Former Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow (Denver Post file photo)
Today's questions about the Broncos come from Chris Jenkins. To submit a question for consideration, send an e-mail to The Denver Post's Jeff Legwold.
Q: I would still like to know why do you think John Elway did not want Tim Tebow to learn under Peyton Manning? He played it like Tebow had a better chance to be a starter somewhere else, although he was (traded to) the Jets, where he is No. 2 going into training camp â€" for now, anyway. So why not keep Tebow as the backup? And do you believe Elway would ever bring Tebow back to Denver?
A: Chris, as an organization, with executive vice president of football operations John Elway and head coach John Fox leading the way, the Broncos made a developmental decision on Tebow when they elected to pursue Manning.
By that the decision was made that they did not want to play the kind of offense that suited Tebow the best over the long term, which would be an option-oriented attack with questions still lingering over whether Tebow will be able to advance his game enough to be a starter in a more traditional passing look.
Yes, other young, mobile quarterbacks are starters in offenses that feature their run skills â€" most notably Cam Newton last season. But Newton also showed far more accuracy when asked to throw, completing 60 percent of his passes as a rookie with full load of 517 attempts.
Tebow, because of varying release points and the fact his footwork and arm swing don't consistently match enough for him to maintain his accuracy, completed 46.5 percent of his passes last season with just 271 attempts. And the Broncos simply made the decision they could win a playoff game as they did over the Steelers once in a while playing the offense they used last season with Tebow behind center, but to get in the championship mix they wanted to have more drop-back
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Elway has said many times "championships are won in the pocket" and that he, in hindsight, wishes he had run less often early in his career because he believes, looking back, it stilted his own development as a passer some in those early years.
So, once the decision to pursue Manning is made and Manning then decides to sign with the Broncos as the most coveted free agent in the league's history, the Broncos were then faced with installing the offense Manning would use.
To have Tebow as a backup at this point in his development as a pro passer would then mean the team would need almost an entirely different playbook for the backup quarterback. The route tree the receivers use, the protection schemes up front and the amount of decisions the quarterback will make at the line of scrimmage with Manning at quarterback won't resemble what the team would have had to do if Tebow had been the backup and had to replace Manning in the lineup.
So, then the decision was made to trade Tebow almost immediately after Manning signed.
The Broncos wanted continuity in their offensive approach, one playbook for everybody. Their decision â€" and time will be the final judge of whether things work out as well as they hope â€" was based on a prediction of Tebow's development.
The Broncos loved Tebow as a person and appreciated his efforts as well as his work ethic. They simply wanted to
move in another direction on offense.And regardless of whether Tebow stayed, the Broncos were also going to draft a quarterback as a long-term prospect. They scouted the top quarterbacks heavily in the 2011 draft â€" with Elway attending pro days for Newton and Blaine Gabbert â€" and then scouted them heavily again in the 2012 draft.
They even sent the Elway's plane to get Manning for his first visit to the team complex from a stop in Stillwater, Okla., where Elway and other team officials had attended Brandon Weeden's pro day.
As far as bringing back Tebow at some point, they are committed to Manning for several years â€" and Manning said his plan is to play several more years â€" and they are committed to Brock Osweiler being the main developmental prospect too. So, an awful lot would have to change for Tebow to re-enter the team's plans.
Jeff Legwold: jlegwold@denverpost.com or twitter.com/jeff_legwold
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