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Published on 04/23/2010 at Fri Apr 23 08:00.
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Tim Tebow vs. Kyle Orton: McDaniels opens door for QB competition

Posted Fri Apr 23rd by

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow looks to pass during the 2010 Sugar Bowl. Tebow was drafted in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow looks to pass during the 2010 Sugar Bowl. Tebow was drafted in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Josh McDaniels‘s reputation as an NFL coach has largely been built off the quality of quarterbacks he has coached with the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos.

Now that reputation is beginning to shift to reflect the quantity of quarterbacks he coaches instead.

After the Denver Broncos selected Florida quarterback Tim Tebow in the first round of the NFL Draft Friday, the Broncos have a surplus of signal-callers. McDaniels now has four quarterbacks under his tutelage: Tebow, starter Kyle Orton, recent trade acquisition Brady Quinn, and 2009 sixth-round draft pick Tom Brandstater.

While McDaniels was quick to reaffirm Orton as his starter — Quinn is the only other to have started an NFL game, and he’s 2-7 — he wouldn’t rule out a possible changing at the helm if someone impresses in training camp.

“Our starting quarterback is Kyle Orton,” McDaniels said. “If somebody performs better than Kyle Orton then that’s going to have to change but right now it hasn’t and we’ll see what happens as we move forward.”

“That’s not even something that I’m thinking about,” Tebow said. “I’m thinking about just going in there and learning the offense, competing, working hard and just being the first one in and the last one to leave. And showing them (the Broncos) that I love this, I love what I do and thank you so much for taking me and I’m not going to let you down.”

“Now we have a deep group of quarterbacks and we expect the competition to be incredible,” said McDaniels. “It hasn’t changed anything in terms of our depth chart right now. We’re looking for that position to be the best player on our team if we can make it that way. Competition is only going to make each one of those players better and that’s what we expect him to come in and provide us with.”

This ambiguous “somebody” technically leaves the door open for Quinn or even Brandstater to supplant Orton as the starter, but McDaniels didn’t just invest three Top-100 picks to watch Tebow warm the bench. This “Mile High Messiah,” as the Wikipedia community was quick to name the navy-blue-donning Tebow, will be given every chance to succeed.

It’s very likely that won’t matter in 2010, and Orton will hold the reigns while Tebow learns the nuances of the pro game. But given a chance — and based on the former Heisman trophy winner’s renowned character and work ethic — Tebow will take off and run with it. I’m not about to underestimate what this kid can do.

Tim Tebow: Denver Broncos select QB in first round [BroncoTalk]

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  • NMBronc-in-DC

    Would love to see Orton gone for a pick.

    I believe the QB of the future is between Brady and Stater, with Tebow being a backup/Slash player.

  • Orange_Crush

    I also heard that Minnesota was trying to move up to that spot to take Tebow and that when Denver Got him they moved out of the first round altogether because that was the guy they were targeting.

    I keep hearing people say that he would have been there in the second or later in the first, but that just isn't true, to many other teams in the late rounds wanted him, If McDaniel's wanted Tebow (which he clearly did) he had to make the move he made. He bet his career on this, and I for one am very optimistic that this is going to work.

  • confused in littleton

    Yea I know but it was a fun quip

  • Iwasfn47

    I really think we'll trade Orton today or cut or option Brandstater to the practice squad(allowing him to be signed by another team possibly). Tebow and Quinn will battle it out this season and at worst Tebow will start the following season. If Orton's the odd man out why not trade him for anything you can get? Even a 7th? He's a one year deal and we just made it clear we won't be bringing him, so we'd be letting him walk for nothing. Unless we have faith Kyle can win us a SB this year why not invest the developmental game time on Tebow or Quinn and take whatever we can get for Orton?

    McDaniels may want to start Tebow this year, let him learn through struggles, pick up a high pick next year if we do poorly, and be able to defend his job status by claiming a rookie QB needs time to develop. A high pick could allow us to trade down again next year if we wanted to, or we could add an elite player on either side of the ball potentially.

    I don't think anyone thinks we'll win a superbowl this year, but if we can make strides towards a SB calibur team over the next two years we could be in good position with all the currently good teams being mainly older teams.

  • Dan

    According to NFL.com, Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson denied that his team tried to trade back into the first round of the NFL draft to take Tim Tebow, and he even said the Denver Broncos “panicked” when they made their move for the Florida quarterback. “He's a good player, but we had no interest in taking Tebow,” Wilson said Friday, according to The Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, N.Y. “We were not moving up to take Tebow.”

  • hallmark1955

    I doubt seriously that going after Tebow was pandering to the religious right…….the decision was made because the Bronco organization sees in Tebow a guy who can be really special, and will get some playing time this year. One thing is certain, he will give 110% all the time and will demand the same of those around him……I like that. Its good to see talent like Demaryius Thomas and Tim Tebow have a chance to prove themselves and contribute to our team, the Denver Broncos……..I'm sick of millionaires who act like babies. Get rid of 'em and play football.

  • TheTroglodyte

    lol well what is he supposed to say? “Yeah we really had our heart set on that kid but I have so many decades of stingy ownership behind me that there was no way I was going to give up more than the Broncos to get him. Instead I'm happy having 3 rb's on my team, no qb, no wr's, and no defense”.

    Even the very rich, want to save face.

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