Going into the season, most teams either knew they had their franchise guy, were developing their potential franchise quarterback, or were just kinda screwed going into the season. The Dolphins were unique since they weren’t sure if Ryan Tannehill was any of those three categories. In his first two years, there were enough signs that he could very well be their long term answer or not. With that being said, there were a lot of folks on both sides of the fence on this topic.
10 games into the Dolphins’ season, they’re currently 6-4 and at the edge of a wild card spot. But since Tannehill started his career, his stat line reads like this:
868/1425 Passing, 60.91% Accuracy, 9,561 Passing Yards, 6.71 YPA, 53 TD’s, 37 INT’s, 22 Fumbles, 710 Rushing Yards, 3 Rushing TD’s.
Compare this line to some other quarterbacks:
1.) 920/1414, 65.06% Accuracy, 10,589 Passing Yards, 7.49 YPA, 77 TD’s, 27 INT’s, 21 Fumbles, 212 Rushing Yards, 1 Rushing TD
2.) 840/1408, 59.66% Accuracy, 9,981 Passing Yards, 7.09 YPA, 61 TD’s, 48 INT’s, 16 Fumbles, 100 Rushing Yards, 1 Rushing TD
3.) 744/1254, 59.33% Accuracy, 9,348 Passing Yards, 7.45 YPA, 53 TD’s, 33 INT’s, 18 Fumbles, 1,589 Rushing Yards, 16 Rushing TD’s
4.) 671/1059, 63.36% Accuracy, 8,316 Passing Yards, 7.85 YPA, 63 TD’s, 24 INT’s, 22 Fumbles, 1,528 Rushing Yards, 9 Rushing TD’s
5.) 898/1496, 60.03% Accuracy, 10,250 Passing Yards, 6.85 YPA, 58 TD’s, 40 INT’s, 19 Fumbles, 188 Rushing Yards, 4 Rushing TD’s
6.) 698/1119, 62.38% Accuracy, 8,019 Passing Yards, 7.17 YPA, 56 TD’s, 36 INT’s, 23 Fumbles, 454 Rushing Yards, 1 Rushing TD
7.) 863/1395, 61.86% Accuracy, 9,922 Passing Yards, 7.11 YPA, 68 TD’s, 45 INT’s, 9 Fumbles, 389 Rushing Yards, 8 Rushing TD’s
Those quarterbacks, in order, are Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, Cam Newton, Russell Wilson, Joe Flacco, Jay Cutler, and Andy Dalton.
Most of those guys are considered franchise quarterbacks, and/or they’ve received contracts that warrant this. Ryan Tannehill throws a lot compared to other quarterbacks, but he isn’t getting the same productivity as his peers. It’s worth noting that Joe Flacco is the only other QB with less than 7 YPA and is the only person on this list who threw more than Tannehill has. Compared to other established quarterbacks, Ryan Tannehill is being asked to throw quite frequently, and while it’s hard to say his production is elite, he doesn’t fall too far behind his competition either.
I think the biggest point in Tannehill’s favor is that he hasn’t been a full time quarterback since 2011. Most of his time at Texas A&M was spent at receiver, and while he practiced and competed for QB jobs, he didn’t get regular season snaps until the back half of 2010. Compared to others, he’s still a project and may take longer to get up to full speed.
In a market where Carson Palmer can ink a contract for 16.67 million annually, Alex Smith is worth 17 million annually, and Andy Dalton is worth 16 million annually, I would definitely offer a contract to Tannehill in the same range, since even though he’s not a great QB, I think he still has enough room to improve and as it stands, he isn’t bad. I’d start negotiations with his agents at 5 Years, 75 Million with 2 years guaranteed with no signing bonus, and be willing to go up to 6 years, 96 million, with the same two years guaranteed in base salary. This would put him a little bit ahead of Andy Dalton’s contract (Which was 6/96 but with only 17 million guaranteed), and it’s unlikely that the Dolphins will ditch Tannehill after one season, making the guarantee nearly moot.
The Football Clod 