NFL.com Greg Rosenthal - The Case for Ryan Tannehill - There are videos on the actual web article so go ahead and click! "Ryan Tannehill once inspired irrational excitement. He arrived to the NFL more fully formed than expected as a rookie in 2012, yet was overshadowed by the rookie shooting stars of Robert Griffin III, Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson. Four years into a flatline career, Tannehill now inspires apathy (and hilarious Miko Grimes tweets). He is paid like a franchise quarterback, yet dwells in a purgatory which NFL teams desperately try to avoid. Tannehill is too good to get rid of, clearly a superior option to stop-gap starters like Brian Hoyer who ride the quarterback carousel. But he still hasn't settled the question: Is he the guy? When the Around The NFL Podcast searched for a new prime meridian of NFL quarterbacks to replace Andy Dalton and "The Dalton Scale," we strongly considered "The Tannescale." This is the year for Tannehill to escape that purgatory. Like Dalton, he's set up for a big jump in year five. The surrounding talent is a huge reason why. Tannehill's receivers are sneaky amazing: In Jarvis Landry and DeVante Parker, Tannehill has one of the best young, complementary duos in football. Landry is a master of all trades with insane hands and production. No player in NFL history has more catches in his first two seasons. Landry can line up anywhere in the formation, creating mismatches and making plays after the catch. It's amazing how much better Tannehill's maligned deep ball looked when Parker was tracking it. Parker has the skill set of a true No. 1 receiver. He can go deep and come down with 50-50 passes. Just as important, Parker's ability to run routes appeared to improve throughout his rookie year. He gets defenders worried about his vertical ability then throttles down into zone coverage with his quick feet. Tannehill's accuracy can come and go. He's certainly not always pinpoint, and having receivers that can make tough catches will be a huge asset for him. Miami also has depth behind the two talented young starters. Tight end Jordan Cameron, Kenny Stills and buzzy third-round pick Leonte Carroo make the entire group deep and dangerous. The offensive line should be so much better: The Dolphins' offensive line went from embarrassing off the field during the Richie Incognito era to embarrassing on the field since. The Dolphins finished No. 31 in Pro Football Focus' final offensive line rankings in 2015, which is up a spot from their dead last finish in 2014. The injuries to left Branden Albert and right tackle Ja'wuan James certainly played a big role. When center Mike Pouncey was out, the Dolphins line made the lousy Colts pass rush look like the '85 Bears. The return to health for Albert and James should help matters. First-round pick Laremy Tunsil should slide off that mask and slide into the left guard spot between Pouncey and Albert. If the Dolphins have an injury at tackle this season, Tunsil is in place to take the spot. This is a good looking group on paper. More importantly, the failed schemes of Joe Philbin and his coaching hires are gone. Speaking of which ... Adam Gase has a history of helping quarterbacks: This is Tannehill's fourth coordinator in the last four seasons. Mike Sherman, Joe Philbin and Bill Lazor all struggled to make Tannehill consistent. Philbin reportedly never quite believed in him. Gase was hired in large part by selling himself as a quarterback whisperer that believed in Tannehill's talent. Gase quickly goosed the statistics of Peyton Manning and Jay Cutler when he worked with them. All offseason, we've read how Tannehill is expected to have more freedom to make adjustments at the line of scrimmage. Tannehill has often been slow to make decisions in his career and hasn't always shown the ability to dissect a defense before the snap. Gase has said that he's probably put "too much this fast" on Tannehill's plate in the offseason to see how much Tannehill can handle. How quickly Tannehill can process this new offense and Gase's coaching will largely determine how much I regret writing this column. At least I know that ... Tannehill doesn't make many mistakes: Here is the list of players with a lower interception percentage than Tannehill over the last two seasons, with a minimum of 500 attempts: 1. Aaron Rodgers 2. Tom Brady 3. Alex Smith 4. Russell Wilson 5. Carson Palmer Tannehill is not in the same class as the quarterbacks above, except Smith. But his ability to avoid mistakes is laudable. He's never come close to a collapse like Colin Kaepernick or RGIII, with 51 touchdowns and 24 interceptions over the last two seasons. While Tannehill's career has been frustrating, he's been a lot better than, say, Sam Bradford. Tannehill has started every game in his career and his stats are league average or better the last two years. He has shown anticipation throwing the ball before his receivers break on routes, something Jay Cutler still never shows. After a disastrous September last season, Tannehill was mostly solid down the stretch. He shows veteran ability in going through his reads. Maybe that doesn't get Dolphins fans out of bed excited in the morning, but there remains real upside here. Tannehill is very athletic and can throw well on the move running to either side. He was a wide receiver at Texas A&M and Gase figures to use his movement ability more than the Dolphins did a season ago. This year's Dalton: This article is not an argument for Tannehill to suddenly develop into a top-five quarterback. But if Kirk Cousins can get paid $20 million for one season and Andy Dalton can look like an MVP candidate after four years of stasis, then Tannehill can break out too. Like those two players, Tannehill is largely the product of his surroundings. He's going to rise and fall based on the situation around him. The situation in Miami should be greatly improved this season."
