The Jacksonville Jaguars didn't have to look too hard to find their next franchise quarterback, successfully completing their admirable "Tank for Trevor" campaign in order to select a generational talent in the 2021 NFL Draft. But in the quest to find Lawrence a potential weapon at tight end, they expanded their search quite a bit.
It appears that search may have come to a temporary conclusion with a name that everyone recognizes: Tim Tebow. It was a player-team connection that had picked up some traction over the past week, with the two sides agreeing to a workout and with Peter King hinting at it quite strongly in his Monday morning "Football Morning in America" column, saying that the team could give him a shot at the backup tight end role after rookie mini-camp. Later in the day, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport made that speculation all but official.
Tebow's last season of professional sports saw him bat .163 in 264 plate appearances for the Syracuse Mets, a disappointing year which ultimately led to his retirement in February of 2021. It was a much longer time ago that Tebow was last on an NFL field, working as a backup quarterback with the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2015 preseason before his release. He previously logged regular season snaps with the New York Jets in 2012 and the Denver Broncos in both 2010 and 2011, even earning a postseason victory in memorable fashion.
The 6-foot-3 Tebow never caught a ball in an NFL game, though he was a talented rusher (989 yards at 5.0 yards per carry over three years) and carries a big enough frame to make it happen on the gridiron. The Jaguars depth chart holds a few tight ends — Chris Manhertz, James O'Shaughnessy, and some others — but no one that should immediately assume the starting role. Still, Tom Pelissero says that it's a 'long shot' for him to make the team, though it's not impossible.
If you had Tim Tebow playing tight end in the NFL in 2021 on your bingo board, congratulations, but there's still some work to be done for that dream to become a reality.
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