With the way 24-year old QB Tim Tebow ended the 2011 regular season….I think this is a valid question.  I think it all depends on how Tebow plays in the playoffs.  If Tebow plays well, he will likely be the Broncos’ starting QB when the 2012 season begins.  If he plays like he has the last three weeks, they might deal him on draft day and bring in a couple of new QBs.  Tebow played in 14 games (11 starts) for the Broncos this year and he completed 126 of 271 passes (46.5%) for 1,729 yards with 12 TD passes and 6 INTs (72.9 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 122 times for 660 yards (5.4 ypc) with 6 TD runs this year.  The Broncos were 7-4 (63.6%) when Tebow started at QB this year.  Tebow has now played in 23 games (14 starts) in his first two years in the NFL and he has completed 167 of 353 passes (47.3%) for 2,383 yards with 17 TD passes and 9 INTs (75.1 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 165 times for 887 yards (5.4 ypc) with 12 TD runs so far in his NFL career.  Tebow is 8-6 (57.1%) as the Broncos’ starting QB so far in his career.

The Broncos have waived 29-year old PR/KR Quan Cosby.  Cosby played in 10 games for the Broncos this year and he returned 27 punts for 269 yards (10.0 avg) and 17 kickoffs for 457 yards (26.9 avg).  Cosby will be replaced by WR Eddie Royal.  Royal has played in 11 games for the Broncos this year and he has returned 10 punts for 171 yards (17.1 avg) with 1 TD and he has also returned 3 kickoffs for 47 yards (15.7 avg).  Royal has also caught 19 passes for 155 yards (8.2 ypc) with 1 TD grab and he has carried the ball 5 times for 30 yards (6.0 ypc).

The Broncos took 23-year old, 6’3″, 235 pound WR Demaryius Thomas in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft.  He had a injury filled rookie season as he played in 10 games in which he caught 22 passes for 283 yards (12.9 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Thomas got off to a late start in 2011 because of a foot injury.  But he showed off his potential last week in the Broncos 35-32 win over the Vikings when he caught 4 passes for 144 yards (36.0 avg) with 2 TD grabs!  The Broncos hope that Thomas’ game last week was a sight of things to come and not a mirage.  Thomas has played in 7 games for the Broncos so far this year and he has caught 11 passes for 247 yards (22.5 avg) with 3 TD grabs so far this year.  Broncos’ QBs are only 11 of 29 (37.9%) when throwing the ball to Thomas, so he’s going to need to work on his hands a little bit, but he has a ton of talent.

Sure, the Broncos recently dealt Brandon Lloyd, but that’s no excuse for why the team isn’t getting much production out of it’s WRs.  Eric Decker has been the only Broncos’ WR who has played pretty well this year.  He has caught 24 passes for 287 yards (12.0 avg) with 4 TD grabs for far this year.  Decker migh be the best WR on the Broncos, but he’s not a go-to type.  Matt Willis has caught 7 passes for 101 yards (14.4 avg) with 1 TD grab, but Tim Tebow likes throwing to him, so his numbers might be on the upswing in the coming weeks.  Eddie Royal has been the forgotten man for the Broncos this year as he has only caught 6 passes for 65 yards (10.8 avg) so far this year.  Demaryius Thomas made his 2011 debut last weekend and he caught 3 passes for 27 yards (9.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Look for Thomas to have a big role in the passing game in the very near future.  The Broncos need these guys to step up.

Starting RB Willis McGahee has a fractured hand which could cause him to miss some time.  He is the Broncos’ leading rusher so far this year with 460 yards on 103 carries (4.5 ypc) with 1 TD run.  McGahee has also caught 11 passes for 49 yards (4.5 avg) with 1 TD grab so far this year.  If McGahee misses some P.T., Knowshon Moreno and Lance Ball will have to step up.  Moreno has carried the ball 17 times for 54 yards (3.2 ypc) and he has caught 8 passes for 92 yards (11.5 avg) with 1 TD grab.  He has the potential to handle a heavier workload than Lance Ball can.  Ball has carried the ball 15 times for 54 yards (3.6 ypc) and he has also caught 5 passes for 26 yards (5.2 avg) with 1 TD grab so far this year.  There is still hope that McGahee might try to gut it out and play with his injury.