Like Jdang said, mostly fair, though the national media is always more down on RT17 because they don't watch him as closely as we do. Speaking of Dalton though, give RT his weapons and line, and is there much doubt that RT performs as well or better than Andy has? Its hardly been apples to apples, and that doesn't even take into account the coaching.
Accurate article. We need to see a whole new 17 this season and their is no reason we won't Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The media and the public are heavily influenced by won/loss records. If Tannehill had performed at exactly the same level, but we had an awesome defense, the won/loss record would be better, we'd probably have some playoff wins and possibly even a championship. Then Tannehill would be viewed as a "winner" despite being the exact same player.
Not really. Nobody gave Dalton love in 2012 and 2013 when he had Tanny numbers. Sure they were one and done in the playoffs but his team were winners.
I understand the sentiment, and the possibility, but it's still a lot of supposition. Andy Dalton, who has had a similar career, has a great D, and a great O, and has been in the playoffs every year, but still zero wins, Dalton has been miserable in the playoffs, so just having a great team surrounding QB17 doesn't necessarily make it a probability of winning playoff games. QB17 has not played well in pressure situations, so if he goes in the tank in the playoffs, then probably no wins, even with a better team. Andy Dalton has a great win/loss record, but I wouldn't trade a sack of potatoes for the guy, because if he's going to fall apart in the playoffs, he's actually not only worthless, but a definite minus. Teams that win in the playoffs, and win championships, have signal callers that are leaders. The jury is still out on QB17.
I evaluate players on their skills. IMO Tannehill is a far better player than Dalton skill-wise and given a the same team/situation would have performed better. I don't agree with the idea that Tannehill has performed poorly in pressure situations. I saw his individual performance as fairly consistent. It was the play-calling and OL performance (the biggest issues) that performed poorly in pressure situations. Obviously this is my opinion and speculative, but you can't say "not really" to the idea that a QB with Tannehill's stats and a great defense would not have playoff wins and possibly a championship when we've seen far worse performing QBs with great defenses win championships.
Read this last night. Really good read. I don't think the media is completely down on Tannehill. Some don't like him. Some do. Pretty much the same as the fan base.
Really boils down to what we as individuals expect out of the QB of our fav team. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
That's a pretty shortsighted way of looking at it. None of us want medicroty. What it really boils down to is the faith each of us have in Ryan taking that next step. Either you believe or you don't.
It's the basics. Remember, some people think he doesn't need to take a step just have a better cast around him and we are golden. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I'm glad you can see that some of us Tannehill fans understand he needs to improve. Those who say he doesn't are mistaken. I never once said otherwise throughout this perpetual debate. I think the circumstances around him absolutely need to get better, but so does Ryan himself.
