Jacksonville has officially signed 33-year-old former quarterback Tim Tebow, and plans to use him at tight end. Probably; Urban Meyer might also envision using him as a goal-line runner or maybe short-yardage quarterback. Or in public relations. Tebow obviously has his fans in the area, after winning 2 national championships with the Florida Gators.
The idea of a former quarterback and most recently, baseball player having a viable role as a tight end at a fairly advanced age for an NFL player is a little nuts, and not filling anyone with confidence about the Meyer Era in Jacksonville. But in fairness, it's not as if Tebow needs to beat out Travis Kelce, either.
Over the last 10 years, Jacksonville has exactly two tight ends finish in the top 20 at their position (PPR). Even those guys were more than five years ago. In the last three seasons, their-performing tight ends ranked 28th, 45th and 46th at the position. Which means that in two of the last three years, about half the league's teams had 2 tight ends more valuable in fantasy leagues than Jacksonville's best player.
JACKSONVILLE'S TOP TIGHT ENDS, 2011-2020 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | Tgt | No | Yds | TD | FF | Rk |
2012 | Marcedes Lewis | 77 | 52 | 540 | 4 | 130.0 | 18 |
2015 | Julius Thomas | 80 | 46 | 455 | 5 | 121.5 | 19 |
2017 | Marcedes Lewis | 48 | 24 | 318 | 5 | 87.8 | 25 |
2020 | Tyler Eifert | 60 | 36 | 349 | 2 | 82.9 | 28 |
2013 | Marcedes Lewis | 47 | 25 | 359 | 4 | 84.9 | 30 |
2011 | Marcedes Lewis | 85 | 39 | 460 | 0 | 85.0 | 30 |
2016 | Julius Thomas | 51 | 30 | 281 | 4 | 82.1 | 32 |
2014 | Clay Harbor | 35 | 26 | 289 | 1 | 60.9 | 37 |
2013 | Clay Harbor | 35 | 24 | 292 | 2 | 65.2 | 43 |
2014 | Marcedes Lewis | 31 | 18 | 206 | 2 | 50.6 | 44 |
2020 | James O'Shaughnessy | 38 | 28 | 262 | 0 | 54.2 | 45 |
2018 | James O'Shaughnessy | 38 | 24 | 214 | 0 | 45.4 | 45 |
2019 | James O'Shaughnessy | 20 | 14 | 153 | 2 | 41.3 | 46 |
2016 | Marcedes Lewis | 30 | 20 | 169 | 1 | 42.9 | 47 |
2016 | Ben Koyack | 24 | 19 | 161 | 1 | 41.1 | 48 |
2015 | Marcedes Lewis | 37 | 16 | 226 | 0 | 38.6 | 49 |
2015 | Clay Harbor | 20 | 14 | 149 | 1 | 36.9 | 51 |
2017 | James O'Shaughnessy | 24 | 14 | 149 | 1 | 34.9 | 57 |
In the myfantasyleague.com player database, Tebow is one of the most added players in recent weeks. That's of course because the guy has been out of the league for years and was on zero percent of the rosters; now he's worked his way up to 6 percent. In any case, unlikely though it may seem, Tebow could potentially be a factor this season, especially in TD-only leagues. It's not like there's much standing in his way in Jacksonville.
--Andy Richardson