Buffalo Bills and Ryan Tannehill Not a Bad Fit

[YardRat]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1069864-2012-nfl-draft-buffalo-bills-and-ryan-tannehill-not-a-bad-fit-with-10th-pick
The Buffalo Bills (http://bleacherreport.com/buffalo-bills) need a host of things, including a pass-rusher, wide receiver and offensive tackle, but drafting Ryan Tannehill with the 10th overall pick in the upcoming 2012 NFL draft isn't a bad idea.

The former Texas A&M standout would be much more talked-about if not for the insane talent of Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III. Tannehill is a premier player at the position in this draft class, and he possesses many attributes that make him a potential franchise quarterback in Buffalo.

Buffalo head coach Chan Gailey likes to run his offense through a mobile quarterback, like he had in past years with Kordell Stewart or, to a lesser degree, Tyler Thigpen.

Tannehill is a top-notch athlete, having been a wide receiver for his first couple of years at Texas A&M.

Among his many elite characteristics, Tannehill has superior footwork in the pocket, and he can dodge pass-rushers and move in and out of the tackle box with ease. He's not a rushing quarterback, but he will extend the play at the next level and allow his receivers to make plays. Though his experience at the quarterback position is under constant scrutiny, he makes solid decisions in the pocket, and he is able to make throws off-balance.

[BillsWin]

Pass rush first. Passer later.

[THATHURMANATOR]

NOT ANOTHER PROJECT QB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PASS RUSHER DAMMIT!!!

[CleveSteve]

What I don't get about Tannehill is that if he was such a great QB then why did he lose the QB competition on his own team and have to play WR for 2 years?

[YardRat]

I'll flip if they go QB at #10.

[ddaryl]

not interested in a 1st rd QB either unless its Andrew Luck

[better days]

not interested in a 1st rd QB either unless its Andrew Luck

Agreed. If they take a QB later as a project fine, but NOT in the 1st rnd.

[TigerJ]

What I don't get about Tannehill is that if he was such a great QB then why did he lose the QB competition on his own team and have to play WR for 2 years?

Perhaps he had the misfortune of entering college as a lowly freshman. I don't know his story. Was he a QB coming out of high school? It's not unheard of for a player to switch positions because of team needs, and turn out to be better at the new position.

Personally, I'm not advocating that the Bills take Tannehill, and I don't expect it to happen. On the other hand, I wouldn't mind it at all, if Nix is convinced that he can be the franchise QB he's looking for.

[The Jokeman]

In Round 2 he'd be intriguing but don't want to see a 1st Round pick riding the bench when this team needs some serious talent upgrades elsewhere.

[T-Long]

QB at #10 won't happen.

[tampabay25690]

QB at #10 won't happen.

If RG3 is there at #10 he would be a Buffalo Bill but I dont see him there 1 sec.

[PTI]

He is better than Fitzpatrick right now.

[DraftBoy]

at 41 I love the fit...at 10 I don't.

[better days]

Mike Sherman is talking up Tannehill so I would not be surprised to see the Fins draft him.

[THATHURMANATOR]

at 41 I love the fit...at 10 I don't.
Questions for you.

Do you feel could be an upgrade over Fitz?

Do you feel he could be a franchise QB?

If the answer to the second question is yes then who cares where they pick him. JUST DO IT.

:thurm2:

[DraftBoy]

Questions for you.

Do you feel could be an upgrade over Fitz?

Do you feel he could be a franchise QB?

If the answer to the second question is yes then who cares where they pick him. JUST DO IT.

:thurm2:

Yes and Yes.

However he's still raw, he does not need to start Day 1.

Because value is important.

[THATHURMANATOR]

Yes and Yes.

However he's still raw, he does not need to start Day 1.

Because value is important.
This doesn't make any sense to me.

If you think he has what it takes to be a Franchise QB and you know for a fact he will be gone in the first round, taking him at 10 is a no brainer.

Nothing is more valuable than a franchise QB and with Fitz he wouldn't need to start for at least a year.

:thurm2:

[DraftBoy]

This doesn't make any sense to me.

If you think he has what it takes to be a Franchise QB and you know for a fact he will be gone in the first round, taking him at 10 is a no brainer.

Nothing is more valuable than a franchise QB and with Fitz he wouldn't need to start for at least a year.

:thurm2:

Nothing is also guaranteed.

If you could get Coples at 10 and Tannehill at 41 or Tannehill at 10 and Mercilus at 41 what would you prefer?

