New Jets quarterback Tim Tebow has been trying to change his throwing motion since he entered the NFL. Every offseason, we read puff-piece stories about the improvement of his delivery and passing mechanics. It has never translated to Tebow’s real game performance, though, and that was evident in last year’s 13 starts, including the playoffs.
But maybe he really has improved this year.
ESPN’s Ron Jaworski is live in Cortland, New York for Jets training camp. Jaws stated on SportsCenter Monday morning that Tebow appears to have made strides as a thrower of the football.
“The one thing I’ve noticed about Tim Tebow — and it’s a small sampling thus far — is his stroke is much better,” said Jaworski. “It’s cleaner. It’s not as elongated. He’s not dropping the football. That means the ball will come out quicker.”
Jaws made it clear that Tebow isn’t out of the woods, though. He needs to improve his lower-body mechanics in order to maximize his downfield passing ability.
“I’d still like to see Tebow drive off his back leg a little more,” Jaworski added. “And sometimes, he has that dead leg and he loses energy at the end of the throw, on the deeper throws. It’s fine in the short to intermediate area. But downfield, those throws, when they hang in the air, will get knocked down or batted down by the very athletic secondary players in this league.”
Still, any improvement from Tebow would be good news for the Jets. They acquired him for two relatively low draft picks, and he will have an opportunity to help the team, as either a package player behind current first-stringer Mark Sanchez, or as a starter should Sanchez again falter.
