Can Tim Tebow defy the odds and make Jaguars roster?

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Tim Tebow coming out of football retirement to play tight end — a position he’s never played in college or the NFL — for the Jaguars is no longer just a rumor.

The NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on Monday that Tebow is expected to sign with the Jaguars, perhaps sometime this week, to suit up at tight end. Yes, that’s actually happening.

The Tebow news officially broke hours before the NFL draft and had snowballed since then. General manager Trent Baalke and coach Urban Meyer said after the completion of the draft that they’d revisit bringing Tebow in after they’d sewn things up with that process.

Well, now’s the time.

The reaction, as expected, ranges from disbelief (he’s a gimmick, he’s only here to sell tickets, why is he getting a shot?) to legitimate arguments for making the team (he’s a proven winner, he’s a great motivator, the tight end position is awful!).

While those reasons all contain valid points, Tebow is going to get a shot because of his relationship with Meyer, period.

It doesn’t hurt that Jacksonville tight end position is atrocious. And bringing in Tebow amounts to nothing more than kicking the tires on a player who Meyer knows better than anyone. Tebow won two national championships with Meyer at Florida, the first in 2006 when he was a change-of-pace player to Chris Leak, and then again in 2009 when it was his team. Tebow was a three-time Heisman Trophy finalist.

Should the Jaguars not be satisfied with the tight end room as the season approaches, and how could they be, a trade is always a possibility. They team drafted Luke Farrell and signed Chris Manhertz in free agency, but both are viewed as blocking tight ends. James O’Shaughnessy is back, but he’s not a major threat in the passing game.

The NFL isn’t college though. Of course, Tebow has defied the odds before.

The reality is that Tebow is a 33-year-old player who has spent much of the last four years in sports playing baseball in the Mets farm system and working as a college football analyst for ESPN. He did better than most assumed when he made the jump to baseball.

Tebow hadn’t played baseball since his junior season at Nease in 2005, but wound up holding an open tryout and getting a contract from the Mets. He was a .222 hitter across four seasons, drove in 109 runs and hit 18 homers. Tebow struck out 347 times, but made it to Triple-A before retiring last February. Would making the Jaguars’ 53-man roster be a greater accomplishment than what he did in baseball?

Everyone knows what happened after that.

Tebow was a first-round pick of the Broncos in 2010, led them to a wild playoff win over the Steelers the following year, and then was traded to the Jets in 2012 when Denver signed Peyton Manning. The Jaguars were in contention to land Tebow under general manager Gene Smith that offseason, but the Broncos wound up shipping him to the Jets.

He was cut after a season there. When the new Jaguars regime took over in 2013, then-general manager Dave Caldwell uttered his famous line about Tebow and his potential to fit in with Jacksonville, saying the team wouldn’t pick him up “even if he’s released.”

Tebow signed with the Patriots and spent the preseason there before being released. He wound up with the Eagles in the 2015 preseason. Tebow hasn’t played an NFL game since.

NFL folks are probably laughing at the Jaguars for bringing in Tebow, who hasn’t been on a regular season roster since 2012.

Meyer doesn’t care.

He mentioned that Tebow brought up years ago the possibility of switching to tight end, and Meyer never seriously weighed in on that with his former quarterback. But the new coach knows Tebow’s drive better than anyone else and that’s why he’s going to get a shot.

Buckle up, Jaguars fans. The player that so many fans wanted in teal is nearing a reality. Even if it is 11 years later.