Ryan Tannehill: Hype for Texas A&M QB Spinning out of Control

Not too long ago, Ryan Tannehill was generally viewed as a borderline first-round draft pick. The experts agreed that he had high upside, but they also agreed that he needed a lot of work.

Nowadays, Tannehill is a virtual lock for the top 10, and some experts are praising him as if he's practically on the same level as Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III.

The Tannehill hype boiled over on Thursday when ESPN's Todd McShay made a very, very bold statement while lending his expertise to Colin Cowherd's radio show:

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ESPN's Todd McShay in the HERD:Ryan Tannehill has a higher upside than Matt Barkley.Barkley better now, but Ryan has higher ceiling.

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) April 12, 2012"

Interesting, Mr. McShay. Very interesting.

But with all due respect, I don't believe you. You're making too much of a reach with this opinion.

Thankfully, I'm not alone here. A lot of people have chosen to be the voice of reason in the wake of McShay's proclamation, including B/R's own NFL draft expert, Matt Miller:

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I'm not the world's biggest Matt Barkley fan, but anyone saying Ryan Tannehill has better tools is clearly driving the hype train.

— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) April 12, 2012"

Miller isn't the only one trying to slow down the Tannehill hype train. Former Baltimore Ravens head coach Brian Billick made it known on "Mike and Mike in the Morning" on Thursday that Tannehill reminds him of (gasp!) JaMarcus Russell.

Via CBSSports.com:

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This has a classic miss on it. And it has nothing to do with Ryan Tannehill. He is an intriguing prospect. He has great potential. He reminds me -- and I don't mean to put this in a negative connotation -- a little of JaMarcus Russell, in terms of obviously [he has] tremendous physical skills and could blossom into something. But in terms of the amount of time he's played and the numbers are very similar. The way he's rushed up the charts concerns me a great deal. Need is a terrible evaluator.

"

Yeah, he went there.

However, nobody should be too quick to misinterpret the point Billick was trying to make. He wasn't saying that Tannehill and Russell are similar players. He was making a point about how Tannehill has become such a prominent figure in the 2012 draft.

It all goes back to my original point. A couple months ago, Tannehill was nothing special. The fact that he's something special now has a lot to do with how Tannehill looked at Texas A&M's pro day in late March.

Gil Brandt of NFL.com sung Tannehill's praises, saying he had an "outstanding workout." NFL Network's Mike Mayock said pretty much the same thing, saying (via Doug Farrar of Yahoo! Sports) that it was "franchise-type workout."

Exciting stuff. At least it would be. You know, if we weren't talking about a pro day.

Overreaction to good pro days is common, and Russell is a perfect example. Mayock said in March of 2010 (via Pro Football Talk) that Russell's pro day performance was the best he'd ever seen. Look how that worked out.

But the damage has been done as far as Tannehill's pro day is concerned. The experts have used it as an excuse to go back and look at the tape, and they're apparently seeing an immensely talented quarterback that they didn't see before.

Or they're seeing an immensely talented quarterback because that's what they want to see.

If you're looking for a more reasoned evaluation of Tannehill's tape, I recommend checking out the Dave Hyde's latest breakdown for the Orlando Sentinel. It's remarkably detailed, and it offers equal parts praise and criticism of Tannehill's game.

Hyde's conclusion is this:

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After looking at everything, I do like Tannehill as a prospect. Do I think he is worthy of a Top 10 selection come April? Probably not. I see him as having greater value in the 15-20 range. 

"

This sounds perfectly fair for me. Hyde basically thinks Tannehill should go where project QBs should go, and that's not in the top 10.

Tannehill is probably going to be drafted in the top 10 anyway. As reported by ESPN.com, QB-needy teams like the Cleveland Browns, Miami Dolphins, Seattle Seahawks and Kansas City Chiefs have all been linked to Tannehill, and they could all try to trade up to get him.

The hype indicates that these teams should want to target Tannehill. In reality, any team that drafts Tannehill in the top 10 will be reaching.