There is already speculation that Mark Sanchez has started
to lose the respect of his fellow New York Jets behind his poor play and lack
of leadership; bringing Tim Tebow in will only make that situation worse.
Sadly the Jets felt that Tebow would help unite their
fractured locker room which is the reason why they traded a fourth and sixth
round pick to the Denver Broncos on Wednesday in order to acquire him. On top
of adding Tebow the Jets also receive a seventh round pick in the deal.
This trade will not help the Jets though. Tebow attracts
circus-like attention where ever he goes and that will only be amplified by the
bright lights of playing in the Big Apple. Imagine Tebow-time to the tenth
power because the media attention in New York will be exponentially greater
than what Tebow saw in Denver.
The thing that should concern people the most though is the
Jets’ logic concerning how Tebow can help this team. Seriously, how does
bringing in a more popular quarterback help the incumbent starter?
Tebow began last season as Denver’s third-string quarterback
but after starter Kyle Orton began to falter, Broncos’ fans and Tebow-fanatics
pressured management to give him a shot.
And we see how that situation ended. Tebow helped the
Broncos win the division and led the Broncos to a playoff win over the
Pittsburgh Steelers. Orton was waived during the season and picked up by the
Kansas City Chiefs.
To his credit Sanchez has led the Jets to the AFC
Championship game twice but his play last season shows that he hasn’t made much
progress during the three seasons he has been in the league.
As a matter of fact many would cite his poor decision-making
as the reason the Jets didn’t make their third straight playoff appearance last
year. Sanchez threw a career-best 26 touchdowns last year but also committed a
career-worst 26 turnovers.
And neither quarterback is very accurate. Tebow threw under
50% last season but he has started only 14 regular season games in his two-year
career. He also didn’t get any reps in training camp during the preseason which
didn’t help him any.
Sanchez on the other hand has been New York’s starter for
three years now and can’t seem to complete 60% of his throws. His 56.7%
completion rate last year was a career best which isn’t saying much.
Not to make excuses for Tebow because his statistics were
extremely poor but he did master the one statistic that matters most to a
quarterback and that is wins. Tebow led the Broncos on a six-game winning
streak which helped the Broncos win the division and secure a playoff berth
last year. The Jets only won three games in the second half of the season under
Sanchez.
Tebow really isn’t that far behind Sanchez in the accuracy
department so if Sanchez continues to falter then Tebow may take his job which
wouldn’t bother head coach Rex Ryan in the least.
Ryan is a fiery head coach and he likes driven, gutsy
players like Tebow. Tebow’s presence would be a godsend for Ryan who would
finally have that strong-willed field general he covets to lead his team into
battle every Sunday.
And remember, Tebow wasn’t just successful making plays
offensively for the Broncos last season. He also inspired the defense to play
better in order to give him a chance to pull out wins for them. Now just
imagine how good the Jets could be if Tebow can do that for them.
So look for more drama to follow Tebow as he continues his
NFL journey in the green and white. Tebow’s presence in the Jet’s locker room
won’t bring players together; instead it will only serve to further divide the
team.
And things may get sticky if players end up having to choose
between Tebow and Sanchez. All in all, look for the Jets to have a pretty interesting season this year; especially if Tebow comes in and leads the Jets on a
run like the one he led the Broncos on last season.
Roosevelt Hall is an NFL Blogger for The Sport Mentalist and an NBA Blogger for The Sport Mentalist 2. He is also a Sports Reporter for Pro Sports Lives. He can be contacted at RHall_TPFB@Yahoo.com and be sure to follow him on Twitter @sportmentalist.
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