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Maybe Chip Kelly can make this Tebow thing work

There's a reason that a quarterback who wins the Heisman Trophy and is part of two national championship teams drifts to the end of the first round in the NFL draft.

Eagles head coach Chip Kelly. (Michael Bryant/Staff file photo)
Eagles head coach Chip Kelly. (Michael Bryant/Staff file photo)Read more

There's a reason that a quarterback who wins the Heisman Trophy and is part of two national championship teams drifts to the end of the first round in the NFL draft.

It would have nothing to do with his upbringing or his religion or his vow to remain chaste until marriage. As long as a quarterback is able to penetrate the end zone on a regular basis, NFL general managers and coaches don't care what he chooses to do with his free time.

Tim Tebow was still around for the Denver Broncos to take him with the 25th pick of the 2010 draft because NFL teams are preternaturally hesitant to try anything different - and Tebow certainly qualified there.

Based on his draft combine and pro day performances, even though Tebow completed 67.1 percent of his passes for the Florida Gators and was a superbly durable and punishing option runner, almost all of the flinty-eyed NFL types put a line through his name. Good college player. Not enough arm, not enough accuracy for the next level, and who really wants a true option quarterback?

Well, it turns out that, not surprisingly, Chip Kelly wants to have a look-see. In fact, the only surprising thing about it might be that signing Tebow took this long. Maybe the organization wasn't ready to jettison Matt Barkley after just one season. Maybe Tebow's strides under throwing guru Tom House have really made him a more viable candidate. Maybe the Eagles think the NFL is going to alter the point-after equation radically in May, and Tebow will become the league's first two-point conversion specialist.

Whatever the confluence of factors, Tebow signed a lowball, one-year contract Monday and he will be among the camp arms taking reps with the team while presumptive starting quarterback Sam Bradford completes the rehabilitation process before his next ACL tear.

As with all things Kelly, this has fascinating possibilities. If you are going to have three quarterbacks on the active roster, why should all three possess the same standard NFL skill set? It makes more sense to have a few change-ups in the mix. Imagine the reaction in the fall if the Eagles emerge in a formation with Bradford in shotgun and Tebow also in the backfield. Defensive coordinators will not be happy.

It might never reach that point. Tebow could be a ball of yarn for the cat to play with until the end of training camp. He didn't get any further with Bill Belichick and the Patriots in 2013, and that's a team where innovation doesn't scare anyone.

At 27, this is probably Tebow's last chance to catch on again. His NFL career 47.9 completion percentage hangs over his head, and his mere presence brings more distraction possibilities than most teams would be willing to risk for a very tenuous reward.

The Eagles, however, as previously noted, are not most teams. If Kelly has to end up playing his third-string quarterback because of injuries to the first two guys, he is very unlikely to think he would win with Barkley or some find from the later rounds of the draft, anyway.

It probably didn't escape Kelly's notice that Urban Meyer won himself a national championship with a spread offense and a third-string quarterback who could run a little. (Beating an Oregon team quarterbacked by Marcus Mariota by 22 points in the process.) And Meyer was Tebow's coach at Florida. It all fits together, if you choose to see it that way.

Even if Tebow were to be used only as an occasional decoy for the opposing defense, where's the harm there? As far as Tebow also providing a bit of a circus atmosphere around the Eagles, that would be a way-overblown angle. This is a big city with a very interested football media, but it isn't New York. It can be loud, but usually falls short of hysteria, and the Eagles can be counted upon to handle things better than that moron Rex Ryan did with the Jets.

If Philadelphia can get used to a convicted felon starting at quarterback, it can certainly accommodate a third-string guy who likes to take a knee and pray after on-field successes. Chances are he won't have that many opportunities.

But, you never know. As said earlier, this is fascinating. Kelly's offense is all about short passes - crossing routes, slants and flips out of the backfield - that are designed to turn into big gains. A quarterback doesn't have to have a great arm or a faultless history. Mark Sanchez entered the 2014 season with a career 55.1 percent completion record. He completed 64.1 percent in Kelly's system.

The Eagles are also entering a season in which they would appear more likely to be a run-oriented team, which is Kelly's preference, meaning there will be less required of the quarterback.

Look, no one is saying Tim Tebow is going to be the quarterback to lead an NFL team to a Super Bowl. But there is also nothing saying, under a coach like Chip Kelly, that he can't become a useful part of the mix.

If Kelly pulled that one off, there would be an awful lot of genuflecting going on around this town.

@bobfordsports