Ryan Tannehill Continues To Be Underappreciated (shocker!)

[Eesti]

Not only by the media but his teams fans as well....

Ryan Tannehill is the forgotten patron of the famed 2012 quarterback class. Andrew Luck recently received a mega deal, Robert Griffin III has been an enigma for as long as he’s been in the league, Russell Wilson has done more than enough to prove that he was always a first-round talent, and even Kirk Cousins has made a name for himself as a starting quarterback in the NFL. One way or another, all of those quarterbacks have curated interesting narratives for their careers, but Tannehill has been orphaned by the media.
The lack of intrigue and coverage surrounding Tannehill’s career has allowed many to pass him off as a mediocre quarterback that Miami could easily move on from if they wanted to. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. Miami needs to charge full steam ahead with Tannehill.
In 2013, Tannehill’s second year in the league, Miami’s young signal caller had a bit of a break out season. He took on a heavier workload as a passer, improved his completion percentage and doubled his passing touchdowns from the year before. Mentally, he looked more efficient and confident, though he still had plenty of miscues. He had shown clear improvement in a number of areas and, at least for a moment, there was widely accepted optimism for his future.
The following season sent Tannehill’s narrative back to the “this is what happens when a wide receiver tries to play quarterback” days. For reasons unbeknownst to me, he was largely looked down upon as the problem down in Miami.
When Mike Wallace and Brian Hartline were his top two receiving targets, when Joe Philbin was tearing the team apart and trying to unrightfully bench him, and when the defense was a hobbling mess, Tannehill was the fall guy in Miami. The quarterback who again improved his completion percentage, touchdown-to-interception ratio, mental processing and ability to handle pressure, was the man with the target on his back.
It’s as if the story has been written for Tannehill instead of by Tannehill. He’s gotten better each year, yet he’s gotten zero recognition for it. Rather, he’s become gradually more accepted as an afterthought. He improved for a third time in 2015, but, of course, the shortcomings of the rest of the team masked the strides he’s taken as a passer.
The most questionable criticism of Tannehill is the aforementioned remark that him being a former receiver makes him a bad quarterback. There’s this wild belief that he doesn’t know how to throw naturally and properly because he spent time as a receiver. The reality is that Tannehill was only a wide receiver for two seasons of play. Texas A&M recruited him as a 3-star dual-threat quarterback. The team tried him out at wide receiver for his first two years, and he was still competing for the starting quarterback job during each offseason.

http://www.qbmecca.com/ryan-tannehill-continues-underappreciated/

 

[where's th'fish]

The most questionable criticism of Tannehill is...

Isn't it funny how it changes every year? Tannehill's path to success has to be one of the most unusual, convoluted in NFL history. He's not far now. Biggest obstacle in his way also starts with Tann, and it's not his own self!

 

[Geforce]

Thanks for posting this. I was going to post it last night but decided not to. There are some very good gifs to explain his point.

 

[maralieus]

Very good article. Finally someone who's paying attention.

 

[MDFINFAN]

Ryan Tannehill is a franchise quarterback for the Dolphins. They can build around him and create an identity on offense that is focused on him. They have began doing so as of late, drafting three receivers in the top-100 in the past three seasons and recently hiring Adam Gase as the head coach. The floor plan is now there for Tannehill. It has been in the works for a while now, but Tannehill finally has the means and skills to thrive in Miami. His time is now.

W0W--I'm half sold on that, there are games I'm certain he's it, then there's game I'm half sure, but I've never question weather he can play QB, I think he's a good QB, I just want that fire that goes with it. I think that day in and day out fire puts him in the mental position to kill it every Sunday.
I think Ryan takes on the mentality of his coach, I think Gase's personality will be big for Ryan and the fire I'm looking for will finally show up.

 

[hoops]

that throw vs the jags he clips is straight up BOSS stuff

not sure why this guy thinks he can't throw routes outside the numbers like come backs...I don't see evidence of that at all

corner routes in the red zone probably his weakest throw...air mails them at times...I expect improvement there especially if we can get a big target like parker running them from a tight look...then you just throw it in the zip code and let him go get it

the authors correct in stating tannehill is a franchise qb...all the way...and he's also correct that he's the most underappreciated qb in football...he's way damn better than he gets credit for both in the media and on this board...there's not a chance in hell Miami moves on after 2016 from this qb...zero nada zilch

also 4 ints on the qb is elite level stuff...especially when you take in all the 3rd and 8 plus we lived in all season long

 

[susser2000]

The problem is that he hasn't led his team to the playoffs. The NFL is about winning and the Dolphins have yet to do that with him at the helm. I really hope it happens this year, but I just can't get excited before the season because of last year's debacle.

 

[Eesti]

The problem is that he hasn't led his team to the playoffs. The NFL is about winning and the Dolphins have yet to do that with him at the helm. I really hope it happens this year, but I just can't get excited before the season because of last year's debacle.

Well, there it is. LOL. The blanket statement ignoring everyone else but the QB.

Did Peyton Manning "lead his team" to the post season and a SuperBowl victory last year?

