The story behind the pick IMO.

[madmic21]

A few things may have happend.

1. Ross said pick the QB or apply for unemployment.

2. Sherman really liked the kid.

Or most likely IMO.

3. In reality Ireland is not the chump we thought he was. (or at least some of us(most)) Let me explain.
Outside of the Ryan pick (which I still don't blame him for) what other QB's has he screwed us on? There really haven't been many options outside of those which required trading the franchises next 5 drafts for. Therefore I believe he was always more than a cornfed guy. He chose a lets pick the BPA that fit our needs combo. But with the Tannehill pick he really must have thought the risk was worth the reward. Lets face it the move is far from a shoe in (most would agree?) The guy is a project in the purest form. Not a lot of snaps in college, but his only real glaring flaw is decision making. He has the athleticism to be a mobile pocket QB. The arm strength. The accuracy potential. IQ. Proven worker. Mechanically he is not a mess and comes with a quick trigger. Proper size. So yes he fits the bill, but due to inexpierience he is a year to two away from really being a franchise QB.


This sucks in a way but bottom line the fanbase's impatience and 20+ years of misery are not good enough reasons to pass on the guy. I am basically a tweener on the guy but the move against options like Gabbert, Mallet, Locker, Ponder or a boat load of picks ect. IMO opinion was the best play to be made. Basically the time was right and the player fit enough to justify the leap.

Sorry for the blah blah of track blah, a little tipsy. Fins up!!!

 

[andyahs]

I never believed Ross demanded the pick to begin with and Ireland would never have picked Tannehill if he did not believe he was a top ten pick regardless of what Sherman thought of him. We filled a huge need with a player with great upside.

 

[fishbanger]

I think this should have been done 4 years ago but it is clear the big gaping hole in our team has been QB. He could have targeted DALTON but maybe he could not make it happen. Part of the problem with our drafts in the last 12 years is that it does not focus on offensive playmakers. Either we had Defensive head coaches (not Cameron) or ones without a clue. Wandstadt = No clue and passed on QBs. SABAN bad judge of offensive talent. Cameron = bad judgement. Sparano = could not even put an OL together after 4 years.

 

[Vaark]

I think this should have been done 4 years ago but it is clear the big gaping hole in our team has been QB. He could have targeted DALTON but maybe he could not make it happen. Part of the problem with our drafts in the last 12 years is that it does not focus on offensive playmakers. Either we had Defensive head coaches (not Cameron) or ones without a clue. Wandstadt = No clue and passed on QBs. SABAN bad judge of offensive talent. Cameron = bad judgement. Sparano = could not even put an OL together after 4 years.

Ya know, I'm seeing a lot of this revisionist "Woulda Shoulda Dalton" drafting threads where I honestly don't remember too many championing him last pre-draft season. But whatever. I was in Mallett's camp and to this day think he would have been a better 2nd round pick than Dalton. My point is, if Mallett had the opportunities to start which circumstantially were afforded Dalton, who can really say he wouldn't have done even better? (remember, Dalton more or less fizzled the last 9 games, counting the playoff loss, he was 3-6 while his stats swan-dived once there was film on him).

I'm bullish on Tannehill because the 2 coaches who knew him best had the conviction to grab him, but still, that doesn't lessen how I believe Ireland blew it last season to a point where we likely wouldn't have even been having this discourse now.

 

[slydog43]

Sherman really liked the kid, it has to be the reason

 

[Predaphin]

The real story behind the pick (my version):

From Ross' prespective thoughts: We need to get a QB in this draft somehow. We missed out on signing one that would please the fans. No way this organization survives this coming season without taking a shot at a QB in this draft. I mean, there were fans already protesting outside our facilities before the draft, in which I had to come out publicly and respond to. Can you imagine what would happen if we don't draft a QB? Empty seats for the next 2 seasons. Let's just take the next thing available. I keep hearing about this Tannehill kid on ESPN. I don't know if he's any good but seems like he's becoming real popular. What the heck, if ESPN thinks he's that good, he must be. I'm going to let Ireland know we should just settle for this kid.

