The Resurrection

What time? It’s time! It’s Tebow time, time, time!!!

The man they call Tebow is back in the NFL after a two-year hiatus. He will sign a one-year contract with the Eagles today for the veterans minimum, a deal first reported by Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer. He will become the fourth quarterback on the league’s most intriguing depth chart, penciled in behind former No. 1 overall pick Sam Bradford, ex-Jets teammate Mark Sanchez and decorated USC product Matt Barkley.

The signing comes less than two weeks before the NFL Draft, with rumors still swirling that Kelly will target his former Oregon pupil, Marcus Mariota. If Mariota comes aboard at this point, training camp in Philadelphia will become must-see TV.

The cameras will be there in abundance regardless, thanks to the arrival of the polarizing Tebow. His supporters point to the 2011 season, when Tebow won seven of his first eight starts while leading the Broncos into the playoffs, where they won a wild-card game against the Steelers on an 80-yard touchdown pass from Tebow to Demaryius Thomas. His detractors cannot get past his unorthodox delivery and overwhelming inaccuracy (47.9 percent for his career).

Then there’s his insistence on being so forthright with his Christian beliefs, which some find uplifting and others find nauseating. But that’s why Tebow has become the John Cena of the NFL: some people love him, others hate him, but everybody is curious to see what he will do.

In Tebow’s last stop with the Patriots in 2013, there was speculation that Bill Belichick signed him just to needle his rivals in New York. His latest signing is not about revenge as much as it is hubris. Coach Kelly is convinced he is the smartest man in the NFL and intends to prove it by resuscitating the career of the league’s most famous castoff.

For what it’s worth, Tebow’s unique skill-set appears to be a good fit for Kelly’s offense. Tebow enjoyed his most success while running an up-tempo offense with spread and option concepts, which are in place in Philadelphia. He could play a role like the one Mike Vick was slated to play during Kelly’s first season in Philadelphia, before injuries and general disinterest pushed Vick out of town and eventually out of the league.

Tebow spent the past two years working with Tom Brady’s personal quarterback coach, Tom House, according to the Boston Globe. House claims that during that time Tebow “went from being a little inaccurate and didn’t throw a whole lot of spirals, to throwing very accurate and real good at spinning the ball.”

It remains unlikely Tebow will get a chance to spin the ball during a regular season game, as he is still a long-shot to even win a spot on the 53-man roster. But believe this: Kelly would love nothing more than to see Tebow take over his offense and find the success that eluded him elsewhere. That’s because winning with Tebow under center is like starting a fire with two wooden sticks: It is obnoxiously difficult, but if you pull it off you look like a genius (just ask Mike McCoy). And Kelly wants nothing more than to be recognized as the genius he believes himself to be.

Harbaugh’s Unwelcome Feeling

Jim Harbaugh shed some light on what happened during his final season in San Francisco, where reports surfaced on a seemingly weekly basis that he was clashing with GM Trent Baalke and losing the locker room. His latest comments came in a conversation with Andrea Kremer on HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumble.

Kremer asked Harbaugh about the perception his extreme competitiveness makes him difficult to get along with. He responded: “It must be true, yeah. Sometimes I’d wear out my welcome.”

Kremer also pulled some blunt remarks from 49ers guard Alex Boone, who shed some light on why Harbaugh has a tendency to rub people the wrong way.

“I think he just pushed guys too far,” said Boone of Harbaugh. “He wanted too much, demanded too much, expected too much. You know, ‘We gotta go out and do this.  We gotta go out and do this.’ And you’d be like, ‘This guy might be clinically insane. He’s crazy.’ … I think that if you’re stuck in your ways enough, eventually people are going to say, ‘Listen, we just can’t work with this.’”

This conversation serves as the latest gut-punch to 49ers fans who have already been beat up enough this offseason. What Boone is saying, in essence, is that Harbaugh pushed the players too far and eventually they got sick of it. What Boone fails to mention is that Harbaugh also pushed the 49ers to a 49 wins over four seasons (including the playoffs), a stretch that also included an appearance in Super Bowl XLVII, a game in which the 49ers came up just short despite having four chances to score the game-winning touchdown from inside the 10-yard line.

And Boone wonders why Harbaugh wanted to push the 49ers just a little farther? Have fun under Jim Tomsula, Alex. It will be the most comfortable six-win season you ever had.

Woodhead Ready to Run Again

The Chargers were devastated by injuries last season, which is a big reason why the team ran out of gas after an 8-4 start. But two injuries hurt more than all the others: a shoulder injury to CB Jason Verrett and a broken fibula suffered by RB Danny Woodhead.

Woodhead proved to be irreplaceable after going down in Week 3. He showed how much he means to the offense during his first season in San Diego in 2013, when he gained over 1,000 yards from scrimmage and scored eight touchdowns. He did most of his damage as a receiver, catching 76 balls at an average of 8 yards per reception.

Woodhead is more than a traditional third-down back. He can line up in the slot and run routes like a receiver, which helps the Chargers create a lot of favorable mismatches. He is also Philip Rivers’ favorite hot-read because of his ability to slip tackles and make something out of nothing.

“I feel really, really good,” Woodhead told Chargers.com. “I really do. As far as the injury goes, that is something I’m not even thinking about. I’m thinking about trying to get better. I’m focusing on working on what I can do to be better than I was last year. Obviously I wasn’t able to play a lot of games, so I should say I want to be better than I was that first season here.”

Because Rivers is not a mobile quarterback, he needs an explosive pass-catching running back to bail him out when the pocket collapses. A look at Rivers’ career shows the only seasons he really struggled were the years after Darren Sproles left and before Woodhead arrived.

As for Verrett, he underwent shoulder surgery in November. He will be limited when the offseason program begins this week, but is on track to be a full participant in training camp this August.

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