Though Greg McElroy and Tim Tebow were rivals on the playing field in college when they played at Alabama and Florida respectively, they spent a season together as teammates in the NFL when Tebow had his stint with the New York Jets in 2012.
But McElroy (who, like Tebow, has had a successful career as an analyst since leaving the NFL) doesn’t think that his former teammate will be successful in his transition to the tight end position with Jacksonville.
Why is that? Well, according to McElroy, this isn’t Tebow’s first attempt at the tight end spot. Apparently, Tebow did try to make a move to tight end before he was released by the Jets, but McElroy said it didn’t go well.
“[The Jets] tried switching him to tight end, and he wasn’t good,” McElroy said on SiriusXM. “That’s what people don’t acknowledge.”
While there isn’t much precedent for quarterbacks successfully moving to tight end (former Gators and longtime NFL tight end Jordan Reed, who started with UF as a passer, is a notable example), many of Tebow’s supporters would point to the success Taysom Hill has had with the New Orleans Saints.
A college quarterback for BYU, Hill developed a sort of hybrid, H-back position in the NFL with the Saints, which has worked fairly well thus far. But McElroy said that comparing Hill to Tebow would be a mistake.
“Tim ran a 4.8 (40-yard dash), Taysom Hill runs a 4.4,” McElroy said. “They’re just two totally different players. Tim is a good dude and I hope the best for him. But it’s a sideshow, and that’s what it will be come training camp time. And I think it kind of undermines what Urban Meyer is trying to build. Maybe he makes the team, maybe he doesn’t, I don’t know. But it’s going to take away from the task at hand, which is trying to put together the most competitive roster in camp.
“And I bet you there’s going to be players, as someone who went to training camp with Tim, there are going to be players who are rolling their eyes at the amount of attention the fourth-string, fifth-string tight end gets, and it’s going to piss people off. As a result, it’s going to affect locker room chemistry, just like it did for us with the Jets. Not because anyone had any animosity toward Tim, they just have animosity with the coverage Tim receives. So, I think it’s a stupid move.”
That isn’t exactly a far-fetched prediction from McElroy. According to ESPN’s Jeff Darlington, the decision to sign Tebow has reportedly split Jacksonville’s locker room. But despite the fact that he remains a long shot to make the roster, Meyer seems convinced that Tebow, who he’s known since he was a high school prospect, can help the team. We’ll find out soon enough whether that’s true.
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