After turbulance with Jets, Tim Tebow looks to the future

Finally, mercifully, Tim Tebow’s dreadful spell as a quarterback with the New York Jets has come to the end. The Jets announced on Monday that they have released the former Florida Gator in a move that will relieve fans of both Tebow and the Jets alike. Few players had a more publicly miserable season than Tim Tebow this past year, and the media circus around him did nothing but add further distraction to an already struggling Jets team that eventually stumbled to a 6-10 record.

The marriage between Tebow and New York began as tumultuously as it ended. The Jets made a splash last year when they traded a 4th round pick to the Denver Broncos to bring the polarising Tebow to their Florham Park facility. While many, including legendary Jets quarterback Joe Namath, thought the move for Tebow was more about selling jerseys and merchandise than actually winning games, the Jets’ coaches maintained that there was a place for Tebow within their offence. Holding true to that belief, Rex Ryan quickly named Tebow as the starting punt protector, a move which captured the imagination of the country as analysts and fans grew excited trying to work out what the Jets had planned for their new offensive weapon.

As it turns out, they didn’t have much planned at all. Joe Namath was right. In hindsight, the move looks to have owner Woody Johnson’s fingerprints all over it, concerned with bringing fame and relevance back to a waning organisation. Johnson was the only man who wanted Tebow in New York, and it soon became clear that the coaching staff never felt comfortable putting Tebow on the field. He failed to score a single point all season, and attempted only 8 passes while featuring in only 12 games all season. This was despite a late-season injury to Mark Sanchez which presented an opportunity for Tebow to be given his chance as starting quarterback. Coach Ryan, however, elected to go with third-string quarterback Greg McElroy instead. That move confirmed what many had suspected for some time; that 2012 would be the only season of Tim Tebow’s New York Jets career.

Now that Tebow has officially been given his release, he will look to find his next NFL team, and turn his back on a season in which he had more front page headlines than pass completions. That, however, will be easier said than done. While their is indeed plenty of interest for Tebow around the league, it is widely believed that teams would want to use him as a full-back, running back, tight end or in an “x-factor” utility role rather than as a conventional quarterback. Tebow, however, is not sold on the idea. He has told reporters numerous times that he will not give up on playing quarterback in the NFL, and that it has always been his “dream”.

In fairness, in Tebow’s only season as a starting quarterback in the NFL he took his team to a 7-4 record and a wild-card playoff victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The success he provided led many in the media to overlook his obvious technical flaws, instead branding him as a man who just knows how to win football games. However, there are few in the business that believe Tebow actually has what it takes to be an NFL quarterback. He lacks the accuracy and decision-making to ever be a safe option under centre, and coaches are nervous of that despite his winning ways.

Therefore, if Tebow continues to insist on playing quarterback, his options for the future might be seriously limited. At the moment, there is widespread speculation that if Tebow won’t give up on his quarterback dream, he may have to find a home in the Canadian Football League or even the Arena Football League. In fact, in a recent poll sent out on Twitter by NFL.com asking fans where Tebow would play in 2013, over 48% believed that Tebow would wind up in the CFL. The Montreal Alouettes own Tebow’s CFL rights, so there is a real chance he could end up playing for them, albeit as a back-up.

There is still hope for Tebow in the NFL, but only if the conditions are right for both the player and the franchise. Ideally, he should be aiming for four things:

1) An organisation with limited media coverage and an entrenched starting quarterback.

The last thing Tebow needs right now is another media circus after the New York debacle. He needs to find somewhere where the media will largely leave him alone, and the starting quarterback is talented enough to avoid any calls for Tebow to replace him. Tebow needs to sit quietly behind a talented pass catcher and learn to develop his skills without any pressure of starting.

2) A coach who understands how to use him

First and foremost, Tebow is a football player. While he will always want to be a quarterback, he is a Swiss Army knife of versatility and will probably be happy to see the field in any way he can. In New York, Rex Ryan and Tony Sparano either couldn’t figure out how to use their Swiss Army knife or didn’t want to. Tebow would be best suited playing under a coach and in a system that utilises the read-option as an aspect of their offence, and knows how to get create with a dual-threat quarterback.

3) A team with little depth at the Quarterback position

Tebow’s terrible time in New York was largely due to a crowded quarterback depth chart. Having three quarterbacks is becoming less and less common in today’s NFL, and Tebow needs to find a spot where he can be the back-up quarterback without that third stringer behind him.

4) A team with interest!

