebow finished third in the Heisman vote that season. He completed 64% of his passes, to go along with 30 TDs and a miniscule 4 picks.

In 2009, his senior season, Tebow led his team to an SEC championship game, which the Gatos unfortunately did not prevail in, so he squandered the opportunity for one more National Championship. But he did have a great career, throwing for 88 TDs and only 15 INTs over the four years of school, and completing over 67% of his passes.

He clearly could throw it. In college.

PROS

Here is where the Tebowmaniacs are going to get upset with me again. This is where I talk about whether his ability translates to significant success on the Pro level.

Unfortunately, it does not.

See, no team has ever had consistent success with an option offense in the pros. Look back, it just hasn’t happened. A quarterback must be a drop back passer in order to succeed, and Tim Tebow is not that.

Look at the facts. Tebow played in 9 games in 2010, and he did run the ball well, 43 times for 227 yards, a 5.3 yard average. However, he only completed 50% of his passes. The Broncos went 4-12.

Last year, Tebow did take over the position of starting quarterback, and the Broncos did win their division. I am not taking that away from him. But he didn’t even comnplete 50% of his passes, although he did rush again for over 5 yards per carry. They did win a playoff game, no doubt. The 80 yard TD was exciting, but then they lost to a traditional team, although a hated one (New England).

The Tebowmaniacs will say to me “He did it once, he can do it again”. OK, if that’s true, why didn’t the Broncos keep his their QB. I understand thatt they had the chance, and acquired maybe the best quarterback in many years. But, if they were so happy with his results, they could have passed. A lot of teams didn’t have Peyton Manning, but passed on him as well. They did it because John Elway understands you need a drop back passer to win in this league.

So, what is it about Tebow that doesn’t translate to the Pros. Well, turn up your sound and watch this video from the sports science guy, and you will see:

You might think that .2 of a second isn’t much, but in throwing, it is. That extra time it takes Tebow to get the ball out, is the difference between making the throw and being hurried, and being hurried leads to his inconsistency.

It is just too hard to change, that’s the problem. After the hundreds of thousands of passes Tim Tebow has thrown, it’s just too hard to change. Muscle memory is a tough thing to overcome, as evidenced in the video. He tried to make a change, but couldn’t sustain it. He went back to his habits, which is something we all do.

Intangibles can only get you so far. As a quarterback, you must drop back and throw it. Tebow doesn’t do that well. Sorry Tebow fans, he just doesn’t.