Clayton: Tannehill Underappreciated

[Daytona Fin]

From Peyton Manning's entry into the NFL in 1998 to Matt Ryan's and Joe Flacco's arrivals in 2008, franchises mostly were conventional with their quarterback selections. There may not have been enough pocket-passing quarterbacks to satisfy every team, but the good ones worked well from the pocket.

Spread offenses in college are making it tougher for quarterbacks to transition into NFL offenses. Good pocket-passers are harder to find. Teams are aiming for more athletic quarterbacks like Russell Wilson, who played baseball and football in college. Jameis Winston pitched along with playing football. Ryan Tannehill spent a portion of his college career at wide receiver.

"It's not traditional," Tannehill said of how teams are getting their quarterbacks. "I think you are seeing more athletic quarterbacks playing the position. I think it's apparently not the only position affected. The game is evolving. You are seeing more spread offense. There are more zone-reads. You see more quarterbacks escaping the pocket, creating yards with their feet, as opposed to what quarterbacks used to do on first downs. It's more of an attack mode."

Andrew Luck, Wilson, Matthew Stafford and Cam Newton are ahead of him, but it's not a runaway. Based on what happened last season, Tannehill arguably moved ahead of Andy Dalton and Colin Kaepernick. Dalton and Kaepernick have the playoff experience Tannehill is lacking, but Tannehill is trending better with his numbers and his progress.

This year could put him over the top.

The 2014 season was his graduation year; he completed 66.4 percent of his passes, a 6 percent improvement from 2013. He had his first 4,000-yard passing season, throwing for 4,045 yards. His touchdown passes jumped from 24 to 27, and his interceptions dropped from 17 to 12. He moved to No. 16 in QBRm ahead of Newton and Stafford, and very close to luck (Tannehill was at 58.0, Luck 61.5).

What outsiders still don't appreciate is the learning process of being a quarterback. He was recruited in college as a quarterback but ended up playing receiver in the middle of his college career. At Texas A&M, he was a receiver from 2008 to the first half of the 2010 season before moving back to quarterback at midseason.

The move back to quarterback wasn't easy. His mechanics were behind others. Though he had success at quarterback on the field, he didn't like what he saw on tape when he returned to the class room.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/13559853/ryan-tannehill-miami-dolphins-improving-needs-wins

 

[Sons Of Shula]

"Hey Ma! I'm done with my assignment!"

 

[psfign]

Love Clayton and love that badass commercial!


Metal!

 

[Phinatic8u]

He's not elite yet, but he sure as hell isn't bad either.

He's a good qb whose trending way up.

 

[NBP81]

"The key improvement is his 7.4 yards per attempt, up from 6.9 in 2014. Yes, he's getting the ball downfield better."

I disagree with this statement as most of the long plays were actually a result of YAC while one of his huge deep throw was perfect and still dropped... Tannehill's deep accuracy has been way overblown and while I wouldn't say he's great at it, the offense we run and supporting cast up to this point have been the main reason why stats watchers thought it was a problem because you know... YPA is QB dependent only...

 

[Phinatic8u]

"The key improvement is his 7.4 yards per attempt, up from 6.9 in 2014. Yes, he's getting the ball downfield better."

I disagree with this statement as most of the long plays were actually a result of YAC while one of his huge deep throw was perfect and still dropped... Tannehill's deep accuracy has been way overblown and while I wouldn't say he's great at it, the offense we run and supporting cast up to this point have been the main reason why stats watchers thought it was a problem because you know... YPA is QB dependent only...

Contrary to popular belief, most big plays in the NFL are from yac related plays.

 

[NRA]

Love Clayton and love that badass commercial!

Clayton was surely the obvious victor in his BRUTAL battle with that assinine Sean Salsbury that played out on ESPN for sometime. It got very personal (mostly salsbury) and down right mean.

Havnt seen salsbury since. You just dont fug with J-Clay!!

 

[phinsphan001]

I remember Salisbury calling Clayton "the crypt keeper". The fact that ESPN allowed Salisbury to denegrade Clayton for such an extended period of time was classless.

 

[NRA]

I think dinglbury ended up threatening him on air and that was that.

They should have pulled the plug on him way, waaaay before it got to that. And ithink that is why you dont see sean-boy on any sports shows anymore.

 

[NRA]

DAMN!!

just googled the situation and espn did fire him........, but........., DANG!!

DIDNT SEE THAT COMING.

http://iameviltebow.com/top-10-fired-espn-employees/7sean-salisbury/

 

[Ruckus45]

"The key improvement is his 7.4 yards per attempt, up from 6.9 in 2014. Yes, he's getting the ball downfield better."

I disagree with this statement as most of the long plays were actually a result of YAC while one of his huge deep throw was perfect and still dropped... Tannehill's deep accuracy has been way overblown and while I wouldn't say he's great at it, the offense we run and supporting cast up to this point have been the main reason why stats watchers thought it was a problem because you know... YPA is QB dependent only...

Throwing receivers open is a growth trait as well- certainly contributes to YAC.

 

[nate5413]

This is the year he becomes elite. Top 7 numbers

 

[PogiRo]

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/13559853/ryan-tannehill-miami-dolphins-improving-needs-wins

That last bit about his learning process and moving back to QB is definitely neglected. It was clear we were going to need to be more patient with him when we drafted him after he started 1.5 seasons at QB at A&M. But what was so annoying is when people tried to compare him to Henne who started all 4 years ago QB. That was probably the most frustrating point of view to read, so baseless, and lazy.

 

[jlfin]

I'd take Tannehill over Stafford any day. Stafford is over rated. He's been throwing to the most physically imposing WR in the NFL.

 

[NorFlaFin]

Sean Salisbury stopped taking pic of his wang, he might get back on the tv