Atlanta Falcons should go the Tim Tebow route to fix redzone woes

Let’s be clear from the jump the Atlanta Falcons shouldn’t and won’t sign a thirty-four-year-old Tim Tebow. As great as Tim Tebow may have been in college his skill set isn’t worth the distraction he brings at the next level.

Now with the absurdity of the Falcons having any interest in Tim Tebow himself established, let’s look at what Atlanta can learn from the former Florida Gators star quarterback.

Atlanta has struggled since 2017 in the redzone there is no way around it. This season their issues appeared to regress unable to score from inside the one and simply had no answers in the passing game.

The Atlanta Falcons need to create a “Tim Tebow package” in the off-season to help address their inability to get that one yard

Many people forget that Tebow wasn’t the starting quarterback for the Florida Gator the first time they won the National Championship. Rather Tebow was a short-yardage weapon used as a running back and at times throwing a surprise pass.

Not only did the Florida Gators have an offense that could move the ball up and down the field at will, even if you managed to hold them to third or fourth and short you knew what was going to happen.

We have seen this strategy work at times this season in the NFL for the Raiders utilizing Marcus Mariota as a running quarterback in certain situations. Cam Newton is another player who would thrive in this role if he is willing to accept a utility role.

It is this type of creativity that the Atlanta Falcons are going to have to utilize this off-season to fix their short-yardage issues. The offensive line isn’t good enough to simply hand the ball to Patterson or Davis and get the first down.

While we hope this changes in the future Atlanta needs an immediate answer to help them execute short-yardage situations. Having a “Tim Tebow” package for plays near the goal line or short-yardage situations is exactly the type of creativity it will take to stop the issues that have plagued Atlanta for the last four years.

While the aforementioned Tebow won’t work at this level there are plenty of players similar Atlanta could use in this role.

Cam Newton, Marcus Mariota, and Tyrod Taylor are all set to hit free agency and could potentially fill this role. Another avenue Atlanta could explore is finding a receiver who can run the wildcat similar to how Sanu did during his time in Atlanta. Memorably throwing a deep touchdown pass to Julio Jones.

Arthur Smith’s first season was a familiar sight for Falcons fans when it came to their inability to get that one yard they always seemed to need to climb back in the game.  In year two Arthur Smith must be creative and find a way to solve an issue that has plagued now two different Atlanta coaching staffs. The quickest fix for Arthur Smith is going to be convincing Mariota or Newton to come to Atlanta a move that would finally fix Atlanta’s short-yardage execution.