Peyton Manning is a Bronco

[Lanky Livingston]

I think the brass in Denver didn't really like Tebow that much, but to try and go in a different direction would have been a PR nightmare. Manning was just about the only way out of it.

Man, they must have HATED Tim Tebow. I can't fathom how they could hate a guy who helped win what, 9 straight games for them? And also won a playoff game against the heavily favored Steelers? Pretty ridiculous...

If this move doesn't work out, as I suspect it won't, Mr. Elway will be looking for a new job in the next year or so.

 

[Henry]

Like I said, Lanky, the rest of the league saw what Tebow did last year as well. Let's see who grabs him up, how quickly, and for how much.

EDIT: I heard caller on Wise's show today suggest we trade the #2 to Cleveland for more than we paid and get Tebow and build a team around him.

Anyone up for that plan?

 

[Goaldeje]

Man, they must have HATED Tim Tebow. I can't fathom how they could hate a guy who helped win what, 9 straight games for them? And also won a playoff game against the heavily favored Steelers? Pretty ridiculous...

If this move doesn't work out, as I suspect it won't, Mr. Elway will be looking for a new job in the next year or so.

Depends on what you mean by "work out". Manning, assuming a modicum of health, should be enough to get them back to the playoffs. The AFC West is not great, and the AFC in general is pretty weak. Looks to me (right now) like the Steelers and Chargers have stepped backwards a little, leaving the Pats as the dominant team. The Donkeys have enough of a D to bother Brady a little, which means that if Peyton can play at 85-90% of what we're used to seeing, they could make a run.

If by "work out" you mean Super Bowl or bust, then yeah, it may not work.

 

[Fear The Spear]

But if he blows up somewhere else though, Denver may look back on this in 2-3 and wonder wtf they there thinking.

Wouldn't surprise me in the least.

I mean, how many times has Tebow proved the critics, doubters, and naysayers wrong ?

He proves them wrong, then they raise the bar, and he proves them wrong again. Rinse and repeat.

I'm actually very certain that even if he won a Super Bowl, they would still put a great big asterisk on that. Don't know what he has to do, to please a lot of people.

 

[Neophyte]

EDIT: I heard caller on Wise's show today suggest we trade the #2 to Cleveland for more than we paid and get Tebow and build a team around him.

Anyone up for that plan?

No thanks. There is, admittedly, something about young Mr Tebow. He is a winner. However, I think young Mr Griffin has a serious amount of the same something and he has it coupled with a greater set of NFL QB skills.

I take pick #2 for three 1s and a 2, Alex.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

This whole situation reminds me of "Moneyball," where they are dismissing guys because of the way they look, not their results on the field. Tebow doesn't LOOK like a quarterback, therefore there are plenty of teams who do not want him to be QB on their team. Its some sort of old-school vs. new-school scouting thing.

Well, he won 9 games in a row and beat the powerhouse Steelers in the playoffs...but he just doesn't look right with that throwing motion. Pass.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

EDIT: I heard caller on Wise's show today suggest we trade the #2 to Cleveland for more than we paid and get Tebow and build a team around him.

Anyone up for that plan?

Gah, no way. RG3 (or Luck) is so built up in my brain that anything less would be the biggest disappointment ever.

 

[Goaldeje]

Like I said, Lanky, the rest of the league saw what Tebow did last year as well. Let's see who grabs him up, how quickly, and for how much.

EDIT: I heard caller on Wise's show today suggest we trade the #2 to Cleveland for more than we paid and get Tebow and build a team around him.

Anyone up for that plan?

Yeah, heard that too. Interesting idea, but I think Tebow enjoyed tremendous "flukiness" last year, and if he was starting this year, those lucky, fluky plays would regress to the mean. Not to say he can't be a starting QB at one point, but I think his "lucky" plays outweighed everything else last year, which is exceptionally unlikely to happen again.

Unless, of course, he is Tony Romo, part II.

 

[Fear The Spear]

Like I said, Lanky, the rest of the league saw what Tebow did last year as well. Let's see who grabs him up, how quickly, and for how much.

EDIT: I heard caller on Wise's show today suggest we trade the #2 to Cleveland for more than we paid and get Tebow and build a team around him.

Anyone up for that plan?

Gah, no way. RG3 (or Luck) is so built up in my brain that anything less would be the biggest disappointment ever.