Value matters, taking Tannehill at 10 is a massive risk and is over drafting. Busts only become bigger when you do that. Because not only did you pick suck, but you reached over 10-20 better players who developed to make that pick.

The Bills have been burned by this in the past when they reached for Troup because they had to have a NT prospect for their 34 defense. When Troup busted as a 34 NT that pick stung twice as hard.

[THATHURMANATOR]

Nothing is also guaranteed.

If you could get Coples at 10 and Tannehill at 41 or Tannehill at 10 and Mercilus at 41 what would you prefer?

Value matters, taking Tannehill at 10 is a massive risk and is over drafting. Busts only become bigger when you do that. Because not only did you pick suck, but you reached over 10-20 better players who developed to make that pick.

The Bills have been burned by this in the past when they reached for Troup because they had to have a NT prospect for their 34 defense. When Troup busted as a 34 NT that pick stung twice as hard.
Hey I hear what you are saying.

ALTHOUGH why bring up Tannehill at 41? There is 0 chance he will be there at 41 so no reason to discuss. Of course I would rather have he and Coples.

[mrbojanglezs]

Nothing is also guaranteed.

If you could get Coples at 10 and Tannehill at 41 or Tannehill at 10 and Mercilus at 41 what would you prefer?

Value matters, taking Tannehill at 10 is a massive risk and is over drafting. Busts only become bigger when you do that. Because not only did you pick suck, but you reached over 10-20 better players who developed to make that pick.

The Bills have been burned by this in the past when they reached for Troup because they had to have a NT prospect for their 34 defense. When Troup busted as a 34 NT that pick stung twice as hard.

Nothing is guaranteed....pass rushers miss just as often as qbs....if the bills think that there is a 50/50% chance or better that Tannehill becomes a franchise qb (top 12 in the league) then they pull the trigger. I don't want to hear about value because if he becomes a franchise qb thats the best value pick you can have.

[better days]

Nothing is guaranteed....pass rushers miss just as often as qbs....if the bills think that there is a 50/50% chance or better that Tannehill becomes a franchise qb (top 12 in the league) then they pull the trigger. I don't want to hear about value because if he becomes a franchise qb thats the best value pick you can have.

I disagree with this. QBs bust more than any other position relative to the pick they were taken at because they are so often overdrafted.

[DraftBoy]

Hey I hear what you are saying.

ALTHOUGH why bring up Tannehill at 41? There is 0 chance he will be there at 41 so no reason to discuss. Of course I would rather have he and Coples.

There is more than a zero chance he will be there at 41.

You are aware he just had foot surgery? He still needs to clear medicals.

[DraftBoy]

Nothing is guaranteed....pass rushers miss just as often as qbs....if the bills think that there is a 50/50% chance or better that Tannehill becomes a franchise qb (top 12 in the league) then they pull the trigger. I don't want to hear about value because if he becomes a franchise qb thats the best value pick you can have.

And this is how you end up picking top 10 consecutively. Thinking a guy will make it is not the only part of the equation. You still have to be smart and maximize your value.

[THATHURMANATOR]

There is more than a zero chance he will be there at 41.

You are aware he just had foot surgery? He still needs to clear medicals.
From what I have read it isn't even sure he will be there at 10.

Ok if the foot is a major problem I don't want him at all.

:thurm2:

[DraftBoy]

From what I have read it isn't even sure he will be there at 10.

Ok if the foot is a major problem I don't want him at all.

:thurm2:

He fractured his fifth metatarcel (and don't ask me exactly what that is) it required surgery. He'll be in Indy this week to go through medical exams but won't work out till the 29th.

A lot of the hub-bub about Tannehill's stock is fan generated, nobody is talking top ten about him until his foot checks out and people can see him run and throw.

[THATHURMANATOR]

I also understand what you are saying DB.

Question for you.

How do you rate him in comparison to QBs in the past few years of drafts?

[mrbojanglezs]

And this is how you end up picking top 10 consecutively. Thinking a guy will make it is not the only part of the equation. You still have to be smart and maximize your value.

The bottom line is if the Bills scouts truly believe this guy can be a franchise qb you take him. No ifs ands or buts. If they think its less than a 50% chance then you don't. Franchise qb means more than any other position. If you keep waiting to draft a qb in the year you need one your just going to hurt yourself even more in the long run unless your extremely lucky, which the Bills have proven they are not.

