ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—Josh McDaniels is going to change Tim Tebow.
Or is it the other way around?
A little bit of both, the Denver Broncos coach said with a chuckle.
“I think your goal as a coach is to certainly try to help change the players in any way you possibly can to help them improve their craft, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with allowing their personalities and their performances and the things they bring to a team to affect you, too, in a positive way,” McDaniels told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Tebow, the southpaw shotgun quarterback who won the 2007 Heisman Trophy and helped Florida win two national titles, will likely contribute this season in a sprinkling of wildcat—or, as the Broncos call it, wild horse—formations to take advantage of his running skills and get his feet wet in the NFL.
As Tebow grows more comfortable, honing his new throwing mechanics and footwork necessary to surpass backup Brady Quinn and supplant starting quarterback Kyle Orton, McDaniels knows he will have to tweak his offensive philosophies accordingly.
“I think I’ve been changed by a number of players, here and in New England. There’s nothing wrong with that,” said McDaniels, who tutored Tom Brady and Matt Cassel with the Patriots. “I think that’s just human nature. I think it’s OK for me to make somebody else a better player or a better person and it’s OK for them to make me a better coach or a better person.”
Tebow said he’s determined to repay McDaniels for making him the surprise No. 25 pick of the draft, suggesting that “proving him right and making him proud” is his new mission.
Accomplishing both goals would go a long way toward McDaniels and Tebow succeeding in Denver.
The Broncos paid a high price to draft Tebow, sending the Baltimore Ravens draft choices in the second, third and fourth rounds to move back into the first round and draft the quarterback with the most scrutinized selection of this year’s draft.
McDaniels will forever be known as the man who traded Jay Cutler in 2009 and drafted Tim Tebow in 2010.
“I’m not really concerned about a legacy,” McDaniels insisted. “We’re concerned about winning.”
With his already famous charismatic charm, Tebow promised to be the first to arrive for work at Dove Valley and the last to leave—and that may be out of necessity as McDaniels, with a glowing resume of quarterback pupils, works his wizardry on his newest project.
Tebow might just be the most intriguing pro prospect since Michael Vick.
This is the Heisman Trophy winner who some called the greatest college player ever. Now he is an NFL enigma, a big question mark because of his not-ready-for-prime-time throwing mechanics and footwork and the offense he ran at Florida.
Some scouts think it could take two years for Tebow to make the transition from combination college quarterback to prototypical pocket passer—if he ever does. Others argue his success in college, his passion for football and his work ethic will make the transition smoother and shorter.
When does McDaniels think Tebow could be ready to start in the NFL?
“I don’t know that. I think to put a time frame on any player is kind of unrealistic,” McDaniels said. “We’re going to give him all the opportunities that he deserves and he earns, and if he can earn more, then great. If he doesn’t, then that probably means that he’s made somebody else a better player.”
McDaniels is already raving about Tebow’s new passing motion that allows him to drop back with the ball at his shoulder instead of near his hip and release it quicker, and now Tebow is fixing his footwork.
He packed his bags to stay in Denver and start working with the Broncos right way but was told NFL rules prohibit him from doing so until next weekend.
The Broncos also selected another project in the first round in Georgia Tech wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, who said he ran just three different routes for the run-oriented Yellow Jackets.
Like third-round pick Eric Decker, a big wide receiver from Minnesota, Thomas is coming off foot surgery and won’t be ready to run when the rookies gather in Denver next weekend.
After beefing up his defensive line in free agency, McDaniels fortified his offensive line in the draft, selecting three interior linemen: tackle/guard Zane Beadles of Utah; center/guard J.D. Walton of Baylor in the third and guard/center Eric Olsen of Notre Dame in the sixth.
“We felt as the season wore on we kind of wore down a little bit,” McDaniels said. “We started to lose the line of scrimmage a little bit too much in terms of being able to run the ball productively and stop the run.”
McDaniels waited until the seventh round to draft a linebacker, much later than many expected after he jettisoned Andra’ Davis, who had 90 tackles and 3 1/2 sacks in his only season in Denver.
McDaniels, however, said his plan all offseason has been to move co-captain Mario Haggan inside to Davis’ spot next to D.J. Williams and insert second-year pro Robert Ayers, a first-rounder who didn’t tally a single sack as a rookie, into Haggan’s spot opposite NFL sacks leader Elvis Dumervil, who tallied 17.
The first defensive player taken by Denver was Oklahoma State cornerback/kick returner Perrish Cox in the fifth round.
The Broncos acquired two seventh-rounders from Tampa Bay for a 2011 fifth-rounder and chose Cal cornerback Syd’Quan Thompson and Indiana pass-rusher Jammie Kirlew.
McDaniels also confirmed to the AP that the team was close to signing 30-year-old free agent inside linebacker Akin Ayodele, who was released by Miami.
