2012 Redux: Tebow is Back in the NFL
No, do not adjust your calendars. We haven’t gone back in time. Tebowmania did, in fact, run its course in 2012, and even though the Jaguars have signed the former Florida star, Trevor Lawrence will be throwing all the passes in Jacksonville.
But catching those passes? That’s another story.
Transition to Tight End
It’s a tale of two quarterbacks - Tim Tebow and Lamar Jackson. It was suggested to Tebow at the time he was drafted 25th overall in 2010 that he change positions. He was a great athlete and Heisman Trophy winner, but was he really going to be a successful NFL quarterback?
The same was said of Jackson when he was drafted in 2018 with the 32nd overall pick. Tremendous athlete, Heisman Trophy winner, but will probably be better at a position other than quarterback.
Both men stuck to their guns and insisted on remaining quarterbacks. Jackson won the MVP, proving his doubters wrong. Tebow managed a playoff win for the Broncos with just 10 completed passes, then looked completely out of his depth the following week in a 45-10 Divisional Round loss to the Patriots.
In the end, Tebow was not good as a quarterback, and even worse as a minor league left fielder. His doubters were proven right.
But now, more than a decade after he refused to change his position, Tebow is listening and has signed as a tight end with the Jaguars, reuniting him with his college football coach at Florida, Urban Meyer.
One Question: Why?
Tebow is 33 years old and hasn’t played a snap of football since 2012. Meyer is the new head coach of a young and rebuilding team that just made a 21-year-old rookie quarterback the face of the franchise.
Why make this move?
For Tebow, it’s pretty simple. He’s been chasing his professional sports dream for more than a decade, and he still wants it.
It also doesn’t hurt that even though he washed out as an NFL quarterback a decade ago, in Florida, he is beloved. He won a pair of national championships for the Gators just 71 miles from Jacksonville.
For the Jaguars, it’s also pretty simple. If Tebow can’t make the transition, you cut him. The contract being talked about is a one-year deal that comes with very little commitment. The sportsbook odds of Tebow’s name being on the Week 1 roster is -200 to the no. But a ton of prop bets come into play if he’s on the active list on opening week.
Maybe he plays in a preseason game, signs some autographs at training camp, gets a few locals in the area excited about Jaguars football, and then it’s over.
But maybe he does make the team. He can probably play some special teams. Maybe see snaps at backup tight end. And while Meyer and Lawrence adjust to the NFL, Tebow commands the attention of the media.
Where Tebow goes, the media and mayhem seem to follow. And that could be his greatest gift to his former coach.
Colts Have New Left Tackle
The Colts were expected to be a player in the tackle market at the NFL Draft earlier this month. When they left the draft without a tackle, there was definite concern about who would protect the oft-injured Carson Wentz in September.
It’s hard to know if he will be ready by September, but at some point, the job of watching Wentz’s backside will go to newly acquired left tackle Eric Fisher.
Fisher was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2013 draft and was a mainstay on the Chiefs offensive line for the last eight years. But the last time we saw Fisher, he tore his Achilles tendon in the AFC Championship Game.
He’s a two-time Pro Bowl selection, and as the world saw in the Super Bowl when Fisher wasn’t able to play, he was invaluable in making Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City offense successful. The Chiefs moved on from Fisher, in part because of the injury, and the Colts now take on the gamble that he will be able to recover from the injury.
It’s a gamble that Colts general manager Chris Ballard is willing to take and on a player that he knows quite well. Ballard was the director of player personnel in Kansas City when Fisher was drafted.