From Ireland's prespective thoughts: Damn, I don't have much QB options available this offseason. They won't even answer the phone in Indy to trade for Luck. I'm definetley not calling Fisher for that #2 pick, especially when he refused to work with me. Damn it! Tannehill is just way too raw. Weeden is way too old. I really want to draft a Defensive End with the loss of JT and Langford, but it's slim pickings there as well. I need to somehow trade out of the #8 pick to justify taking a DE in the later rounds in this weak DE class....
(A few hours before the Draft)...
We are in deep ****. This "Ross wants Tannehill" comment went public and no one seems to be returning my calls to trade down. It's like they are sold we want Tannehill. Looks like we are stuck at #8. There's no way I can draft a DE at #8, Ross would kill me. I think I'll just draft Tannehill, what the heck. Sherman seems to like him after I picked his brain for a while, although I still don't understand his response as to why he thought Tannehill was a WR in college. Then again, can I expect him to say something bad about his college QB? Well, Philbin mentioned he needed a QB to run our system so I know he would be ok with it. It would please Ross and half the fan base. And most importantly, it buys me some time at GM whether I get it wrong or not. I think it's my safest way to go, yeah, I'm going to take Tannehill.

From Philbin's prescpective thoughts: Hmmm, I really hope Ireland knows what he's doing. I have to give him the benefit of the doubt. It was kind of nice not having to tell Ted Thompson back at Green Bay what to do, then again I wasn't the coach. I already told Ireland I could really use an athletic OL or a QB that can run my system and that I don't need a fancy dancy prima-dona WR, but sometimes I feel like I'm talking to Homer Simpson. I sure hope he picked Sherman's brain as much as I did to get some input on this Tannehill kid. Well of course Sherman isn't going to bad mouth his college QB, I just hope he gives a fair assessment the way I did with Flynn. I really hope Ireland gets me one of those 2 positions i told him with the #8 pick.

From Sherman's prespective thoughts: Why do these guys think I should know what color Tannehill's underwear is? Heck, I didn't even know whether the kid should play WR or QB in college. Of course Tannehill could become an NFL QB, it may take a few years, but eventually it could happen. He was my college QB afterall. I just hope they know what they are doing or I could find myself looking for another job soon.

 

[DevilInPgh]

A few things may have happend.

1. Ross said pick the QB or apply for unemployment.

2. Sherman really liked the kid.

Or most likely IMO.

3. In reality Ireland is not the chump we thought he was. (or at least some of us(most)) Let me explain.
Outside of the Ryan pick (which I still don't blame him for) what other QB's has he screwed us on? There really haven't been many options outside of those which required trading the franchises next 5 drafts for. Therefore I believe he was always more than a cornfed guy. He chose a lets pick the BPA that fit our needs combo. But with the Tannehill pick he really must have thought the risk was worth the reward. Lets face it the move is far from a shoe in (most would agree?) The guy is a project in the purest form. Not a lot of snaps in college, but his only real glaring flaw is decision making. He has the athleticism to be a mobile pocket QB. The arm strength. The accuracy potential. IQ. Proven worker. Mechanically he is not a mess and comes with a quick trigger. Proper size. So yes he fits the bill, but due to inexpierience he is a year to two away from really being a franchise QB.


This sucks in a way but bottom line the fanbase's impatience and 20+ years of misery are not good enough reasons to pass on the guy. I am basically a tweener on the guy but the move against options like Gabbert, Mallet, Locker, Ponder or a boat load of picks ect. IMO opinion was the best play to be made. Basically the time was right and the player fit enough to justify the leap.

Sorry for the blah blah of track blah, a little tipsy. Fins up!!!

If the team had taken Dalton last year we would never be in this position. Center is the position you take in the first round when you want to tweak. I was positively pissed the team didn't take Dalton, and after looking at what he did in starting 17 games (yes, the season CAN last longer than 16 games, DolFans) last season, I got even more pissed.