Posts tagged Ryan Tannehill scouting report

Why Ryan Tannehill is a First-Round Prospect

Dolphins offensive coordinator Mike Sherman says Ryan Tannehill is a lot like Andy Dalton, but with a better arm. Some evaluators think Tannehill will get a GM fired. I'm on Sherman's side of the fence.

What do you call 9/22, 156 yards, TD, INT in a half of football? If the execution behind the stats isn’t studied then I call it meaningless. These stats belong to Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill’s performance in a blowout loss to Oklahoma in 2011. After studying his performance in this game and others, my conclusion is that Tannehill exhibits starter potential for the NFL.

Oftentimes the worst statistical games reveal strong positives in a player’s skill and potential. I’d rather see how a player deals with adversity than study games where he only has success. There are more situations that test a player’s skill to its limit and the absence of good stats doesn’t mean an absence of skills to watch. It’s why I had strong marks for players like Ahmad Bradshaw, Joseph Addai, Matt Forte, and several other prospects whose opponents over-matched their teams. If you’re watching technique, effort, and physical skill then stats fade into the background.

I’ve written about Tannehill here recently and with the Redskins’ exchange of three first-round picks for the second spot in the NFL Draft, there is a lot of debate among draftniks about Tannehill’s value as a top-10 overall pick. I’ve read one former scout write on Twitter that he’s the most likely player to get a GM fired. I read another say he’s overrated. On the other hand, Tannehill’s former coach Mike Sherman compares his A&M starter favorably to Bengals QB Andy Dalton – with a better arm. Continue reading

Managing the Pocket Part II: Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill

Dolphins great Dan Marino holds two pocket management skills in high regard when evaluating players at the position. Ryan Tannehill demonstrates facility with both.

Note: The analysis you’ll find in blog posts on RB David Wilson, WR Kendall Wright, and my first post about Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill are merely snapshots of plays I have compiled from game study. These spotlights focus on a subset of the individual’s talents or deficiencies and are not an overall report on the player. My comprehensive analysis of the player will be available April 1 in the 2012 Rookie Scouting Portfolio – now in its seventh year of publication.

“If I worked out a quarterback for an NFL team, he’d have to show me 100 throws off his back foot.”

-Dan Marino

This is one of two statements about quarterbacking from Marino that football analyst Pat Kirwan shared in his book Take Your Eye Off The Ball that demonstrates the difference between the theory and practice of the NFL game for a pro passer. The second statement is about having a good internal clock – the awareness of the length of time a play should take, how long its actually taking, and what the defense is doing to add or subtract from that amount of time. Marino says a good internal clock “can be a quarterback’s most important asset.”

A player I’d like to watch with Dan Marino – alright, ONE of ANY player I’d like to watch with Dan Marino – is Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill. The 2012 NFL Draft prospect has good pocket presence for a college quarterback. In fact, against Oklahoma State in September, Tannehill put on a clinic of what defines good pocket presence. In the previous post of Managing the Pocket, I analyzed two plays of Tannehill’s that involved the subtleties of avoiding pressure. Today I’m featuring three plays that demonstrate two of Marino’s preferred traits of a quarterback and likely a third that I don’t have a quote from him about: managing adversity. Continue reading

Managing the Pocket Part I: Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill

When it comes to managing the pocket, Texas A&M Ryan Tannehill put on a clinic in the first half  versus Oklahoma State in September ’11. Photo by SD Dirk.

Note: The analysis you’ll find in blog posts on RB David Wilson, WR Kendall Wright, and today, Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill are merely snapshots of plays I have compiled from game study. These spotlights focus on a subset of the individual’s talents or deficiencies and are not an overall report on the player. My comprehensive analysis of the player will be available April 1 in the 2012 Rookie Scouting Portfolio – now in its seventh year of publication.

Former Jets coach and personnel manager Pat Kirwan noted in his book Take Your Eye Off The Ball, that the only scrambling quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl was Steve Young. Some may infer from that fact that scramblers are not the ideal style of quarterback for an NFL team. I think it’s probably more accurate to take this statement as a historic reflection, but not a basic truth about today’s NFL.

I’m nitpicking the point because Fran Tarkenton, Steve McNair, John Elway, Brett Favre, and Donovan McNabb could all scramble and they led their teams to the Super Bowl. I believe the spirit of Kirwan’s statement is Continue reading