Jacksonville Jaguars

Do Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer have some tricks up their sleeves in Jacksonville?

Updated May. 28, 2021 8:16 p.m. ET

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Tim Tebow might be getting another chance at his dream of being an NFL quarterback. 

What once seemed like a lark seems to be slowly creeping into something bigger. Could the quarterback-turned-tight end become a tight end-turned-quarterback right before our eyes?

Tebow signed a one-year contract with the Jaguars at the beginning of May to play tight end for the upcoming season, rejoining his former college coach Urban Meyer in Duval County. 

However, some around the league aren't necessarily buying the idea that Tebow was brought in to strictly play tight end, per ESPN’s Dianna Russini. 

Russini reported on Thursday that there’s talk Meyer envisions something bigger for Tebow – a hybrid role similar to what Taysom Hill has done with the New Orleans Saints.

"He may be on the roster as a tight end, but there may be more to the Tebow experiment than him just playing that position," Russini said. 

The Jaguars’ OTAs kicked off this week, and Tebow has reportedly only worked out as a tight end up to this point. On Friday, reports circulated that Tebow didn’t drop a single ball at Thursday's practice, and caught touchdown passes from both Gardner Minshew and No. 1 overall draft pick Trevor Lawrence. 

On Friday’s "Undisputed," Skip Bayless praised Tebow’s OTAs performance and shared why he thinks the former Heisman Trophy winner will succeed this season.

"He’s not going to play tight end," Bayless began. "He’s going to play H-back. Dianna Russini on ESPN two days ago reported that Tim Tebow will play quarterback in the mold of Taysom Hill, obviously in New Orleans. It’ll be something like that. It’ll be a lot more like what Tebow did for Urban Meyer when he was a freshman at Florida when Chris Leak was the unquestioned starting quarterback of what became a National Championship team.

"[Tebow] is a wrecking ball of competitive fury. That’s who he is, and Urban knows that, and he’s going to try to tap into that fury … on key plays. It’s as simple as that. That’s why he’s gonna have a roster spot, just for designated plays."

Bayless’ co-host and Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe called the whole thing "ridiculous".

"This is what we’re doing now? … No, no, no. It ain’t happening, and you know it," Sharpe said with a laugh.

Skip Bayless: Tim Tebow is the most polarizing player in football, nobody is more loved & loathed | UNDISPUTED

A day after Trevor Lawrence said Tim Tebow looks great and has had a positive impact on the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tebow reportedly caught every pass thrown his way at practice, including two that went for touchdowns.

On Wednesday, Lawrence told the AP Pro Football Podcast he hasn’t paid "too much attention" to what’s going on in the media regarding Tebow but was nonetheless intrigued by him joining the team.

"He looks great. You can tell he’s just a guy that you want to be around," Lawrence said. "Character is awesome, and then just a hard worker. … I’m excited to see what he can do on the field as well. We got in a few days and he looks great. He’s in awesome shape."

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Tebow will reportedly not be available to reporters until training camp begins mid-June, so until then, speculation on his position with the Jaguars will continue to run rampant.  

Former NFL star Marcellus Wiley backed up the former Clemson QB’s comments on Thursday’s "Speak For Yourself." 

"I love me some Tim Tebow, and I’m glad that others are catching on," Wiley said. "It’s so true. … I’m just telling you. Trevor Lawrence just caught it, too."

That said, the question remains: Is this a good move for the Jaguars? 

On Friday’s "First Things First," Nick Wright shared why he isn’t on board with Meyer’s plan — and why Lawrence shouldn’t be either.  

"I warned you Jacksonville," Wright said. "I said be careful what you wish for. You just might get it, and look, all of a sudden … they're talking about taking [Trevor Lawrence] off of the field to put a 33-year old failed left fielder on the field. That sounds fun? No, it doesn't! But this is what happens. Tebow gets inside the organization, and he just grows and grows and grows, and fans are gonna be chanting for him, and he’s gonna enchant some teammates. There’s no doubt about it. … more power to him for that, but the only problem is, he’s not good at the football part, and it’s a football team. 

"You’re like 'oh, what’s the harm in giving him a tryout?’ … Here's the harm. Your organization will go as Trevor Lawrence goes, and any time that you spend with him off the field or without the ball in his hands is wasted time. And to do that because you wanna let Tim Tebow try to do something he was terrible at a decade ago is inexplicable. … I thought the Jags were trying to win."

Former NFL All-Pro wide receiver Brandon Marshall thinks otherwise, and he broke down how the Jaguars could potentially use Tebow at tight end and in wildcat situations this season.

"It comes down to situational football," Marshall said. "I mean, that’s the game. The great teams, they do a phenomenal job in those moments. We’re talking about a handful of plays that dictates and separates the good from the great teams. So when you look at Tim Tebow, hell, if he’s still tough, I’ll look at him and I’ll consider him … only in those situations.

"It is extremely hard to pick up a third-and-one. It is extremely hard, damn near impossible in the red zone to score on the one-yard line in the run game … There's only a handful of teams that consistently score week after week in the National Football League in the red zone through the run game, so I would consider [Tebow] there."

Wright questioned Marshall’s reasoning, asking "Why would he be better at the wildcat Taysom Hill role?"

"The game has evolved," Marshall rebutted. "Back then, there [were] only a handful of teams running the wildcat. … Nobody knew what to do with it. Only a handful of teams did it. … But when you look at today’s NFL, the quarterbacks are moving. Look at Josh Allen … Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murry, all these quarterbacks need to move and they need to be sustainable."

Wright and Marshall’s co-host Kevin Wildes proposed a situation in which he could see Tebow successfully being used this season.

"If it’s Chiefs-Jaguars, and it’s third-and-one, would you feel more comfortable as a Chiefs fan if Trevor Lawrence is out there, or if all of a sudden Trevor Lawrence starts jogging to the sideline and here comes Tebow?" Wildes said. "I think your defense [would] be like ‘uh, oh, what’s going to happen here?’ and I think that little bit of confusion is what Urban Meyer is counting on."

"Put a Golden Retriever out there! … Put a Polar Bear on ice skates, and they’d be like ‘Huh? This seems weird,’" Wright replied. "But then they’d be like ‘Oh, he can’t throw and he’s not good at football, so we’ll figure it out.’ 

"We started with ‘it’s a tryout,’ then it was ‘he’s gonna play tight end and be good in the locker room’, and now we are to ‘we’ll have a package for him where Trevor Lawrence jogs off the field.’ … I’m excited to watch," Wright said jokingly.

Only time will tell if football fans can expect to see Tebow under center this fall, but the journey will be interesting to watch.

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National Football League

Jacksonville Jaguars

Tim Tebow

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Taysom Hill

New Orleans Saints

Florida Gators

Brandon Marshall

Kevin Wildes

Marcellus Wiley

Nick Wright

Skip Bayless

Shannon Sharpe

First Things First

Skip and Shannon: Undisputed

Speak for Yourself