After Tuesday’s announcement that Tim Tebow will be the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos following their bye week, suddenly, everyone thinks they are an expert on the quarterback position, and their “expertise” leads to one conclusion – Tim Tebow cannot play quarterback in the NFL.
I have heard nothing but negative comments regarding Tebow and his ability to play quarterback from anyone and everyone that covers the NFL except for maybe ESPN’s Skip Bayless.
But what exactly makes someone able to play quarterback in the NFL?
Is it throwing accuracy? This is probably the most referred to statistic when it comes to measuring a quarterback’s throwing ability, and it is most certainly the first number critics point to when trying to prove Tebow’s inability to play quarterback.
Yes, Tebow has only completed 48.9% of his passes, but this hardly tells us anything about how well he can play quarterback or how good any quarterback will be in the future. First of all, he’s thrown a grand total of 92 passes in his career. There is no way anyone can predict how good or how bad of a career someone is going to have based on such a small sample size of passes. To put this in perspective, let’s look at a few “greats” in the small samples they had to begin their careers.
Peyton Manning – In Manning’s first 114 passes (three games), he completed only 54.4% of those passes. I doubt many sane people would argue that Manning has become one of the all-time greats at quarterback. The guy is a surefire, first ballot hall of famer.
Tom Brady – Brady’s first five games also got us a total of 114 passes. He completed 56.1% of his passes, just a little better than Manning. Again, there’s little argument that Brady is one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game.
Yes, these numbers are still better than Tebow. But in a league where an acceptable completion percentage is around 60%, these all-time greats started out at a subpar level and worked their way to where they are now. There’s no reason yet to believe Tebow can’t accomplish the same thing. We just simply have not seen enough to make that conclusion.
There’s one more statistic, for all of you in Denver, that should lay to rest any concerns regarding Tebow’s completion percentage and tell you just how little it means at this time.
John Elway – Most people probably wouldn’t know that in 98 passes (six games), John Elway only completed 46.9% of his passes. Wait, you mean a hall of fame quarterback started out worse than Tebow and still became great?
On the flip side, look at a guy like Tony Romo (99 passes over four games, 64.6%). The numbers look very promising, but after five years Romo is still not an elite quarterback. The fact is, sometimes the numbers don’t tell the whole story.
There’s only one stat that matters. Points. As Coach Herman Edwards would say, “You play to win the game.” Who has more points when the game is over: that’s all that matters. You win games by scoring points, and Tim Tebow is a scorer and the Broncos’ best chance to win football games. In four career games Tebow has 13 touchdowns (6 passing, 7 rushing). That’s more than three per game. In other words, he is the Broncos’ offense with more than 18 points a game.
Is Tebow struggling right now? Sure, but as we’ve seen, it’s not uncommon for even the all-time greats to struggle at the start of a career. His numbers may not be pretty, but he’s done enough to prove that he’s not a one trick pony running the football. He scores with his arm too, as a quarterback, and again, points are all that matters. Not accuracy, not throwing motion, not his ability to be a statue and throw from the pocket.
I’m not saying Tim Tebow will be an all-time great quarterback. It’s way too early for that, but it’s also way too early to say he won’t be any good. But the guy has won at every level he has ever played in as a quarterback. Let’s see a bigger sample size of his play on the field before we start crowning him the next Ryan Leaf, shall we?
Sources:
NFL.com, Tim Tebow: Career Stats at NFL.com
NFL.com, Peyton Manning: Game Logs at NFL.com
NFL.com, Tom Brady: Game Logs at NFL.com
NFL.com, John Elway: Game Logs at NFL.com
NFL.com, Tony Romo: Game Logs at NFL.com