I still think its about value.... 40-50%chance x franchise qb > say 60-70% chance Good to very good pass rusher IMO, others who are more risk averse would feel differently

[THATHURMANATOR]

He fractured his fifth metatarcel (and don't ask me exactly what that is) it required surgery. He'll be in Indy this week to go through medical exams but won't work out till the 29th.

A lot of the hub-bub about Tannehill's stock is fan generated, nobody is talking top ten about him until his foot checks out and people can see him run and throw.
BUT

Assuming his foot does check out what are people in the know saying?

:thurm2:

[DraftBoy]

I also understand what you are saying DB.

Question for you.

How do you rate him in comparison to QBs in the past few years of drafts?

Jake Lockerish

Raw throwing, good size, nice motion, athletic.

Will need to spend a year on the bench like Locker did for most of last year. Locker went 10th overall last year, though I graded him as a 2nd Rounder. He's a boom and bust prospect, he's either going to be really good or not very good.

The difference for me is that I've seen Tannehill place the ball v. tight coverage (v. LSU and Patrick Peterson 2010 Bowl Game) whereas Locker never showed that to me.

[DraftBoy]

BUT

Assuming his foot does check out what are people in the know saying?

:thurm2:

That he's the #3 QB in this class and could go in Round 1 due to over drafting. I still think top 10 is a stretch even if he's healthy.

[DraftBoy]

The bottom line is if the Bills scouts truly believe this guy can be a franchise qb you take him. No ifs ands or buts. If they think its less than a 50% chance then you don't. Franchise qb means more than any other position. If you keep waiting to draft a qb in the year you need one your just going to hurt yourself even more in the long run unless your extremely lucky, which the Bills have proven they are not.

I still think its about value.... 40-50%chance x franchise qb > say 60-70% chance Good to very good pass rusher IMO, others who are more risk averse would feel differently

No the bottom line is you want to hit on the majority of your picks regardless of position.

[don137]

I don't think Nix would want to take a risk with a first round pick. He wants sure things. 2nd round more realistic

[BidsJr]

Tannehill>Locker and it is not even very close.

[THATHURMANATOR]

Tannehill>Locker and it is not even very close.
I would certainly say in the games I watched Tannehill he has a very quick release, is accurate, and certainly had a strong arm, not to mention his great athleticism.

DB would you agree with the above?

:thurm2:

[BidsJr]

I would certainly say in the games I watched Tannehill he has a very quick release, is accurate, and certainly had a strong arm, not to mention his great athleticism.

DB would you agree with the above?

:thurm2:

I would agree with all of it. He is exactly the kind of QB Chan could do wonders with.

[TedMock]

I like Tannehill, but I still see him as a 2nd rounder who will get drafted early because of desperation. He needs time. I would consider him if he's around in 2, but absolutely not in round 1.

[YardRat]

Mike Sherman is talking up Tannehill so I would not be surprised to see the Fins draft him.

I would love to see them take him just ahead of us.

[YardRat]

He fractured his fifth metatarcel (and don't ask me exactly what that is) it required surgery. He'll be in Indy this week to go through medical exams but won't work out till the 29th.

A lot of the hub-bub about Tannehill's stock is fan generated, nobody is talking top ten about him until his foot checks out and people can see him run and throw.

http://media.summitmedicalgroup.com/media/db/relayhealth-images/meta5tar.jpg

[CleveSteve]

Tannehill is getting talked about for two reasons IMO:

1) [Media] Everyone likes to talk about QBs. They can only say "Andrew Luck is going #1 overall" so many ties. Now they've decided that some team will trade up to #2 to take Griffin. They need to talk about QBs more, and who's the next guy? Tannehill. Not because he's good, but because he's the next guy. If Barkley is in this draft, you don't hear a peep about Tannehill until at least #22, and that is only in far-fetched scenarios to make peoples mock drafts easier.
2) [Sherman] Of course Sherman is going to talk up Tannehill, the guy who he coached for two years running the system he plans to install in Miami. If he doesn't it will look bad on him as a coach, as someone who looks out for his players, and in the offensive system Miami is trying to sell to the Dolphins fans. Also, Miami wants the rest of the NFL to think they're going to pick 30 different guys at #8/#9, and wants them to think they're going with any one of five or six different QBs. It's just strategy. If their HC was allowed to talk about Matt Flynn, I'm sure he'd be talking about "how well he knows the system" and how "after only two starts he holds the single game passing yardage and TD record for the team that had Bart Starr, Bret Favre, and Aaron Rodgers."

