Photo courtesy of picturepush.com Heisman trophy winner Tim Tebow is the quarterback for the Denver Broncos.

No athlete provides his critics and fans with as much ammunition as Denver Bronco’s quarterback Tim Tebow.

To his critics, Tebow’s style is everything a quarterback shouldn’t be. They point to his accuracy or lack there of it, his poor presence in the pocket and bad footwork all as reasons he won’t succeed in the National Football League. To the Broncos fans, he represents a-do-whatever-it-takes-to-win attitude that endears him to his team and supporters.

The second year player from Florida has his team on a roll, winning four of its five games with him at the helm.

Statistically, Tebow is not on track to break any records, but denying that he gets the job done is a hard case to make. It does, however makes for great water cooler discussions because stats are how athletes are measured. Most would agree that it takes consistently more traditional quarterback stats to win regularly in the NFL, yet Tebow, thus far, has defied that trend.

No one is denying that Tebow doesn’t come from a winning pedigree. It is difficult to dismiss a Heisman trophy and his integral role in winning two college national championships. However, let’s not get the two confused. Winning games and titles in college is one thing, but to do it at the highest level against elite athletes in the NFL is completely another thing.

Only time will tell if Tebow can duplicate the same success in the pros that he did in college. If he does, he’ll have to do so with more fans counting him out than rooting for him.

In an interview with Jeff Darlington of NFL.com, John Fox, Denver head coach, said that if the Broncos were running a regular offense, “He would be screwed.” That’s not exactly ringing endorsements for his starting quarterback.

Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young credits Tebow for his success, but questions whether Tebow can sustain the current role he plays for the Broncos.

The offense that the Broncos are running is not one that is conducive for long-term success for Tebow, but as long as he continues to win, he can silence his critics and have the last laugh. At some point Tebow is going to have to improve his throwing mechanics and get a better grasp of a traditional offense.

This season, without any minicamps and a shortened training camp, it is hard to make any judgments as to whether Tebow can evolve into a long-term solution as a starter.

If he struggles late in the season, then maybe his critics were right, but if he continues to win, no matter how statistically ugly it is, then maybe he does have a place as a starter in the NFL.

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