Tebow Is The New Wildcat

Remember a couple of seasons (this is about football, the season spans multiple years) ago when the Miami Dolphins debuted the Wildcat to great success?

They demolished my beloved Patriots and used it to carry them to an AFC East title and the playoffs. The next year though, teams were ready for it and even drafting a "wildcat quarterback" (Pat White, who is out of the NFL now) didn't help. The wildcat has now become an occasional play used to try and surprise the defenses. Although how much of a surprise is it when the QB lines up in the slot (or is off the feed completely)?

So that brings us to Tebow and the success he's had since he took over as starter (although, the last couple of weeks have definately put a dent in that success and only helped reinforce why I think he's the new wildcat).

Tebow caught the other teams by surprise. He's a bad passer, worse then many of the back-ups that are out there (Tyler Palko, Caleb Hanie.. I'm looking at you). But he's just good enough that you have to pay attention to the possibility of a throw. His real threat is running. So when he first showed up behind center it was a surprise to the other teams and that's how he was able to lead the Broncos to victory. He was just good enough that the defense kept them in the games.

Not to take away from his obvious leadership abilities, which is what got his team to rally behind him. It caused the defense to play better and the offense as well.

But look whats happened the last couple of weeks. He's been stuffed. Teams are starting to figure out how to stop him. He's become one dimensional. They aren't fearing his passing abilities like they have to with Cam Newton and Michael Vick. Tebow is becoming the new wildcat. A fad, so to speak, that surprised people with how effective it was but once they figured it out, it wasn't as effective anymore.

During the draft hype leading up to Cam Newton being selected #1, I was pretty confused as to why Newton was #1 and Tebow was a shock that he got picked in the first round. To me, with what I knew going in (not a huge college football fan), they seemed the same type of QB.

But there is a difference. Cam Newton is a good passer. Tim Tebow is not.