 

[39wildman]

The problem is that he hasn't led his team to the playoffs. The NFL is about winning and the Dolphins have yet to do that with him at the helm. I really hope it happens this year, but I just can't get excited before the season because of last year's debacle. I can agree w what you said. hene and thill is in same boat. it doesn't matter how dolphins make playoff. he just need make playoff as qb.

 

[Eesti]

And there it is again. LMBO

When Mike Wallace and Brian Hartline were his top two receiving targets, when Joe Philbin was tearing the team apart and trying to unrightfully bench him, and when the defense was a hobbling mess, Tannehill was the fall guy in Miami.

It’s as if the story has been written for Tannehill instead of by Tannehill. He’s gotten better each year, yet he’s gotten zero recognition for it. Rather, he’s become gradually more accepted as an afterthought. He improved for a third time in 2015, but, of course, the shortcomings of the rest of the team masked the strides he’s taken as a passer.

QB is the hardest & most important position on the team and probably in all of professional sports BUT no other position depends on OTHER PLAYERS as much as the QB....but when it comes to W's, it's ALL on the QB. How does that even make sense?

The RB depends on his blockers, the WR's depend on the QB and the blockers, the linemen depend on each other. The QB depends on all 10. If just one doesn't do his job, it can cost the QB in a BIG way.

 

[hoops]

the author also states that tannehill doesn't account for free blitzers...I don't think the author knows that in the lazor o the hots were built in site adjustments to be made by the skill position players...in other words if they don't hook off their route post snap and present their #s to the qb he's not gonna throw it...he's gonna eat it because there was no hand signals at the los...and thill had barely any say over adjusting protections to boot...the old o relied on the skill guys and the qb iding the show blitzer pre snap and running the correct hot route for each scenario...his freedom protection wise came in taking the tight ends from a flex to a tight pre snap alignment and slanting the protection to account for free inside gap blitzers and release clean edge pass rushers like de's and 34olbs which the hot routes should account for by throwing the ball prior to the clean releaser getting to the qb

in the new o I expect to see site adjustments hand usage qb alerts at the los dummy snap counts kill calls tempo changes and the qb iding the mike and setting the protections...In other words I expect to see what we should have been doing all along with this qb had we just had some damn competence in the building

letting the qb drive

 

[foozool13]

Until these three areas improve, he will not be leading us to any meaningful games.

1. 3rd Down
2. Red Zone
3. 4th Quarter

Not saying he cant do it, but that's what needs to happen.

 

[royalshank]

Once he leads the team to the playoffs on a couple of times, the criticism will subside.

---------- Post added at 12:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:07 PM ----------

Until these three areas improve, he will not be leading us to any meaningful games.

1. 3rd Down
2. Red Zone
3. 4th Quarter

Not saying he cant do it, but that's what needs to happen.

i agree w this - improving here would make us a playoff team.

 

[FinfanInBuffalo]

Aside from putting Tannehill’s accuracy on display, this example serves the function of exposing a problem with Miami’s receivers. They were consistently dropping passes that they should not have. Cian Fahey of Football Guys did an extensive study of quarterback play in 2015, part of which revealed the incompetency of Miami’s skill players. Fahey had Tannehill’s receivers with 63 Failed Receptions, tying Cam Newton for 2nd in total Failed Receptions and placing 4th in Failed Reception Rate (one Failed Reception per 9.3 attempts).

In addition, Fahey only counted four of Tannehill’s interceptions against him. The other eight were at the fault of others. The number feels high at first glance, but with as many times as Miami receivers failed at catch points and bobbled passes into the air on film, it’s no surprise more than half of Tannehill’s interceptions weren’t really his fault.

Even with his blemishes, Tannehill is a good quarterback. He has gotten better each year despite being in a miserable situation, both from a coaching and supporting cast standpoint. To be as resilient as he’s been through having rotating doors for offensive line, watching receivers constantly fail him and his (now former) head coach trying to bench in favor of Matt Moore, is baffling.

Enough said.

 

[FinfanInBuffalo]

that throw vs the jags he clips is straight up BOSS stuff

not sure why this guy thinks he can't throw routes outside the numbers like come backs...I don't see evidence of that at all

corner routes in the red zone probably his weakest throw...air mails them at times...I expect improvement there especially if we can get a big target like parker running them from a tight look...then you just throw it in the zip code and let him go get it

the authors correct in stating tannehill is a franchise qb...all the way...and he's also correct that he's the most underappreciated qb in football...he's way damn better than he gets credit for both in the media and on this board...there's not a chance in hell Miami moves on after 2016 from this qb...zero nada zilch

also 4 ints on the qb is elite level stuff...especially when you take in all the 3rd and 8 plus we lived in all season long

The scramble to the left and throw down the sideline against Jets should be required viewing for every doubter on this site. Very very very few QBs make that play.

The Jags game told me all I needed to know at the start of last season. As I stated at the time, if your QB plays like that and you still lose, THE REST OF THE TEAM SUCKS BAD. Pretty prophetic......