Jaguars fans should be concerned after Tim Tebow signing

The Jaguars are expected to sign Tim Tebow as a tight end and, while you could argue that he could help the team, fans should be concerned. 

After it seemed like new head coach Urban Meyer bringing former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow to the Jacksonville Jaguars as a tight end might not come to fruition, the tides turned rather quickly. Now, Tebow is as good as moved in as the newest resident of Duval County.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero, the Jaguars are expected to sign Tebow to a one-year deal as a tight end. Again, they are signing a player who was a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, an NFL journeyman briefly as a quarterback, and most recently a member of the New York Mets farm system to play a position he has no experience with.

Sure.

However, how Tebow fares as a tight end shouldn’t be the topic at hand. In fact, there could be good reason to think he might have some life in the league at the position. He’s a broad, strong, athlete who has always been seen as more of a “football player” than true traditional quarterback. Maybe it works out, maybe it doesn’t.

What should be called into question is how the Urban Meyer era is starting with the Jaguars and the concerns that should be raised.

Tim Tebow coming to the Jaguars could be a bad sign for the Urban Meyer era.

Especially coming after the 2021 NFL Draft as Meyer was instrumental in making some head-scratching selections on players who were once highly rated college recruit (or even tight end Luke Farrell, who Meyer recruited to Ohio State), the Tebow signing should give Jaguars fans pause about how this is going.

As we know, Meyer had immense success at Utah, Florida and Ohio State, among other stops, throughout his collegiate coaching career. But he also comes to Jacksonville with no NFL coaching experience and with a completely different background than many others in his position.

The same type of motivating “rah-rah” tactics that can work in college don’t cut it in the NFL. These are players who know they are part of a business and that isn’t the way to get businessmen to do their best job.

Where Tebow comes into this is that it seems as if Meyer is very much stuck in his college glory days. He brought in the draft class full of big names from college, regardless of value and fit in some spots, and now is taking a highly publicized swing at giving his former quarterback from his college days a shot at tight end.

Frankly, this could be a bad message to the players and could only further the point that Meyer may not cut it in the NFL. Sure, Tebow has always been well-liked and a good locker-room guy, which might be seen as valuable to building a culture. But at the same time, it does feel as if most teammates would prefer a tight end who, you know, actually is a tight end.

Maybe this all looks foolish in a couple of months as Tebow is shocking the world and the Jaguars are taking a big leap with Trevor Lawrence throwing to their new tight end. But from the outside looking in, this should be concerning to Jacksonville fans because the start to Meyer’s tenure is throwing up some red flags already.