Tim Tebow should be a starter in today’s NFL. There, I said it; and if you think differently, you need to check yourself and start having a little more faith in Football Jesus.
First off, the number one priority in the NFL is to win games. As a starter, Tebow is 8-6 [57.1% winning percentage], with seven game-winning drives (in the fourth quarter or overtime) in those 14 games. Seven! One of which was a playoff game, nonetheless!
Next, even though his sample size is relatively small, Timmy sports 17 career passing touchdowns against only nine picks. That’s good for almost a 2:1 TD/INT ratio, which is traditionally the ratio for a more-than-serviceable starting NFL quarterback. If you compare those numbers to the combined 320 TD/333 INT ratio of the top 10 QBs in the NFL and Tebow’s not too shabby.
So at this point, you might be thinking, “Ok, those numbers may be true, but Tebow still can’t throw the ball.” Well, in this case, you are somewhat correct, but if you compare his completion percentage of 47.9% to other top 10 QBs in TD/INT ratio it’s not that big a difference:
Brady Quinn 53.8% Kellen Clemens 51.6% Josh Freeman 57.6%
Kevin Kolb 59.5% Bruce Gradkowski 52.9% Christian Ponder 59.3%
Brandon Weeden 56.2% Blaine Gaebbert 53.3% Derek Anderson 52.8 %
Chad Henne 59.3%
Only three of those 10 quarterbacks produced a completion percentage over 10 points higher than Tebow, and those three combined for a 1:1 TD/INT ratio (Kolb 28/25, Henne 45/53, Ponder 33/30).
Next, Tebow’s strong ability as a runner must be taken into consideration. He is 6-foot-3 and around 240 pounds pounds of hulking mass with 4.7 speed (40-yard dash). Tebow has the body of a large linebacker and would be able to take the abuse that comes with rushing 10-15 times a game. In his 11 starts for the Denver Broncos in 2011, Tebow rushed for six touchdowns at an average clip of 5.4 yards per run; that kind of production would make a lot of running backs in the league envious.
Finally, the guy is a born leader who flourishes under the spotlight and inspires others. He won two national titles and the Heisman Trophy, he led the Broncos to the playoffs in 2011 and if the Peyton Manning sweepstakes had never happened, Tebow might still be the Broncos’ starting quarterback today.
So there you have it. If you looked at these numbers and you still don’t think Tebow can be a viable NFL quarterback then — unlike Tim — to you, winning isn’t everything.