Just to clear one thing up, I didn't say "not really", I just said that you can't say it was a probability that we would have won games. In 2013 he had 2 games that were "win and you're in", they are his two worst games since the start of the 2013 season til now, and are among the worst games of his career a 42 and a 45 rating, the second and forth worst performances of his career, only in his rookie season did he have worse games. Those 2 stinkers were preceded by three strait 90+ rating games, culminating in his 120 rating in a win vs the Pats, then he **** the bed when it counted, a combined 1 TD and 3 INTs in those 2 games, and in neither game did he complete over 50% of his passes. Then in a crucial game in 2014 vs the Ravens, we had a chance to take the lead in the 4th quarter, Wallace is wide open and QB17 misses badly from the 11 yard line... that's the 11 yard line, and he missed badly. We have to settle for a field goal, Ravens keep the lead, and that was the turning point in that game, Ravens sideline was jumping, our sideline heads were hanging, momentum killer. So imo, the jury is still out on QB17, he's got some proving to do in must win games.
I had a high grade on dalton coming out. Started a thread on him..thought he would reach the success he's achieved.
I remember you and i were both intrigued by him and hey, I started that Dalton thread back then! Ha! It was met with comments like: "He sucks", "he'll never be a starter". "he's garbage", stuff along those lines.
Yeah, the entire team played like garbage in those two games, not simply Tannehill. I'm also not sure you can find anyone saying Tannehill doesn't need to be better. Just people saying other parts of the team need to improve more, and that IF Tannehill had played the same, but the defense, for instance, had played better, they'd have won some more games.
Boy. You sure are quick to chime in a moments time to pat yourself on the back. DJ, have you ever been wrong about a player or anything related to the Miami Dolphins/NFL in general? Just wondering.
People lump those two games together, but they're really different in terms of overall team play: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/mia/2013.htm http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/T/TannRy00/gamelog/2013/ In the game against Buffalo, much of the team played crappy with only 14 yards rushing and giving up a record (for the 2013 season) 203 yards rushing. Pass defense was OK and they only scored 20 on us, so even an average offensive performance up to that game (22 points per game) would have been enough but no one stepped up. But in the Jets game? Rush offense, rush defense and pass defense were all around average or not far from it, and time of possession wasn't too unbalanced. We get an early TD with the lead, Jets come back before the half to lead by 7, but in the 2nd half our drives end with 3 INT's and 3 punts. Yeah.. not going to win that way. I think it's fair to place more blame on Tannehill for the Jets game than on the rest of the team. His passer rating was 42.1, like Finster said second worst of his entire career (his only game with worse passer rating was his very first game as a pro!). I mean our defense did hold them to 20 points even after 3 INT's.
Yeah, that's probably fair, although I don't really remember the specifics of the Jets game. Were there issues on the ints? Did receivers run bad routes? I really don't remember.
This is what puzzles me the most. TD/INT ratio correlates so highly with winning, but it hasn't really been the case with Tannehill.
Two of the three pics were at the very end of the game during desperation time when the Fins were losing by 14. The Jets had just finished a long, five minute dive with a FG and the game felt done. It was UGLY overall all day. It obviously sucked to be outscored 7-39 by division rivals the last two weeks, when the team was 8-6, and the Chargers ended up being the second Wildcard at 9-7, but it was a team effort. RT17's previous three games, he was lights out, had a 8/2 TD/INT ratio, 843 yards, and the team had won at NY, at PIT and at home vs NE.
What I remember most about that game is that we were up 7-0 and had a chance to bury them early and Tannehill missed a wide open Mike Wallace for a TD. That would have made it 14-0, made the Jets 1-dimensional, made the crowd go wild because the other team we needed to lose was losing to get into the playoffs. It was a play you needed your QB to make and it didn't happen. For the rest of the day, the team failed to pick him up after that.
Well sure. But had Tannehill played better they would have won some more games too. We can go in circles about whose fault is it more. I think the point is that Ryan Tannehill and the team need to be better, as you stated. And whether it's more on Ryan Tannehill or it isn't, he has a year to right this under Adam Gase. If he does, then no one will really care about the first 4 years. It will be looked at his "maturation process". If he doesn't improve and lead the team to improvement, then he's going to be replaced on be on the hot seat with fans to be replaced. And that criticism will be warranted and valid.
