In Week 9 the Denver Broncos will head to the Black Hole in Oakland for a heated division rivalry game against the Raiders. Oakland is coming off a bye week and should be well rested and ready to roll with their new QB – Carson Palmer.

Over the last three games, Tim Tebow has put up respectable to great fantasy football numbers. Mostly due to his running ability. In the last three weeks he has scored:

18 – Chargers
25 – Dolphins
14 – Lions

The Lions game was his absolute worst, and he still put up 14 points. A 14 point ceiling is pretty good. The Raiders are giving up an average of 382.9 yards per game (266 in the air and 116.9 on the ground). They’re also giving up 25.4 points per game. These are numbers that make a fantasy player drool over.

Tebow should still be considered a start in most 12 team leagues. Do not start him over guys like Rodgers, Brady, Vick, Brees, etc. But if you have like Freeman, Roethlisberger (against the Ravens), Cutler or even Rivers – you should put Tim above them.

In fantasy football, it doesn’t matter if the Broncos win the game. It’s all about how many points Tim can put up, and I think he should get at least 20 this week.

This week the Broncos host the Detroit Lions, who have a fearsome defensive line but they have been exposed the last few weeks and are coming off two losses in a row. Will the Lions defense get to Tim Tebow? Yes .. I’m sure they will sack him 5 times. But unless your fantasy league counts sacks against your QB (which I don’t think any of them do) then you don’t need to worry.

FFToday.com is predicting Tebow to go 16/29 for 200 yards and 1 touchdown, plus 7 carries for 30 yards and a touchdown. In my league that’s 23 points. I would take 23 points every week from my QB.

I think Tim will throw an interception – giving him -2 points, but I think he’ll make up fr that with 50 rushing yards. Giving him the same 23 points that FFToday.com predicted. There’s a chance he could get a fumble loss too if Suh and the boys are knocking him down all day.

With Aaron Rodgers on BYE this week, and the Patriots playing the Steelers … I would say Tim Tebow is probably a Top 5 QB to start this week.

The Broncos are playing the Dolphins, who are giving up 343.8 yards per game (228 in the air and 115.8 on the ground). Neither team has a great defense so we could see a lot of scoring in this game. 

I’m predicting at least 20 fantasy points for Tim on Sunday, but probably more like 25 (depending on your league). Something to the tune of:
220 yards passing 1 touchdown, 1 interception
50 yards rushing, 1 touchdown

In my league that’s 23 points, and a very good day for a QB. If you own Tebow in your league, you should definitely start him this week – unless you also have someone like Rodgers or Brees.

Here’s a highlight video of his touchdown.

Just two weeks ago, McDaniels labeled “ridiculous” the suggestion that Tebow could be the answer to the Broncos’ short-yardage struggles in the red zone. Looks like McDaniels was throwing a little smoke screen out there so he could keep Tim a surprise for the Jets.

Now that teams know the Broncos will use Tim in short yardage running situations, the Broncos need to let Tim throw the ball a handful of times to keep defenses on their feet. When Tebow comes in the game they won’t know what to expect.

Since there wasn’t much to talk about in Fantasy Football, I thought I would post this little gem I found on YouTube. It’s a video of Tim Tebow’s high school highlights. Enjoy!

Until McDaniels shows that he will give the ball to time 7-10 times a game (especially in goal line situations), then he’s really not worth owning on a fantasy team right now. If you’re in a keeper or dynasty league then that’s a different story. You might want to reserve a bench spot for him in case Tim turns into something big in the next 2-3 years.

The Broncos play Seattle this week. Seattle shut down Alex Smith and Frank Gore last week – even though all the ‘experts’ thought Seattle was horrible. I’d love for Tim to get a couple of fantasy points this week just to wet our appetite, but I don’t think it will happen. Keep Tim on the bench in all formats this week.

With the status of Tim’s position on the Broncos’ depth chart still in question (meaning we don’t know if he’ll even be active for the game) it’s safe to say that Tim should not be started in any fantasy football format Week 1.

I still believe McDaniels will have a few special plays designed for Tim but it won’t be enough for him to make an impact fantasy football wise. Your best bet is he scores a 3 yard rushing touchdown in some wildcat type of play. That will net you 6 points — certainly not enough from the QB position. We all love Tim, but do not start him on your fantasy football team this week.

If you’re in a redraft league (meaning you pick an entire new team every year) then Tim Tebow is currently ranked around the 200th best player, or a 14th round pick.

Tim is not expected to make a big fantasy football impact early in the season. He may be the starter come November/December, but that doesn’t help fantasy players at all. In a redraft league, you’re picking Tim Tebow late as a flyer on the off chance that he might get thrown into the starting lineup earlier than expected.

If you’re in a keeper league then it will vary – how many keepers do you pick each year? What do you have to give up to keep a player? In a keeper league format you could see Tim Tebow go anywhere in the draft. Some leagues keep 10 players with no penalty, so you potentially could pick Tim Tebow in the first round and hold his rights for several years.

In my league, we can keep two players – but you have to give up a draft pick two rounds ahead of where the player was selected the year prior. I’m expecting someone to pick Tim in rounds 7-8 in my league that way if the owner wants to keep Tim for 2011 then he will only have to give up a 5th or 6th round pick in the 2011 fantasy football draft.

Where are you targeted Tim Tebow in your fantasy football draft?