Meineke Car Care Bowl 2011: Ryan Tannehill Will Improve Draft Stock in Blowout

Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill is one of the top prospects at the position heading into next April's NFL Draft. He won't do anything to hurt that status, and should actually improve it, during the Aggies' big win over Northwestern on Saturday.

Tannehill is currently battling Oklahoma signal caller Landry Jones to be the third quarterback taken after Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III. Don't be surprised if Arizona's Nick Foles eventually joins the race as well.

After playing in a limited fashion in his first two seasons, Tannehill has made major progress in his junior and senior campaigns. He stepped up to the plate when asked to throw nearly 500 passes this season and completed over 60 percent of them.

What makes him an intriguing prospect is his rare combination of size and agility. He's got NFL size at 6'4'', 222 pounds, but can still make defenders miss and is a threat to run.

Dual-threat quarterbacks are going to become the in vogue route to filling a need at the position thanks to the success of Cam Newton in his rookie season. While Tannehill isn't as far along in his development as Newton was heading into the draft, he has solid long-term potential.

Winning the Meineke Car Care Bowl would be a nice way to cap off an otherwise disappointing season for the Aggies. Outside of a home victory over Baylor, they came up short in all other chances to pick up marquee wins to build their résumé.

Most of their struggles centered on the defensive side of the ball. Texas A&M gave up more than 28 points per game, which ranked 76th in the nation, and only held two opponents below 27 since late September. That just isn't going to cut it.

It's actually worked out to Tannehill's advantage, though. The extra possessions have given him an opportunity to showcase his skills. Since Saturday's game is likely to be another shootout, he'll have one final chance to prove he's mastered the collegiate level.

The Wildcats finished 11th in the run-heavy Big Ten (figure that one out) in pass defense, which means there should be a lot of secondary space for Tannehill to exploit.

Look for him to do just that while leading the Aggies to one last triumph with him under center.