First let's take a look at his physical attributes. During his NFL playing days Tebow played quarterback at 6'3 236 lbs, and actively tried to avoid bulking up too much to be an effective passer. He has since gained 9 pounds and is reportedly in the best shape of his life, which would make sense being that he has stayed in professional sports by transitioning to baseball. He has 31 3/4 inch arms, and 10 1/8 inch hands. To put that into perspective they drafted tight end Luke Farrell who is 6'5 251 lbs has 33 inch arms but only 9 1/4 inch arms. At the combine:
4.71 40 yard dash
38.5 inch vertical
6.66 three cone drill
Approximately 22 reps on bench press
And for comparison...
2021 proday of Kyle Pitts:
4.44 40 yard dash
33.5 inch vertical
7.10 3 cone drill
22 reps on the bench press.
33.5 inch arms
10 5/8 inch hands
So Tebow is essentially slower, but more agile, slightly shorter, but same weight, and actually has a better vertical jump that eats up any height/length discrepancies. Now do his physical attributes automatically mean he will be a solid tight end because they are comparable to the top tight end in this year's draft, not necessarily but he does have the proper build, and strength required to succeed.
Second I think we need to look at the overall body of work for Tebow while in the NFL. During his time with the Jets, Tebow was asked to serve as more than just a QB, and in fact spent time blocking and playing special teams as a personal protector on the punt team, he split out in the slot and was thrown a pass, threw 8 passes, and ran the ball 32 times. Long story short he basically played h-back for them while also being tasked with playing backup QB as well. Tebow has always had an ability to break tackles and gain yards after contact when running with the ball, in theory finding ways to get him the ball in open space is a smart move for a man who once was responsible for 12 rushing tds, and an average of over 5 yards per carry. I could see Tebow actually playing a role closer to that of fullback with him lining up in the backfield to create mismatches and give them the ability to hand the ball off to him at times. Coming out of the backfield will completely remove any inexperience at getting off the line of scrimmage while being jammed at the line. I would expect him to be used in motion a lot to keep db's or lb's from getting their hands on him easily. So Tebow provides ability to play on special teams, provides gadget play ability, and at worst can soak up a target or two a game as a backup tight end for the league minimum as a 1 year experiment. What's there to lose? As if he didn't have enough encouraging aspects, his peers seem to be taking him seriously by inviting him to "Tight End U" a camp where he will work out with the best in the business quite literally, with Travis Kelce, George Kittle, Zach Ertz, Darren Waller, Kyle Pitts, Mark Andrews, Eric Ebron, David Njoku, Evan Engram, Oj Howard, Noah Fant, Jonnu Smith, Tj Hockenson, Robert Tonyan, Mike Geiseki, Cole Kmet, and recently retired Greg Olsen. Which is both an opportunity for Tebow, and for the Jaguars to allow a low risk experiment at tight end get training with the exact guys you would want a developmental tight end training with.
Another reason I am optimistic about his ability to transition to tight end is the recent transition of Logan Thomas. Thomas made the move to tight end after spending most of 3 seasons as a quarterback following a somewhat similar path to Tebow albeit a much more expedient path to the transition. On November 28th 2016 Thomas decided to take the Detroit Lions up on a practice squad contract offer to play tight end. Whoever was giving him advice at the time knew what they were talking about, it took 2 days after news broke of his position switch before the Bills signed him to finish out the season as their 3rd string tight end. In 2017 he started to see playing time and would progress as a receiver over the next 3 years before exploding with 77 receptions last season. Why is this significant?
Simple, Tebow in terms of football years has just 3 seasons of wear and tear on him. He played minor league baseball for the meantime and has miraculously...avoided any major injuries during his entire professional career in either sport. Yes he is taking up this new position at 32 years old, but this is a guy who arguably started this transition 9 years ago when he was traded to the Jets and they began to use him on special teams, and in other ways on offense. He is also on a roster made up of James O'Shaughnessy (29 years old) who caught 28 passes for 262 yards and 0 tds, Chris Manhertz (29 years old) caught career high 6 passes last season, Tyler Davis who didnt catch any passes last season as a rookie, Ben Elefson who caught 1 pass, and rookie 5th round pick Luke Farrell, not exactly stiff competition. Just a brief look at the roster and one could see how keeping O'Shaughnessy, and Manhertz is highly likely, while I expect Tebow, or Farrell to man the 3rd roster spot. However with the modified practice squad rules Tebow can't be ruled out as a short term practice squad addition as he takes a couple extra weeks to adapt to the position. His abilities as a runner means he adds depth in the backfield in emergency situations as well, think of him as a poor man's Taysom Hill with far less responsibility as a passer, these things can't be discounted when considering who to keep on your active roster.
Honestly the person he maybe in direct competition with for touches is Laviska Shenalt. Shenalt is one of these new age hybrid wide receivers that are used as runners due to their size and durability. He caught 58 passes for 600 yards 5 tds, while adding 18 carries for 91 yards, 2 tackles, and 1 forced fumble. Now I'm not suggesting the Jaguars would take touches from Shenalt a guy who by all appearances had a really solid rookie year after the team spent a second round pick on him, however Tebow would essentially be a bigger version of the same player although more polished as a runner and less so as a receiver. Then when you also consider they drafted Travis Etienne and have so far exclusively played him as a receiver, the snaps that would in theory go to a guy like Shenalt are being threatened or, in turn the snaps Tebow would get are being threatened by guys the team has much higher investments in.
Ultimately I think Tebow has roughly a 60/40 chance at making the roster. His position versatility as a runner and a guy developing as a receiver allows the Jaguars to view him differently from the average tight end. Honestly if you view him as a fullback more than a tight end, similar to a guy like Kyle Jusczyk who could be seen running the ball 5-15 times a year, as well as 19-40 receptions, while also playing on kick coverage and return teams, and serving as a lead blocker at times. If that's the case suddenly he is in competition with bottom end of the roster guys at multiple positions depending on how well he performs in each aspect of the game. If he shows that he can actually be a viable receiver, maybe you keep him instead of guys like rookie wide receivers Tim Jones, Jalen Camp, Josh Imatorbhebhe, or veteran guys like Jon'Vea Johnson, Josh Hammond, Terry Godwin, and Colin Johnson. With Shenalt, Chark, Jones, Dorsey, and Agnew atop the depth chart the Jaguars could be much more inclined to keep extra depth at tight end, a perceived weakness versus wide receiver or running back which are perceived as strengths at the top of the roster. At running back they could opt to keep just 3 guys with Tebow serving as an emergency option. When you have James Robinson who topped 1,000 yards last year, Carlos Hyde who topped 1,000 yards last year, and first round pick Travis Ettiene you can quickly see why guys like Dare Ogunbowale, Nathan Cotrell, or Devine Ozigbo become overkill at running back especially with an accomplished runner like Tebow on the active roster should you need someone to plug in to finish out a game. When you begin to look at the roster as a whole you realize he has a real shot here in Jacksonville, especially when he has a head coach that believes in him more than any other coach ever has. If I were a betting man, my money would be on Tebow making this roster as a sort of defacto 4th tight end, 4th or 5th running back, and to play on special teams. He may only see around 10 touches all season long but he and everyone else involved should consider it a win if he even makes the roster out of training camp.
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