McElroy, Sanchez, and Tebow

The Jets have given up on Mark Sanchez even though his contract runs through 2016.

They skipped backup QB Tim Tebow in naming Greg McElroy their next starter.

Tebow's contract runs through 2014.

While most are not surprised that Sanchez and his lousy quarterback play are no longer wanted or needed in New York, most are wondering how a head coach can be so stubborn when it comes to sticking with a horrible QB for so long BEFORE dumping him.

Coach Ryan has already proven he can't judge QB talent at all, so that he skipped Tim Tebow in the selection process doesn't surprise anyone who has been paying attention.

The question remains though, IS Tim Tebow capable of being a good NFL quarterback?

Forget all the FUD that regularly gets shoved down our throats by NFL commentators who make a living out of criticizing how Tebow throws.

Let's look at his college stats instead. His completion percentage was OVER 66% and he only threw 16 INTs in 661 passes. That's one INT for every 40 passes. That's not a great stat, but it would translate to about 12 INTs a season if he played a full year in the NFL. By MOST NFL standards, that's still more than good enough for your starter.

But even though he had 16 INTs in four years of college he also had 88 TD passes. That ratio is absolutely outstanding. That means he threw 22 TDs for every 4 INTs. There isn't a QB on the planet who wouldn't love to have those stats.

How would all of that translate to NFL ball if he was given a real chance to play QB?

Well, at Denver last year he managed to turn an already sunken ship into a play-off team that won it's first round game. I think that says more about Tebow than any commentator or stat can.

Tebow WILL be available to another team next season. There's no way the Jets are going to pay him that much to be their backup if they've already decided not to use him as their starter. The question asked yesterday, by thousands of Vikings fans (including my brother Myron) is SHOULD the Vikings try signing him?

My answer has always been the same. YES!

I don't even care if he never plays quarterback for the Vikings. You sign great athletes who can play football and you figure out how to use them later. Much like Joe Webb, another underutilized asset that Vikings don't know what to do with, Tim Tebow could help this team. He's strong. He's fast. He's big. He knows the game AND he's a winner.

I think he and Joe Webb could steal the show next year as regular contributers to this team. I'd still like to try BOTH at QB, but if that's not in the cards then use Tebow as a blocking back for Peterson. Or as the guy that comes in to give him a break. We've got two really good guys in those positions right now, but Tebow could be the guy that's better than both. Tebow has all the skills and size to be a linebacker as well. Again, you sign great athletes and figure out where to use them later. Don't limit gifted athletes by pigeon-holing them.

With Webb replacing the most likely departing Harvin at wide receiver and kick-returner next season and Tebow in our backfield, either blocking for Peterson or at QB we'd have a totally different exciting team.

We could have Webb, Tebow, and Peterson all in the same backfield at the same time with all sorts of great combinations and play-calls coming from that. The traditional "run it up the middle game plan" could finally be gone for good making the actual runs up the middle so much more effective and less predictable.

Having said all of that, I don't think there is any way in the world that Coach Frazier would ever sign Tim Tebow. Frazier does not think outside of the box. He's more like Rex Ryan of the Jets. He'll stick with a bad QB for too long and he will not look outside the norm for help. He's had Webb and Harvin for two seasons and he still hasn't used them effectively together. He doesn't think that way.

So neither will the Vikings.

The day the Vikes sign Tebow, will be the day that Frazier finally sees the light. I'm not holding my breath waiting for that day.