Tim Tebow Will Play QB Or Not At All: Patriots

Tim Tebow will take the field as a quarterback for the New England Patriots this season and not at tight end or fullback despite a lot of speculation.

That was the assessment of Pats offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who explained this afternoon that the former University of Florida Heisman Trophy winner has spent 99 percent of his time in quarterback drills. Tebow spends only about five minutes during each practice in a pass-catching drill, similar to what was run for other backup quarterbacks in the past, the Boston Globe reports.

There was some buzz that Tim Tebow might play tight end with Aaron Hernandez gone from the team and Rob Gronkowski’s health status uncertain. But that does not seem to be in the cards for the former Bronco and Jet.

Said McDaniels, who coached Tebow in Denver: “He’s just practicing his open-field running. Matt Cassel and (Doug) Flutie and some of those other guys I’ve had a chance to coach, I think we did the same types of things with them. And again we know Tim has a skill set that some of these other guys don’t possess in terms of his ability to run with it, scramble with it when he has it in his hands.”

As far as Tebow’s role as what appears to be the third-string quarterback, McDaniels noted that “[Tebow has] put in a lot of time and effort to improve his individual skill set to play the position of quarterback in our offense, and I think every day is a learning tool for him… I’m sure he’ll listen and take the coaching the way he always has and try to work to get better every day.”

The Bleacher Report agrees that Tim Tebow should remain at quarterback: “At no other position has Tebow seen significant action other than quarterback in the NFL. Thus, having him adjust to a new position now would almost extinguish the possibility of ever developing into a viable quarterback at the professional level… his is the perfect situation for Tebow to finally develop and succeed as a QB… There aren’t many reps for third-string QBs, but any of those that are taken away from Tebow in 2013 and delegated to another position will further put him away from fulfilling the job description the Patriots signed him on for.”

Do you think that Tim Tebow should concentrate on signal calling and forget about playing any other football positions?