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Tim Tebow has always had a large media presence following him at all times, whether he was a starting quarterback or in the college football analyst booth. Now, he has been given another chance to make his NFL dreams a reality. Chip Kelly and the Philadelphia Eagles decided to sign him and bring him into training camp to compete with Sam Bradford, Mark Sanchez and Matt Barkley.
Philadelphia may not be seriously considering him as a potential starter, but there is without question a place for him on the team if he can make the necessary improvements.
Heading into training camp, there is an uphill battle facing Tebow. It appears Bradford is Kelly’s preferred starter, while Sanchez showed a lot of improvement last season when he had to step into the starting role due to Nick Foles‘ broken collarbone. Tebow’s best bet is to win the third quarterback job, while also earning a spot on the roster for potential two-point conversion attempts with the new rule that the NFL put into play on extra points.
Last time Tebow was playing for an NFL team, he was in training camp with the New England Patriots, where he simply wasn’t able to earn a roster spot. Just before that, he was made a laughing stock of with the New York Jets, where he was used as a punt protector.
There is no question Tebow has proven he can win football games at the quarterback position. He pulled off a miraculous run with the Denver Broncos in his second NFL season that ended with a playoff win against the Pittsburgh Steelers and a disappointing loss at the hands of the Patriots. Despite all of the struggles he has seen since those glory days, he has held his head high and hasn’t given up on his dream of playing professional football.
If Tebow is going to end up making the Eagles’ regular season roster, there are a few things that he will have to prove to Kelly.
First of all, he’ll have to show he has improved his passing mechanics. He was extremely inaccurate during his tenure with the Broncos, Jets and Patriots and will have to take a leap forward in that area.
Secondly, he will need to prove once again that he is capable of making plays with his legs after so much time out of football. It isn’t likely he will have an issue with that, but he still has to produce on the field.
Finally, he has to do everything in his power to be a good teammate and a positive presence in the locker room.
Tebow shouldn’t have any trouble doing those three things, and it is obvious Kelly is a fan of his game. If he didn’t like what Tebow brought to the field, he wouldn’t have given the quarterback a deal in the first place.
Perhaps the most intriguing part of this entire situation is that Tebow is the perfect kind of quarterback to run Kelly’s system. He thrives in an up-tempo offense where he is asked to make plays with both his arm and legs, and that is exactly what the Eagles run. Kelly very well could have signed Tebow hoping that he could mold him into his quarterback, but that may be reaching too far as well.
All of that being said, Tebow is going to have to work hard to make the roster. He certainly has the talent, but he’ll have to prove himself to the coaching staff and earn a spot for himself.
Evan Massey is a featured writer for www.RantSports.com, and contributes across the NFL, MLB, NCAA and NBA portions of the site. Follow him on Twitter at @Massey_Evan and like him on Facebook.
