Monday, April 20, 2015

Tim Tebow and the Philadelphia Eagles

Previously, on Dan's obsession with Tim Tebow: 1,000+ posts about the Tebow phenomenon from 2009-2012 at TimTeblog.com. With that as context, a handful of thoughts about Tebow signing with the Eagles:

*Chip Kelly is smarter than you, armchair NFL expert. From the start, Tebow has needed a coach who is innovative (and fearless) enough to deploy him in individual high-leverage situations.

*That means on the goal line, 4th/3rd/2nd/1st-and-short and as a 2-point conversion specialist (which might just become the next important NFL position).

*I think that "QB continuity" -- that a starting QB has to play every single snap, otherwise his fragile mind and team chemistry would implode -- is more likely orthodox pap than not.

*I hope Kelly's intention is to test out the potential of that as a schematic inefficiency -- at a minimum, I love the idea of the 2-point conversion specialist.

*There is no downside to bringing him in, if you don't care about the media hysteria (and Kelly doesn't).

*Peter King will define a lot of the conventional wisdom on this: "Let’s be real about what this is: It’s a trial. It’s a chance. It’s a coach who doesn’t care about the distraction of having Tim Tebow in his camp, because he thinks Tebow might help his team."

*Sports media pre-emptively complaining about the media coverage is slightly disingenuous: For starters, a lot of fans genuinely care (out of curiosity, schadenfreude or other).

*And, consequently, it's worth pointing out that Tebow coverage generates a ton of online traffic (or TV/radio ratings) -- I don't see anyone sending those page views back.

*Good perspective from Adam Schefter: "Let's stop with this Tim-Tebow-in-Philly-is-a-media-circus" idea. The whole league is a media circus."

*Related: I'll wager that Tebow's Eagles jersey is a Top 5 seller for the NFL in May, right up there with Winston, Mariota, Cooper and Gurley.

*Curious: He can't wear No. 15 (retired by the Eagles for Steve Van Buren) or No. 5 (retired for Donovan McNabb). This is new territory. Available QB options are 9, 11, 12, 17 or 18.

*May just need to dust off TimTeblog.com for this run.

-- D.S.