Where Ryan Tannehill was his best, and worst
ByJAMES PARKS Jun 28, 2017
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More than once through the years, Ryan Tannehill has been criticized for his play under pressure.
That criticism likely arose as a consequence of the Miami Dolphins’ quarterback being the NFL’s most sacked signal caller since coming into the league (219). But, as Pro Football Focus’ calculations have revealed, there’s more than meets the eye.
According to the analytics and grading service, Tannehill
finished last season as the NFL’s fifth-most efficient passer when facing a blitz, achieving a 105.6 mark in that category, against a league average of 91.1 overall.
Ahead of Tannehill was Dallas’ Dak Prescott (106.6), New Orleans’ Drew Brees (107), Atlanta’s Matt Ryan (120.4), and New England’s Tom Brady (131.4).
But, despite that mark, Tannehill’s play against overall pressure was still poor. When compared to his otherwise improved performance under normal pocket conditions, Tannehill emerges as one of the NFL’s most puzzling specimens under center.
“Last season, Tannehill posted a passer rating of 49.1 when under pressure, which ranked seventh-worst of all 33 quarterbacks with at least 200 pass attempts,”
notes analyst Scott Barrett.
“When operating from a clean pocket, Tannehill’s passer rating of 116.6 ranked fourth-best. This 67.5-point differential between these two numbers was the largest among all quarterbacks last season.”
The only two quarterbacks whose disparities between play under pressure and in clean pockets that were remotely close were a rookie and a career backup: Philadelphia’s Carson Wentz (61.6) and Chicago’s Matt Barkley (61.4).
Moreover,
when facing pressure, Tannehill threw the NFL’s second-most interceptions, had the 10th-highest sack percentage, and had the league’s fourth-worst quarterback efficiency rating.
The presence of Mike Pouncey at the center position had an effect on how the Dolphins’ pass game developed, but not that much. Among centers to play 50 snaps, Pouncey was the NFL’s ninth-best in pass blocking, but after going down with his second hip injury, his backups fared reasonably well: zero sacks allowed, two hits, 10 hurries in 648 plays.
A side note: the difference between Pouncey and backup Anthony Steen when it came to run blocking was profound: Jay Ajayi gained over 53 percent of his eventual NFL-fourth-most rushing yardage when running behind Pouncey, while Steen was the league’s worst-graded run blocker in the middle.
Last season, the Dolphins finally started to see some of that long hoped-for potential in their quarterback. Tannehill, under known quarterback guru Adam Gase, achieved career-best marks in completion percentage, touchdown ratio, and passer rating.
But, judging by these numbers, there’s still work to be done.
From 247 Sports:
Here you go.
