The Browns are not alone in the pressure that is being generated to draft Tannehill. The Miami Dolphins are in it with them. Both teams have been written, talked about, and scrutinized during this off-season due to their failure to land a coveted signal caller. The Browns lost out on RG3 to the Redskins, and the Dolphins struck out on Payton Manning, Matt Flynn, and Alex Smith. And with both teams having picks in the top ten of the Draft this April, experts are speculating as to which team will spend a first round pick on Ryan Tannehill.
Recently Charley Casserole from NFL.com wrote an article about Ryan Tannehill as he examined the QB’s performance in his senior year. Casserole correctly pointed out that there are many unknowns about Tannehill due to his lack of experience at the QB position. Because of his raw potential, and the lack of experience the best possible situation for him would be to go to a team that will take time to develop him. A team such as the Packers could be the best fit. The team has a good track record on developing QB’s with Rogers, and Flynn being prime examples.
Tannehill shows excellent arm strength, velocity, and accuracy, but he is deficient in decision making, timing, and he does have a “glitch” in his release that has led to many tipped passes. He does show a tremendous upside but with his lack of experience, Tannehill is essentially an unknown commodity.
Casserole also pointed out that he believes that Tannehill does not have the potential to be a special quarterback, but could be a solid one. He then went on to look at, and compare other quarterbacks that were similar to Tannehill. These QB’s were taken in the 2nd rounds since 2006 and the list is not very impressive.
Andy Dalton, Kevin Kolb, John Beck, Drew Stanton, Pat White, Kellen Clemens, Brian Brohm, Chad Henne, and Tavaris Jackson were all taken in the 2nd round (which is where Tannehill should go), and none of them with the exception of Dalton has shown any real promise. But with Luck and RG3 going 1 & 2 respectively, this has started a run on QB’s which has raised the stock of Tannehill and even 29-year-old future rookie QB Brandon Weeden.
It is my hope that the Cleveland brass does not bite, and they stick with their plan and will improve the team by selecting a play-maker like Claiborne, Richardson, Blackmon, or Kalil. It is my hope that they don’t bite on the hype surrounding Tannehill. The last thing that Cleveland needs is yet another QB controversy.
Michael W. Youngman
(Lead Analyst C.B.R.)
