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Rob Staton
I’m writing this comment only 90 seconds into the video, but I’ve already seen enough to know that this guy has very real stock-rise potential. Here is what I see:
#1: This is a guy who was a WIDE RECEIVER his first 2+ years with the team and hadn’t played QB since high school. It’s just startling then to see a guy with that background have a decently compact/quick release with decent throwing mechanics, and a very good drop-back. AND, he showed the ability to check a 2nd read and use pump fakes effectively! I don’t know about Tannehill’s measurables, his accuracy, his field smarts. There’s a lot I don’t know about him, but what I do know is that he’s already more polished in many critical areas than most of the QBs who went in the 1st round this year, and he did this in some of his first games ever at the collegiate level playing QB.
#2: Not only is he a converted WR, but he was a highly effective former WR. He displays excellent running instincts and speed at the 1 minute mark. He has the smooth WR running style of Colin Kaepernick but with the guts and aggressiveness of Jake Locker.
#3: Tannehill is listed at 6’4″, 219 lbs. Schools lie about listings all the time, but for the sake of argument…. Height wise, he’s close to prototypical. Weight-wise, I hope that number is true, because he looks more like he’s 210ish in that video, and not many NFL QBs weigh 210 or under. I also wonder about his hand size. Something about the way he throws the ball looks funny, and my first thought was small hands.
#4: Tannehill completed 68.6% of his passes last year over 6 starts. That’s very good, but at the same time, its a small sample size, and he plays in an offense that inflates numbers a lot. So I’d say its too early to judge his accuracy, but my initial lean is towards “good.”
#5: Tannehill’s father also played for A&M back in the 80s, and ironically enough, he was a QB that switched to WR in his 3rd year.
Anyway, this is the first QB outside of the “big 3” (Luck, Barkley, Jones) that has seriously intrigued me. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on Tannehill this fall.
Okay, having finished the video now:
Tannehill displayed some poor decision making, poor pocket presence, and some “miscommunication” with his WR. Of course, you probably would expect as much from a guy making only his 5th college start ever, against one of the best defenses in college football.
Still, its an area for improvement, particularly the pocket presence. He was strip sacked on one play by a defender coming from his non-blindside, and even though his blocking didn’t give him time, any sack from the non-blindside is almost always at least partially the QB’s fault. A QB has to see the pressure coming right at him and step up in the pocket. Instead, Tannehill was totally focused downfield and didn’t even notice the oncoming pass rusher.
Its just one game, but given his lack of experience, I came away very impressed. A lot of his issues are the kind that come with inexperience too, so it should be interesting to see how he develops in 2011.
Tannehill leads his WRs very well. Peterson had Fuller locked down the whole game but Tannehill puts the ball in the one spot Peterson can not get to it. Would be a great 2nd round pick if he shows improvement over the season and that he’s not the product of the offense.
This was the only Bowl game last season I didn’t have access to (TV rights), so this is the first time I’ve had a chance to look at Tannehill. I’ll have some more thoughts on him over the weekend when I really sit down and study the tape. I doubt I’ll be able to come to a conclusion because we’re talking about a guy who’s played receiver for two years and jumped into the quarterback role on the fly. It’ll be interesting to see how he performs with a year’s preperation and training and also with teams also having tape of his 2010 games. With Jeff Fuller returning, that will help a lot.
Is Patrick Peterson overated? RT threw right at him ( mostly in zone it seemed).
My view on Peterson has been consistent throughout – his athletic potential is off the charts. If you’re looking for the complete package in terms of potential, he’s your man. Has he shut down college receivers every time he takes the field? No, but then I would never expect that from any corner. But to a certain extent, that’s why I’d hesitate drafting for the position too early. I don’t think you can draft a pure shutdown corner, you can only invest in insane potential for the position. There’s a chance Peterson plays at a very high level for most of his career, or will the stiffness show up with his size and is he going to end up playing safety? It really could go either way. Arizona ignored quarterbacks to invest in insane potential. We’ll see how that works out in due time. One of the things I loved about Janoris Jenkins was despite not having incredible physical tools, he still covered Julio Jones, Alshon Jeffery and AJ Green to their worst games in 2011. He’s clearly got a feel for the position which plays above his physical restrictions.
If I had a quarterback and was a team like Dallas who picked in the top ten, then I’d be all over Peterson. Yet those saying Carolina should’ve ignored their huge needs at QB and DL to go CB were always barking up the wrong tree and it was never likely. MANY draft pundits had Peterson #1 overall in their mocks for a long time, or at least #2.
Peterson could go either way. If he takes the positive path, he can be easily be elite. The negative path, and he’s average at best. But you can’t expect production from CB’s the same way you can from DL’s for example. Even Revis can’t cover a guy for 10-12 seconds if the pass rush is giving the QB forever to make a play. Arizona’s pass rush is weak, so is their QB situation.