The Denver Broncos drafted Tim Tebow with one thing in mind: he would be their quarterback of the future. You don’t draft a player in the first round to use him strictly in special situations. Tebow is no different. When the Broncos traded for Kyle Orton, they were looking for some stability at quarterback. They seemed to have found it for a while, but now whether Orton will be traded has turned into one of the mysteries of the offseason.
Only six weeks away from the start of the regular season, Brandon Lloyd and other Broncos veterans have grown tired of the uncertainty. Lloyd spoke with Jim Trotter of Sports Illustrated on Monday and gave us a glimpse into the frustration Denver players are facing as a result of not knowing who their quarterback will be.
“It’s the Tebow Thing,” Lloyd said. “They’ll put Kyle on the trading block because they don’t want to deal with the Tebow Thing. But it’s not going to end until [Tebow] plays. The faster they get this Tebow Thing over with, one way or the other …
“I spent the entire offseason preparing myself for Tim being the quarterback, because the organization put Kyle on the trading block at the end of the year,” he continued. “I spent the offseason asking myself, ‘What pass plays are we going to be running? Are we going to be running sprint plays? Throwing from outside the pocket?’
“Running routes is easy, especially with a pure drop-back passer like Orton. But with Tim the ball is going to be coming from different spots and different angles. That takes getting used to.”
It’s understandable that Lloyd, a receiver, would want to know who is going to be throwing him the ball. Quarterbacks need time to build chemistry with their receivers, and if Tebow is going to take over the offense needs to know soon. The fact that he referred to the situation as “the Tebow thing” and added that he would be “pissed” if Orton was traded tells us a lot. Orton has earned trust in Denver and Tebow is new. If the Broncos are ready to turn the page, they need to make that clear in the very near future and give their veterans a chance to adapt.
H/T to Pro Football Talk for the story.
