Now the Jets have two quarterbacks who can't throw a football into the side of a building.
Tongue and cheek aside, the Jets have acquired former Broncos quarterback sensation Tim Tebow for a fourth and sixth round pick in this year's draft.
Tebow, who lit the world on fire last season in Denver with miracle comebacks and a heavy dose of religion, became a cultural phenomenon overnight, but his inconsistency in throwing the football, poor completion percentage and awkward style of play became an albatross for Broncos GM John Elway and coach John Fox. Both had to deal with constant questioning about the progress of Tebow and an offense that wasn't getting it done; nonetheless, with smokes and mirrors, the Broncos found a way to win games and get to the postseason.
With that, the Broncos were not convinced that Tebow was a franchise quarterback, and the only way they could quiet the Tebow fanatics was to go out and sign Peyton Manning, a future Hall of Famer to take over at the position.
Enter in the Jets, the same New York Jets that struck out in the Manning sweepstakes; the same New York Jets that decided to overpay Mark Sanchez with a ridiculous $58 million five year contract, with $20 million guaranteed, less than 24 hours after the team suffered an egg facial from the Manning fiasco.
On the day Manning decided to sign on with the Denver Broncos, the New York Jets emerged as a favorite to land Tebow, so even if it sounded dubious, they were considered serious players for him. 12 hours later, the Jets have Tebow on their team.
Yet what the Jets showed their fans in acquiring Tim Tebow is that they truly don't have any confidence in Sanchez whatsoever. It's hard not to blame them, considering how inconsistent Sanchez has been the past three seasons, but there are other circumstances that contributed to the Jets poor play this year from a bad offensive line to a terrible running game.
If the Jets truly don't have confidence in Sanchez, why on earth did they give him a contract extension with $20 million guaranteed?
While offensive coordinator Tony Sparano runs a gimmicky offense known as the wild cat, which might suit Tebow well, the effectiveness of that offense dwindled the past couple seasons in Miami, leading to Sparano's firing. In addition, if the Broncos divisional playoff game against New England is any indication, teams are starting to figure out how to play Tebow.
In short, bringing Tebow in makes no sense. He is a terrible passer, who completes only 40% of his passes, making Sanchez and his 55% completion percentage look like Joe Montana. There were times this year when Tebow didn't complete a pass for long stretches in a game.
While the Jets will try to cover themselves and insist that Sanchez is their starter, nobody will believe them. Not even Sanchez. Once Sanchez leads from behind another stinker, Jets fans will be chanting Tebow's name at the Meadowlands. They will be calling up talk radio shows demanding Tebow start. Even talk show hosts might concede that Sanchez has to sit for Tebow. The mania will begin almost immediately the two of them grace the Jets practice field in Florham Park, NJ.
For the Jets front office, this is another screwy move. Clearly, the only motivation for owner Woody Johnson is to sell PSLs, jerseys and tee-shirts. Anyone who believes Johnson's missive that the Jets passed on Peyton Manning is a fool. The Jets wanted Manning to do the same thing, sell Jets tickets. While Manning is by far an improvement over the mediocre Sanchez, Tebow is not except from a marketing standpoint; Tebow in New York is a gold mine.
The question will be whether this move will ignite a fire under Sanchez, who has had a free pass the past three seasons; even teammates have come out to criticize him as a quarterback who was coddled too much. If the Jets wanted to bring in a legit back-up quarterback to threaten the Jets franchise quarterback, they would have signed either Chad Henne or Kyle Orton, but both were scared off by the Sanchez contract extension.
However, bringing in a guy who isn't any good, and is only popular because of his personality and beliefs is utterly ridiculous.
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