Top 2 rookie QBs meet today, sort of

DENVER -- The top two quarterbacks selected in the draft seven months ago will meet on the same football field today.

While top overall pick Sam Bradford leads the St. Louis Rams (4-6) into Invesco Field, Tim Tebow once again will serve as the backup to prolific passer Kyle Orton, even with the Denver Broncos idling at 3-7.

Broncos coach Josh McDaniels doesn't want to consider what many fans are clamoring for: rushing Tebow's NFL education now that Denver's season is all but lost.

Even though the Broncos are last in the AFC West, they're not mathematically out of the playoff hunt, so McDaniels isn't thinking about the future as much as about fixing a franchise that's lost 15 of 20 games for the first time in nearly 40 years.

And really, Orton is the last thing that's wrong with the penalty-prone Broncos, who rank last in the NFL in rushing and are next-to-last in stopping the run. Denver has been beset by injuries and inconsistency all year.

Despite getting knocked around too much, Orton has thrown for 3,023 yards and 17 touchdowns while getting picked off just a half-dozen times.

Tebow, for whom McDaniels traded three draft picks to move up and select with the 25th overall pick last April, still has plenty of strides to make both mechanically and mentally as he tries to morph from a combination college quarterback, albeit one of the most decorated in history, into a prototypical pro passer.

He averages a few snaps a game and has been productive in the red zone, running for three short touchdowns and throwing for another with his lone NFL pass so far. But the playbook isn't opened wide for him yet.

Tebowmanics will just have to bide their time while the former Florida star paces the sideline awaiting cameo appearances.

Bradford already is a rising star.

Before an ill-advised shovel pass last week, the former Oklahoma star had strung together a rookie record 169 straight pass attempts without an interception.

"That is big time," McDaniels said. "And that's in the middle of making plays, too. It is not like they're just throwing screens and check-downs. If that was the case, maybe it wouldn't be as impressive. But he's throwing the ball down the field, he's throwing double moves, he's standing in there against the blitz, he is converting third-and-13s."