2.01 Dallas Junglehawgs — QB Ryan Tannehill


In the real world: Don't call Tannehill "a converted wide receiver." He's an extreme rarity: He played QB in high school, but played his first two seasons at Texas A&M at WR (due to injuries A&M had at the position) before moving back to QB in 2010. He was widely considered the consensus #3 QB on the board (after Luck and Griffin) even after breaking his foot while training for the Senior Bowl. Why? His combination of size, arm strength, mobility and toughness has scouts thinking "upside."

But there's a risk as well, and that is inexperience.  He only started 15 games at QB for A&M, so he's not where he needs to be in terms of development. Todd McShay said in March: "I just think he has everything you look for in a future franchise quarterback if you develop him properly and you're willing to be patient."  Another stat that underscores how raw he is: Last season, against four Top 25 teams (Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Arkansas and Texas), he completed 54% of his passes with 6 TD and 10 INT.

Even though his completion percentage dropped from 65% in 2010 to 61.6% last year, ESPN's Chris Mortensen says that the main reason was that at least 70 of his passes were dropped by his receivers.

In the TUFF world: This is a great value pick at the top of Round 2, and the Junglehawgs needed it, especially because they had no first-round pick. They had three NFL starting QB's a year ago in Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jason Campbell and Colt McCoy, but Fitzpatrick had a rough second half in 2011 (allegedly due to cracked ribs), Campbell got hurt (and subsequently lost his job to Carson Palmer) and McCoy had a rough second year (he could lose his job as well).

Tannehill's got the "tools" to be an NFL QB, but it will take time to see how his job situation unfolds. The Dolphins went 6-3 in their last nine games with Matt Moore under center, and you never know, Moore vs. Tannehill could morph into Warner vs. Leinart, Part Deux. Mike Scott probably realized this possibility and acquired Moore from the Green Bay Ground Hogs not long after selecting Tannehill.

1 comment:

  1. Mike Scott gave me a little TUFF trivia: "BTW...the Tannehill pick was kind of a homer. I know his granddad. He's a retired coach from around Lubbock." It isn't the first time he drafted a QB with local connections, either; he said he coached against Colt McCoy when he was in high school.

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