A team that has been incredibly average in the regular season for the past four years has become the undisputed champion of the NFL offseason.
The Broncos knocked the NFL on its insignia ears by selecting Tim Tebow with the second of their two first-round selections Thursday night.
The offseason is measured by stirring headlines, the regular season by wins. In Tebow, the Broncos hope one leads to the other. Happy birthday, Josh McDaniels.
“I want to be a quarterback in the NFL for a great many years,” Tebow said in a teleconference. “That’s my goal. That’s been my goal since I was 6 years old. I want to do whatever it takes to get there. I’m just grateful to Coach McDaniels to have the strength and belief in me, to choose me and believe in me. I’m so thankful for that.”
Once again, the Broncos have created a buzz across the NFL landscape. Only here along the Front Range, the pessimism of last year’s Jay Cutler departure has been stabbed by the optimistic light that is Tebow’s arrival.
“We needed a player at that position to be a good player — a good, good player,” said McDaniels, who turned 34 on Thursday. “And if we can make him a special player, then that’s what we’re looking for.”
Tebow’s selection with the No. 25 pick capped a dizzying night at Dove Valley when the Broncos made two trades up and two trades down on the first-round draft board, took Georgia Tech receiver Demaryius Thomas at No. 22, and still were left with one second-round pick and two third-rounders for the next stage of the draft, which will be held tonight.
As always, McDaniels was unpredictable. But in what has become a common thread through his second offseason as Broncos coach, his transactions have centered around the purpose of eliminating controversy and adding players of character.
If selecting the Heisman Trophy-winning, quintessential American role model Tebow is second-guessed, so be it.
There was a need for the Broncos to replace Brandon Marshall, the talented receiver they traded last week. There was zero desire to replace Brandon Marshall, the distracting headache.
In selecting Thomas, and not Dez Bryant, with what turned out to be the No. 22 pick Thursday, the Broncos believe they have found a better version of Marshall. Better as in better behaved, with a little more downfield speed.
“I’ve always been around the right crowd,” Thomas said. “And then I became a Christian. Once I did that, it changed my life. I didn’t want to be that guy they always talked about being a bad guy.”
Once the enthusiasm for acquiring Tebow subsides, the Broncos’ wisdom for believing the college superstar with a retooled throwing motion can develop into an every-down NFL quarterback will come into question. Specifically, Tebow has a long, outfielder-like throwing release that he worked on diligently in the months leading up to the draft.
“A lot of people said I was going to be a long process or the process was going to be frustrating, but for me, I loved it because I love football,” Tebow said. “I enjoyed that. I enjoyed the work. All the critics and negativity, it only pushed me that much harder. I can honestly say that made me better.”
But there are other reasons for eyebrows to rise. Tebow becomes a Broncos’ first-round draft choice a month after the team acquired quarterback Brady Quinn to back up starter Kyle Orton?
“We expect the competition to be incredible,” McDaniels said.
And, the Broncos took Tebow even though McDaniels runs a disciplined, systematic offense while the lefty appears to be ultimate, freelancing quarterback?
“We stole a lot of their (Florida Gators’) plays two or three years ago,” McDaniels said. “They ask their quarterback to do a lot. What Tim has been asked to do mentally, there was a lot of burden on him. Same thing here.”
By now, the surprises have become so commonplace, there is no longer reason to be surprised.
If Broncos owner Pat Bowlen is bold enough to fire the iconic Mike Shanahan as coach before last season and replace him with the unproven McDaniels, if McDaniels has the guts to trade away Cutler and Marshall, then why should anyone be surprised Denver made this daring move?
The next question regards the Broncos’ quarterback position for the upcoming 2010 season, and beyond. One possible scenario: Tebow would become the Broncos’ starting quarterback in either 2011 or 2012.
Orton figures to get the first chance to start in 2010, but he will again be playing on a one-year contract. It is clear Tebow’s selection means the Broncos would not be inclined to sign Orton to a long-term deal.
Will Orton now move to the trading block?
Quinn has two more years, at an affordable $700,000 per, on his contract. It’s conceivable Orton could be the starter in 2010, Quinn in 2011 and Tebow in 2012 and beyond.
As Tebow develops, he could be used immediately for five to six plays a game. His ability to run and jump pass made him a goal-line, third-and-1 weapon in college. And then there are popular Wildcat formations.
“I won’t deny that he does give you an opportunity to create some un-gameplanned production, similar to a Ben Roethlisberger or Donovan McNabb,” McDaniels said. “You draw a play up on the board and it doesn’t look as pretty as I thought it would, but then he makes it work some other way.”
Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com
