Last week Denver coach, John Fox, made the decision to switch to quarterback Tim Tebow. Given the recent play of former starter Kyle Orton this move alone looks defensible. But shortly thereafter the Broncos put their most dynamic offensive player, Brandon Lloyd, on the trade market and followed that up by hearing offers for Eddie Royal. Only Lloyd was eventually moved for a late round pick, essentially a sell off of the guy who lead the league in receiving yards just last season. Put together these moves look like one thing only – a tank job. The circumstances fit. Fox is in his first year as coach of the Broncos, this gives him a security to lose knowing he will probably get at least two years to prove himself. Denver is a rebuilding team that doesn’t appear to have much of a direction and they have little chance at the playoffs. No one can tell if their plan is really to tank or not, but what I want to know is if the Broncos, or anyone else is your team, do you want them to tank?
This year the topic of tanking has come up a lot; when KC lost multiple offensive players early in the season, when Indy lost Peyton Manning and started 0-4, and now with Denver. The reason it is such a hot topic is simple, Andrew Luck, star QB at Stanford. Less than halfway through the college season Luck is the consensus #1 pick. Picking up a franchise quarterback is a sweet prize for finishing last place in a season when you know you aren’t going to win the Superbowl anyways, and the teams we have mentioned really don’t have any shot at the playoffs either. Given these circumstances, why not tank?
For my money it is way too early in the season to think about tanking. If you start giving less than your all to win as a Head Coach than the players will sense it and you will lose them. Once that happens there is no guarantee you can ever get them back. Sure it would be sweet to pick up a franchise quarterback but what guarantee do you have he turns into that? Play out the season and see where the chips fall then. What would you want your team to do?
They have made this decision along with a few moves that make you question their intentions. Brandon Lloyd is reportedly on the trading block. Lloyd is one of Denver’s few elite players on offense. Now word has come that they are also hearing offers for Eddie Royal. These moves combined