We should SOOOOO do this, just for the sake of making McD5 have to go out and buy a new jersey !!

 

[Om]

Not generally a Skip Bayless fan, but he did point out something this morning about Tebow that I remember thinking last season....the Broncos tended to POUND the ball for 3 quarters, barely allowing Tebow to throw or, as Skip put it, get into adrenaline mode or something like that. Then with the game on the line, they'd ramp up the pace and open it up and the kid would simply produce TD's and wins.

Which is how FLA used him as I recall. He's a guy who thrives on the moment, the energy, the pace of the game. In a highly structured, methodical game he's just a guy.

Not sure if he'll ever be a classic NFL QB, but who says he has to be? All I know is I've seen enough magic outta the kid to think he's at least a good risk to have sitting on your bench learning and watching...a team with a veteran starter entrenched could do worse that have a character guy like that around as a project, the Tebowmaniacs be damned.

 

[CounterTrey]

OT: Tebow Manning Humor

I saw this just now and thought you guys might get a kick out of it...

 

[CounterTrey]

I think giving Tebow credit for winning 9 straight games is a HUGE stretch. His team won and he was incidental to many of those wins playing horribly for 3 quarters before he finally got amped enough to up his game. His coaching staff recognized that by pounding the ball early and often.

Has anyone talked yet about what the altitude is going to do for Manning and the Broncos passing attack? Mile High has always been a huge home field advantage and I'd think this helps him out more than say Indy did when the Pats come to town. Overblown?

 

[Om]

Awesome.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

I think giving Tebow credit for winning 9 straight games is a HUGE stretch. His team won and he was incidental to many of those wins playing horribly for 3 quarters before he finally got amped enough to up his game. His coaching staff recognized that by pounding the ball early and often.

Has anyone talked yet about what the altitude is going to do for Manning and the Broncos passing attack? Mile High has always been a huge home field advantage and I'd think this helps him out more than say Indy did when the Pats come to town. Overblown?

I wasn't intending to give him full credit, but as Om said, the game generally wasn't in his hands until the 4th quarter or OT.

 

[Fear The Spear]

Then call him what he is.

The greatest "closing pitcher" in the history of the NFL

 

[Om]

We won't know if he's "just" a closer until he's had a chance to pitch an entire game.

So far I don't know that he really has.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

We won't know if he's "just" a closer until he's had a chance to pitch an entire game.

So far I don't know that he really has.

Its just crazy to me that apparently nobody wants to find out!

 

[CounterTrey]

Yea but Lanky that's not a plus for him. Not getting enough trust from the coaching staff reflects a decided lack of progress. The fact that teams like NE are supposedly interested but want to use him as more of a hybrid TE also speaks to his lack of QB acumen. He could certainly get there eventually but there's a reason most of the league thinks he's not starting material and it's not because he has an annoying following. I doubt they are going to be falling all over each other to trade for him, not at any high cost anyway.

 

[Om]

What I don't undertand is the apparent need to say he's EITHER a starter right now OR he's a bust. Which is why I think the Broncos are screwing this up. They have the perfect formula to let him learn behind an all time great for 2-3 years. No pressure. Find out if the kid can grow into a starter.

It's why I thought they were so serious about PM...that he was part of the master plan. As it's looking, he IS the plan. If that had happened here, and we let a guy with the promise Tebow's shown go and ONLY hired Peyton, I'd be going nuts.

 

[Henry]

Lanky, if the Broncos won 9 straight, they wouldn't have finished the season 8-8.

They actually won six straight, then lost the last three games of the season. Basically after starting out 7-1 with Tebow under center they closed out the season 1-4. The only team with a winning record they beat during that entire stretch was the Steelers.

Call me a hater if you want, but it sure looked like Tebow's magic foo foo juice wore off as the season wore on. Closing out the season with losses to the Bills and Chiefs with a combined score of 47-17 is ugly. Is it perhaps just a little bit possible that the rest of the league started to figure the Broncos' unique, yet simplified offense out by the end of the season?

I don't think the Broncos want anything but wins. I think that's all they care about. And I don't think they think Tebow can win long term, not based on the ups and downs of last season. Otherwise they would keep him around. And while I realize some of you may disagree with the Broncos on this, I do happen to agree with them.

It's the same reason the 49ers were after Manning even though Smith led them to 13 wins. And I understood the thinking of the 49ers too.