The ryan tannehill apologist narrative

[cuchulainn]

https://welcometoperfectville.com/2016/07/20/the-ryan-tannehill-apologist-narrative/

The unfortunate circumstance of Ryan Tannehill’s imminent rise to league-wide respectability is that all the credit will go directly to Adam Gase. That’s one of the prevailing premises of the National Football League though – these professionals can’t allow ego to interrupt their overcoming of obstacles. I’m a frequent listener of various football podcasts and diligent consumer of various .com content from around the internet. Ryan Tannehill is perpetually viewed as a mediocre quarterback making me the outcast on the topic. It’s been that way since the beginning, though.

...

Quarterbacks are forced to shoulder the brunt of the blame for all the wrong-doings within an organization. A receiver drops a pass that leads to a pick, the quarterback gets blamed. A backup left tackle gets burned on a speed rush and drills the quarterback across his name-plate, bring in the backup passer. It’s the nature of the business and I understand this team hasn’t won a big game under #17.

But that will all change in the near future.

...

One self-proclaimed quarterback guru credited Dolphins receivers with 63 failed receptions a year ago (ranking 2nd highest in the league) and attributed eight of Tannehill’s 12 interceptions to his receivers.

...

Some areas of weakness in his game include pocket presence and knowing when to take shots down the field. These are traits that need to get better, I won’t deny that one iota. But I will tell you that there is a light at the end of these crippling tunnels. It’s feasible to attribute some of the pocket presence issues to playing behind horrible offensive lines his whole career. As for the missed receivers down the field, he was drilled early in his career by offensive coordinator, Mike Sherman, not to take the big risks. Sometimes, deprogramming a player of bad habits can take a few years.

=====

Very good article IMO... more at the link provided.

[AquaXI]

Exactly! Tannehill gets it there and they fricken drop it! I trust the Coaches assessment and not the weekend Warriors on whether or not he is a Starting QB and an above average one at that!

[Idahomer]

I'd like to see the author of that article proven correct. We need Tannehill to step up and become that franchise QB we so desperately need. I cannot completely write him off for the very reasons mentioned above. I do have some doubts, and they become stronger each year. Pocket presence is something you have or you don't. I don't think that it taught, however, Gase's answer for that is getting the ball out quicker so you don't necessarily need to have great pocket awareness in his system. Performing in the clutch is another area I have concerns with. Tannehill has shown to be one thing and that is inconsistant. Whether it's accuracy one qtr - then he completes 17 or 18 balls in a row - or the inability to drive the team down the field in the 4th qtr he has to become more consistant. I think his accuracy is as good as most. The long ball is an issue, but in reality the stats show he can make all the throws. A lot of the issues with the long ball is poor pass protection and poor routes or drops. Wallace made Tannehill look terrible, I think a full season of Parker (who actually will slow down, speed up, come back, jump and compete for balls) will put the long ball accuracy issues to the back burner.

Tannehill isn't, nor will he ever be Marino. He isn't big Ben who buys time by throwing would be sackers off him like swatting flies. He isn't Cam Newton who can play running back at any time. He isn't Aaron Rogers who seems to have eyes in the back of his head. But he is a QB that can take this team much further than we give him credit for. He needs a strong offensive line and a good running game so the days of 50 passes goes away. Teams must fear our run game for him to be successful, because he actually performs quite well in play action pass plays. He needs a defense that can bail him out and give him the short field once and awhile with turnovers and plenty of 3 and outs. He needs the ball (total plays from scrimmage) more often then many of his rivals to put the points on the board.

I still believe Tannehill can be our guy if he gets solid play around him. RB's, WR's, Defense and special teams, and especially oline play. If we give him more support and he fails again I will officially join the Tannehill is not the answer club. But until I see him play from a position where he's not running for his life, or the defense is giving up second half leads, or the FG kicker is missing kicks etc.. I'm holding out hope.