Obviously, it stands to reason that the team that hires Tebow needs to be interested in his services. That is why despite appearing to be a good fit, both San Francisco and Jacksonville will not be the favourite landing spots in the Tebow sweepstakes. New Jacksonville general manager David Caldwell has made it very clear that he does not want Tebow on the roster under any circumstances, and the 49ers have made similar proclamations in the last few days.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the more likely landing spots for the most famous back-up quarterback in NFL history:

Seattle Seahawks

Tebow would be a great option as Russell Wilson’s (pictured) back-up in Seattle

There are currently three quarterbacks on the Seahawks roster behind starter Russell Wilson, and not a single one of them looks like a credible back-up quarterback. Brady Quinn, Josh Portis and Jerrod Johnson are all seriously flawed passers in their own right, and all three fail to inspire confidence in running the read-option aspects of the Seahawks’ system.

Tebow has already proved himself capable of handling the read-option with decent efficiency, and could come in and be a solid back-up to Wilson straight away. Pete Carroll just seems like the sort of enthusiastic coach Tebow would love to play for, and Tebow is the kind of hard-working underdog that Carroll loves. The match just makes sense from all angles.

Washington Redskins

The Redskins signed Pat White in the off-season to be star quarterback Robert Griffin’s replacement in the read-option heavy offence that they run in Washington. White is a 190 lb lightweight, and hasn’t played professional football in two years after being knocked unconscious in a 2010 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Surely Tebow, with a similar skill set but much more durability and experience, would be a better choice?

Kirk Cousins may have something to say about that, however. The current #2 quarterback in Washington performed admirably in RG3′s absense last year, steering his side to a 38-21 win in Cleveland with a 104.4 quarterback rating and proving he can thrive in the Redskins system. Cousin’s presence may make Tebow an unnecessary addition.

New England Patriots

This move makes sense for more than one reason. Firstly, because of Josh McDaniels and Bill Belichick. McDaniels liked Tebow enough to make him a first round pick in 2010 when he was head coach of the Broncos. He likes what Tebow brings to the table and as offensive co-ordinator he could definitely find ways to use Tebow within the Patriots offence. Belichick, meanwhile, has publicly backed Tebow, calling him a “weapon” and “valuable”. The Patriots head coach has a known affinity for Florida Gator alumnus due to his close relationship with Gators’ head coach Urban Meyer, and was rumoured to be interested in drafting Tebow in 2010.

New England is also the most skilled organisation in the entire league at hiding players from the media glare. The camera-shy mentality in the Patriots organisation would be the perfect solution to Tebow’s problematic fame.

However, the Patriots already have one of the better back-up quarterbacks in the league in Ryan Mallett. Further, it would seem counter-productive to bring in a guy on offence to replace Tom Brady on certain gadget plays. If you have one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the NFL, why would you want to bring him off the field? This move makes more sense for Tebow than it does for the Patriots.

San Diego Chargers

While San Diego may not be the bookmakers’ favourite, I like them as the best fit for Tebow. They have the coach, the media environment and the entrenched starting quarterback to make it work. The new head coach for the Chargers, Mike McCoy, was Tebow’s offensive co-ordinator during the Broncos productive 2011 season. He knows Tebow as well as anybody and understands how to get the most out of him. Phillip Rivers is firmly established as the starting quarterback, and Tebow’s presence is unlikely to change that. He will be able to sit behind the veteran, learning to improve on his technique, whilst being used in whatever ways Coach McCoy sees fit. Finally, the camera flash of the San Diego media is nowhere near as dazzling as the lights in New York City. Just as second round draft pick Manti Te’o has found the perfect home in which to escape from the media spotlight, Tim Tebow can too.

Cleveland Browns

The new regime of coach Rob Chudzinski and general manager Mike Lombardi surprised many this past week by completely ignoring the quarterback position in the 2013 NFL Draft. With a lack of certainty at the quarterback position, Cleveland were among the favourites to sign a signal caller in one of the early rounds, but failed to select one with any of their 5 draft choices.

The driving force behind this move is the fact that Coach Chudzinski is very familiar with an option offence controlled by a power running quarterback. He spent the last two seasons coaching Cam Newton as offensive co-ordinator of the Carolina Panthers.

Buffalo Bills

The Bills drafted EJ Manuel to be their starting quarterback, and although they signed Kevin Kolb to be the back-up in this year’s free agency period, Tim Tebow fits Manuel’s style of play better than the less mobile Kolb. Kolb is on too much money to simply abandon, so if both parties are interested here Tebow would be walking into the third string position. Whether he would be comfortable with that after his time in New York is something we have yet to find out.