Factoid
The way Denver has zeroed in on Kyle Orton, and with the team being under a new regime, I wonder if this whole Tim Tebow experiment is going to be over before it even starts. Are the Broncos even going to consider him? Or is he quickly going to be gone right out of the league?
He’s a great runner, but he’s got the awkward, elongated throwing motion and might not be good enough at reading defenses to even put on the field.
It got me wondering. What quarterbacks (first-round quarterbacks) have had the shortest careers? Who are the guys who’ve been gone before they really got a chance to play.
Going back to the NFL merger in 1970, I see a couple of Bay Area quarterbacks. Rich Campbell (from Cal) was a No. 6 pick by the Packers and never started an NFL game. And the 49ers drafted Jim Druckenmiller (Virginia Tech) late in the first round and he was gone after starting only one game.
Tebow at least is already ahead of those guys; he started three games as a rookie.
The Broncos, oddly, also hold the rights to another quick-hook quarterback – Cleveland didn’t wait long before getting rid of Brady Quinn (12 starts so far).
FIRST-ROUND QUARTERBACKS STARTING UNDER 10 GAMES
(Starts include all career starts for all NFL teams.)
St Att Pct TD Int Year
0 68 45.6 3 9 1981 Rich Campbell (Packers)
1 52 40.4 1 4 1997 Jim Druckenmiller (49ers)
4 143 44.8 3 7 1977 Steve Pisarkiewicz (Cardinals)
5 148 50.0 2 6 1991 Dan McGwire (Seahawks)
6 161 51.6 5 8 1990 Andre Ware (Lions)
6 202 45.0 3 11 1982 Art Schlichter (Colts)
8 205 50.7 8 9 1991 Todd Marinovich (Raiders)
—Ian Allan
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Posted by Brian Grzybowski | Aug. 05 at 02:38 PM
When Tebow throws, you know who he looks like? Byron Leftwich circa 2006. It's this weird wind-up that somehow takes more time than you'd think is possible for just throwing a ball. Because of the "Tebow thing," as Brandon Loyd put it, it would seem that the Broncos are in a position of having to slowly let their fans come to the conclusion that Tebow isn't the guy. This could take some time and failure.