He has shown anticipation throwing the ball before his receivers break on routes, something Jay Cutler still never shows. After a disastrous September last season, Tannehill was mostly solid down the stretch. He shows veteran ability in going through his reads. Maybe that doesn't get Dolphins fans out of bed excited in the morning, but there remains real upside here. Sorry, I've never seen either of those 2 things. I've seen him lock on receivers waiting for the receiver to get open while other receivers are wide open.
Yeah, I agree with most of this. What I can't understand, is why fans were so quick to jump all over him, even in the first two seasons. The guy was a very raw QB, who was going to need more time in the league than a usual first round prospect, to develop and get used to the NFL. People have always ignored that, and seemingly acted as though Tannehill should have been as NFL ready as guys like Luck, Wilson, etc. Then, throw in the dysfunction of the coaching staff, it's no wonder that Tannehill, and the team as a whole, have struggled the last four years. I agree this is probably his last year to prove it in Miami, but I do believe his first four years were negatively affected by Philbin and company. The start to his career would probably have been very different if he'd been on a different team.
Both are correct. He's done it before. However, he does lock on. Tannehill's problem isn't his inability to do any of it. It's his ability to effectively and CONSISTENTLY do it.
DJ always admits when he's wrong. Always. Either you weren't around or have selective memory. DJ has his convictions, but he's not dishonest.
I'm not sure why everyone bashes Tannehill as not being good enough. He has been well above average in his short QB history if he stays the course and our defense doesn't cost us games and actually prevents easy touchdowns which they have not been able to the last few years we have a good chance of being in the playoff hunt this year. I don't think were good enough to matter this year however but it's not Tannehills fault. Ill take another 4K season with 26-28 Touchdowns and <10 Interceptions any day.
We basically have three camps who complain about RT. A) The grass is always greener crowd, who overlook the negatives when looking at QBs on other teams, but hammer Ryan for his. B) People who judge him solely (or at least mostly) based on the team's won/loss record, and say that he's "not a winner". Many of these people who demand he be cut if he threw for 4500 yards, 65% completions, and a 35/10 TD/INT ratio if the team had a losing record due to the defense and running game. C) People who just don't like him for whatever reason, and have made up their minds that we need someone else. Be it Tannehill's style of play doesn't match their preference, or his personality isn't macho enough, or a combination of reasons from type A & B, or they're in love with another QB on the roster and want Ryan gone so the other guy gets the job.
I get some of that but hes been well above serviceable for us. We went through many years of crappy QB's! I wish he was more vocal and in your face kinda like Marino but thats just not his style and I have to adjust my thoughts. As long as he grows and keep producing. I honestly think the teams swagger / attitude comes from the head coach and Quesy was a wus.
I like the way he structured it. Three pretty obvious and basic factors that should affect him positively. I guess you could argue against him on the receivers by saying yes but what's changed from 2015 to 2016 that way, but I think the latter two factors (offensive line and coaching credentials) feature more clearly observable incremental changes.
If you measure by passer rating, his best year he was average. Tannehill has been decidedly average. Which in our case, is a step up. But he's in the 13ish to 17ish (or lower depending on the viewpoint) range.
Not just passer rating.. Tannehill's generally around average statistically speaking on most key passing stats: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/AFLNFL/passing.htm http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/T/TannRy00.htm 2015 averages vs. Tannehill: Passer rating: 88.4 vs. 88.7 YPA: 7.3 vs. 7.2 TD: 25.6 vs. 24 INT: 14.4 vs. 12 Comp%: 63 vs. 61.9 etc.. Basically statistically he's an average QB.
Where did I say he was dishonest? Again, maybe it's a game of semantics, but to me dishonest is someone who lies, lacks integrity or character. DJ is none of those things. And he shows the opposite of all of those qualities here on the board (honest, full of integrity and high character). I simply said he's quick to pat himself on the back, but isn't as quick to say he was wrong about someone. That's it. Again, he's made 1 comment in this thread to say he was right on the evaluation of the player. Had nothing to do with the topic, or the flow of the topic, etc. Simply that he said he would be what he is and he was right. Sorry, that comes across differently to some people. I guess it is selective memory. I stand by what I said.
I agree Tannehill is better then the crappy QB's we went through. Some are more then happy with that.
