i don't see the double standard . . . when quarterbacks win, people are willing to overlook their weaknesses despite the winning (see: Sanchez, Mark). when they lose, the scrutiny goes up.
i think people had every reason to be skeptical of tebow coming into the league, given that he hasn't shown any ability to succeed as a passing quarterback and the league is currently so pass-oriented. now that he's finding ways to win games, the criticism has been replaced by amused astonishment and reserved praise.
tebow may be winning games right now, but he's doing so in an unsustainable way. if teams led by michael vick and vince young can't sustain success with a scrambling qb with questionable throwing mechanics, i don't see how Tebow, who is a shorter, less athletic, poorer-throwing version of those QBs, can expect to sustain his team's success.
tebow may have elite intangibles, but that's the only thing elite about him. if he develops into a credible passer (i.e. mark sanchez / matt cassell / alex smith level), then he could be a starting QB in the league for a while. so far, though, he hasn't shown much signs that he'll even get there. as long as his teams keep playing him in an option offense, there's not much hope that he'll develop that passing ability, either.
No, similar things were said about Vince Young and the way he played the game.
Tebow's glorification at Florida (for his play and his outspoken religous/social views) merely makes him higher profile.
That's a very interesting point. I forgot all about Young. If I remember correctly the debate that year was Young vs Leinart and Young won out based on intangibles.
And then Jay Cutler ended up being the best QB in of the high picks. (Though even he hasn't been elite)
in fairness to cutler, at this point he's pretty close to an elite QB as long as he has an O-line that doesn't allow him to be sacked 5 times a game.