Good post. It's absolutely fair to question how effective Tebow the QB can be. I, in general, am skeptical about QBs who predominantly are runners. Teams/players are just too good to allow QBs to not first and foremost be effective passers. Tebow is not consistently an effective passer. Maybe he will be but he isn't now. It will be interesting to see what he can do with an off season of practice and a majority of snaps at training camp. I'd definitely say after this off season and training camp, if he hasn't shown marked improvement, his NFL career as a QB will be done.
With that said, Tebow the individual appears to he a quality person. I think that has to be said because their seems to be ire directed at him for what I consider unjust reasons.
I also think it's unfair to expect Tebow to play consistently as a passer as if he was in a passing style offense like Tom no matter who they are playing.
Let's be honest, Brady didn't play as good as Tebow did against the Steelers in his first playoff game. And Brady has played uglier than Tebow putting up an NFL passer rating of 35.9 against Baltimore. Joe Flacco put up a 10.0 in the same game and won! Those ratings aren't simply about the quarterback, they have a lot to do with your cast as well and if anyone here doesn't think Tim couldn't put up better numbers with the same talent around him is smoking something.
No way does Denver's offense or receivers compare to the rest of the league. He did the best he could with one of the most average group of receivers you can find currently in the NFL and a patched together offense that was neither a spread nor even average for a traditional style offense. He got them to the divisional round and set playoffs passing records against the Steelers in his first game. Enough said.
People put every pass Tebow doesn't complete on Tebow. It doesn't quite work that way. Tebow still proved to be the #1 most efficient passer by air this year averaging 12.3 air yards per pass. That's honestly what you should use primarily to rank quarterbacks as passers. Air yards. Not yards after catch. His receivers are ranked 32nd worse in dropped passes in the NFL. Give Tebow Gronkowski and Hernandez, Wes Welker and see if he can't be at 60% consistently.
I mean a little common sense should prevail. If you really believe Tebow's as bad as people think, then prepare for another "miracle" transformation in 2012. In one off season Tebow's going to go from a 40% passer to a 60% passer. Watch. Biggest turnaround ever.
Brees is a perfect example of how good you can become with the right pieces around you. His best completion % in San Diego was a 65.5. His worst 55.6. In New Orleans he put up a 64.3 and his best this year was 71.2. But he threw more difficult passes in San Diego than he does in New Orleans.
Still doesn't mean much when your interception % isn't elite. Your team will lose. And that's one area where Tebow excels. Brees got the yards and completion % and won as many playoff games as Tebow with a much more talented team. Guys with the interception % like Alex Smith, Brady, Flacco and Rodgers get the
win. And it should be noted guys like Flacco are as inconsistent in completion % as Tebow, because they are in different style offenses. Flacco goes from 78.9% down to as low as 43% every other game.
Joe Flacco's completion % this year:
vsPIT
W 35-7 17 29 224
58.6 7.72 29 3 0 117.6
@ TEN
L 13-26 15 32 197
46.9 6.16 32 1 2 51.2
@ STL
W 37-7 27 48 389
56.3 8.10 74 3 0 103.6
vsNYJ
W 34-17 10 31 163
32.3 5.26 52 0 1 37.4
vsHOU
W 29-14 20 33 305
60.6 9.24 56 0 1 78.5
@ JAC
L 7-12 21 38 137
55.3 3.61 20 1 1 61.0
vsARI
W 30-27 31 51 336
60.8 6.59 37 0 1 72.0
@ PIT
W 23-20 28 47 300
59.6 6.38 29 1 0 85.4
@ SEA
L 17-22 29 52 255
55.8 4.90 19 1 1 67.4
vsCIN
W 31-24 17 27 270
63.0 10.00 49 2 1 105.5
vsSF
W 16-6 15 23 161
65.2 7.00 22 1 0 100.1
@ CLE
W 24-10 10 23 158
43.5 6.87 32 0 0 66.9
vsIND
W 24-10 23 31 227
74.2 7.32 26 2 1 102.5
@ SD
L 14-34 23 34 226
67.6 6.65 36 2 2 81.3
vsCLE
W 20-14 11 24 132
45.8 5.50 42 2 1 73.6
@ CIN
W 24-16 15 19 130
78.9 6.84 39 1 0 112.7
lol. Look at those highs and lows. More importantly Flacco won with a 32.3, and 45.8 and won a playoff game with a 10.0. Yet lost this year completing 67.6 and 55% of his passes. So who cares? ? Clearly that alone has little to do with winning a football game.
He has one of the best win percentages of all time just like Brady. 2nd in the league among active quarterbacks. That's what matters. He's not losing his starting job. He's an NFL quarterback. Why can't Tebow be one?
Now try interception %. See how many a QB's still win when they have a poor TD to int %.
