2012 NFL Draft: Why Ryan Tannehill Needs to Wow Scouts at Workout

Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill has long been considered the 2012 draft's third-best signal-caller. After USC's Matt Barkley and Oklahoma's Landry Jones decided to return to college, Tannehill was solidly positioned to be selected after Stanford's Andrew Luck and Baylor's Robert Griffin III.

But, after a few weeks of sitting on the sidelines rehabbing a fractured right foot, Tannehill has fallen a bit, behind guys like Arizona State's Brock Osweiler and possibly Arizona's Nick Foles. Today it was announced that Tannehill's first and only pre-draft workout will come on March 29.

The native of Big Spring, Texas will not participate in the NFL's Scouting Combine this week, as he has been instructed by doctors to stay off of his surgically repaired foot until just before his scheduled workout. He will be on hand at the combine this week to undergo medical testing and to meet with teams, but obviously he will not be doing any drills.

At his workout on March 29, Tannehill needs to be impressive. By not being able to participate in the Senior Bowl and being saddled with an injury, the buzz around him has almost completely dissipated.

There are a lot of questions about Tannehill's ability to step on the field and play right away in the NFL. He certainly has tremendous upside, but he may not be ready to contribute for a year or two. That means he has to show scouts he can make all the throws and diagnose defenses, and at the very least, prove he can be an adequate backup immediately.

Tannehill only played one full season of quarterback at Texas A&M, but his size (6'4" and 222 pounds) and the arm strength, mobility and smarts he showed in that short amount of time turned him from an unknown into a prototypical prospect.

Now he needs to show that his foot injury was just a bump in the road and not something that will hold him back long-term.