Brady Quinn may soon find himself in a battle against Tim Tebow for the second-string quarterback position on the Denver Broncos.

Denver ESPN affiliate radio host, Brandon Krisztal, said that choosing Tebow would be related to the multiple things he can do on offense, more so than his pure skill at completing passes and avoiding mistakes when taking snaps on the field.

Krisztal was told that there were no plans to dress three quarterbacks for regular season games. He specifically mentioned the packages being created for wildcat-like offensive plays and said this came in a statement he’d heard from a member of the Broncos coaching staff.

After the pre-season 33-24 loss the Broncos suffered at the hands of the Bengals, Quinn’s performance might just make it all a moot point.

Quinn and Tebow were given their crack at putting on the helmet with the green dot on the back and leading the offense down the field Sunday night and although neither looked great against the Bengals’ reserves, Tebow’s number were better.

The ex-Florida Gator threw for 105 yards on an 8-of-13 performance; that nets out to a passer rating of 61.5. Quinn threw for only 68 yards on 6-of-16 passing and a 37.5 QB rating.

Both men took one sack for a short loss and Quinn was intercepted once, but by watching them operate, they didn’t look all that different. That of course isn’t something Brady Quinn wants to hear. This is his fourth season in the NFL after a successful career at Notre Dame.

Granted, both men are learning a new system. Quinn spent his first three years in the league with the Cleveland Browns, where last season he was given a chance to win the starting role on a permanent basis.

For Tebow it’s not just a new system, it’s an entirely different world. Having operated in a spread offense in college with the green light to scramble or take the ball as the primary running back, he had to start from scratch if he wanted to become an NFL signal-caller.

Add that to a major reconstruction of his throwing motion and what you have is a guy that looked better than Quinn when all things were considered. Tebow is a lightning rod for criticism and effusive praise, Nothing that happened during his first appearance in a pre-season game will do anything to change that.

Meanwhile watching him run seven yards into the end zone while taking out the Bengals’ safety Kyries Hebert reminded us of his power and strength. How it is harnessed is the challenge for the Broncos.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

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