UPDATE:  Willis McGahee will miss the next 1-2 weeks as he had surgery to repair his hand earlier today.

Broncos’ head coach John Fox has announced that 24-year old Tim Tebow is his new starting QB going forward.  Tebow almost brought the Broncos back last Sunday against the Chargers.  He has played in 3 games so far this year for the Broncos and he has completed 4 of 10 passes (40%) for 79 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs (101.7 QB Rating).  Tebow also has carried the ball 7 times for 37 yards (5.3 ypc) with 1 TD run so far this year.  Tebow has now played in 12 games in his first two years with the Broncos and he has completed 45 of 92 passes (48.9%) for 733 yards with 6 TD passes and 3 INTs (84.2 QB Rating).  Tebow has also carried the ball 50 times for 264 yards (5.3 ypc) with 7 TD runs.  The Broncos hope that Tebow can jumpstart the offense while finally getting the crowd behind the home team.  28-year old Kyle Orton will be the #2 QB for the Broncos moving forward.  He has played in 5 games for the Broncos so far this year and he has completed 91 of 155 passes (58.7%) for 979 yards with 8 TD passes and 7 INTs (75.7 QB Rating).  Orton has also carried the ball 5 times for 17 yards (3.4 ypc) so far this year.

24-year old RB Knowshon Moreno was the main back for the Broncos in his first two years with the team.  Moreno played in 29 games in his first two years with the Broncos and he carried the ball 429 times for 1,726 yards (4.0 ypc) with 12 TD runs.  He also caught 65 passes for 585 yards (9.0 avg) with 5 TD grabs in his first two years.  Moreno has missed some time with a knee injury this year and Willis McGahee has taken away his starting job.  Moreno has played in 2 games for the Broncos so far this year and he has 10 carries for 26 yards (2.6 ypc).  He has also caught 3 passes for 42 yards (14.0 avg) so far this year.  Moreno will just have to keep working hard and take advantage of opportunities to play when they come up.

The Broncos have placed 26-year old kicker Matt Prater on the Injured Reserve List ending his season due to a groin injury.  Prater played in 12 games for the Broncos this year and he made 16 of 18 (88.9%) field goals and 28 of 29 extra points good for 76 points.  The Broncos will need 25-year old Steve Hauschka to step up the last couple of weeks.  Hauschka has played in 2 games for the Broncos so far this year and he has made 5 of 6 field goals and 3 of 3 extra points good for 18 points.  The Broncos can’t afford to leave any points on the field the rest of the year.

Just because 34-year old head coach Josh McDaniels learned under Bill Belichick doesn’t mean he’s going to be a good coach.  It started out great last season as the Broncos were 6-0 heading into the bye week.  They limped the rest of the year going 2-8 to finish 8-8 on the year.  This year the Broncos are 3-6 on the season as the defense has been pathetic (372.9 yards per game, 28.0 points per game).  The Broncos made two really pathetic trades that have hurt the team.  Trading 2nd year cornerback Alphonso Smith (5 interceptions) to the Lions for a backup TE has been a huge mistake.  An even bigger mistake was dealing two draft picks and Peyton Hillis to the Browns for Brady Quinn!  I don’t think McDaniels has a clue as to what he’s doing as the Broncos are 5-14 since last year’s bye week.  He is 11-14 (44%) overall in his first two years with the Broncos.

The Broncos are only averaging 77.0 yards rushing and 2.4 yards per carry so far this season and that just won’t get it done.  Teams will start ganging up to stop the Broncos’ passing game without ground support.  Knowshon Moreno has carried the ball 39 times for 111 yards (2.8 ypc) so far this year.  He has caught 5 passes for 71 yards (14.2 avg) this year so at least he’s helping out in the passing game.  Correll Buckhalter has carried the ball 17 times for 34 yards (2.0 ypc) so far this season so he isn’t helping the offense at all so far this year.  The Broncos hope that Laurence Maroney gets healthy soon because he could inject some spice to the Broncos’ running game.