But the truth of the matter is that Tannehill is just a QB who played on a team who has failed to live up to expectations the past two years despite having allegedly good recruiting, excellent defensive players (relatively speaking of course... still a Big XII team,) a premium coach, and a "pro-style offense." He has sub-par accuracy on mid to deep passes, he reacts poorly to pressure making bad decisions, and his best assets are good footwork, a strong arm, and good mobility. Draftniks like to call those traits "a good fit for the WCO*." I mean, this is the same guy who as recently as the 2009 season lost a QB competition to Jerrod Johnson. He's not exactly lighting it up in the NFL. And now Tannehill is somehow a top 10 candidate? Why? Because he took snaps from under center? Give me a break.

Earlier someone posted about "Well, if he's a top-12 QB in the league, you take him." What do you think the chances of that are? He's clearly no better than the third-best QB in this draft IMO, so there can't be 10 QBs in the NFL better than him for him to be a good pick in the first round? Might as well put that to bed now... what are the chances that 1/4 of the top QBs in the NFL come from this draft? Pretty small. I think he's the most overhyped prospect in this draft, although reading some posts here, Coples might be moreso.

*- By the way, the idea that the WCO can hide a QBs medium to deep range deficiencies seems to be a recent fallacy which has cropped up the past few seasons. The WCO is predicated on short timing passes off of three and five step drops, but they're used to set up the deep pass and the running game. If you have no deep threat, all that short stuff is going to do is shrink the defense and result in picks and batted balls.

[Night Train]

If he's there in Round 2, consider him if you already did something significant in FA and Round 1 with DE & OLB.

I do like him a lot and he's got nothing but upside. Outstanding WR converted to QB halfway thru his career at Texas A&M with a big arm and good football sense. This past season really clicked and he's got so much to work with. Athletic and reportedly very bright. Could sit and learn for a year.

[CleveSteve]

I totally disagree that he "really clicked" this season. He was 7th in his conference in completion percentage at 61.6%... and that was with all the screens and dumps he threw. He was sixth in Big XII QB rating among qualified players.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/conferences/statistics/player/_/stat/passing/sort/collegeQuarterbackRating/year/2011/id/4/big-12-conference

They were preseason #8 or #9 depending on which poll you use and they finished 7-6 thanks to a bowl victory over Northwestern. He had one good game against an absolutely terrible Baylor defense.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/rankings/_/week/1

To me, he's a lot of hype drummed up by the media due to lack of a QB talent gradient in this draft. The drop off after the first two guys is so steep.

[Night Train]

I totally disagree that he "really clicked" this season. He was 7th in his conference in completion percentage at 61.6%... and that was with all the screens and dumps he threw. He was sixth in Big XII QB rating among qualified players.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/conferences/statistics/player/_/stat/passing/sort/collegeQuarterbackRating/year/2011/id/4/big-12-conference

They were preseason #8 or #9 depending on which poll you use and they finished 7-6 thanks to a bowl victory over Northwestern. He had one good game against an absolutely terrible Baylor defense.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/rankings/_/week/1

To me, he's a lot of hype drummed up by the media due to lack of a QB talent gradient in this draft. The drop off after the first two guys is so steep.

The 4 games I watched were impressive. He could zip the slant ( a favorite Gailey call ) and dropped a couple of picture perfect bombs right into the hands of his receivers. Upside to work with going forward. Sensed pressure and rolled out to complete passes. Poise.
He's a 2nd round talent that someone will probably reach for, like several QB's drafted way too early last season. Happens every year with QB being such a need for many teams.

[CleveSteve]

He could zip the slant ( a favorite Gailey call )

Yeah, I agree that this is his best pass. Also agree on the valuation compared to where he'll be drafted. I just really hope it's not my team reaching for him.

[trapezeus]

if this team isn't turning over every stone in their path to find multiple pass rushers for this defense, they truly are dumber than we think.

a #10 QB pick on a non-guaranteed stud will confirm that they are just trying to anger us so they can move this team.

after letting maybin go, why would you go out there and potentially put your self in a position to have the offensive maybin?

[Night Train]

if this team isn't turning over every stone in their path to find multiple pass rushers for this defense, they truly are dumber than we think.

a #10 QB pick on a non-guaranteed stud will confirm that they are just trying to anger us so they can move this team.

after letting maybin go, why would you go out there and potentially put your self in a position to have the offensive maybin?

The complete list of 1st round QB's
1. Luck
2. RG3