Ryan Tannehill: A Coach's Breakdown of QB's Game Ahead of 2012 NFL Draft

It is clear that the Cleveland Browns have decided that Colt McCoy has not established himself as the QB of the future, let alone a franchise QB.  And any trade up by the Browns to get Robert Griffin III will be very costly in terms of draft picks.  So the next question to be answered is what the alternatives are to a trade?

Clearly Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill is one QB the Browns will be considering to challenge Colt McCoy for the starting spot.  While Griffin has played QB all of his life, Tannehill was a WR for his first two-and-a-half years at Texas A&M.  He has only 20 starts at QB.  He has climbed his way to the third QB on most draft charts behind Andrew Luck and Griffin.

Awareness

Despite very little experience, Tannehill has very good awareness and recognition.  He can change plays based on pre-snap reads but did not do it until late in the season.  He has already learned to throw his receivers open.  He does a good job of coverage recognition in most cases.  But when he is pressured, he is not as aware.

He finds the open guy and throws the WR open.  He will put the ball to the side away from the defender.  He does anticipate the WR getting open and often throws before the last cut.  This is something that his experience at WR has helped him do at QB.

He reads defenses pretty well but can get fooled at times when he sees a pre-snap zone indicator that hides man coverage.  His worst throws and interceptions often come when he is fooled by the pre-snap read.  But again, this is due to his lack of experience.  He learns from his mistakes.

Tannehill struggles against a heavy rush.  He loses his mechanics and does not have a strong enough arm to throw across his body.  The teams that pressed him the most were Oklahoma and Arkansas.  In both cases he did not have great games and gave up interceptions in each.  He is fairly accurate on the run but does not keep his eyes downfield as much as coaches would like.  On planned rollouts he can be accurate to his primary receiver but does not find a second target easily.

Passing Mechanics

He has taken about 40 percent of his snaps under center.  He has experience at three, five and seven step drops.  The Texas A&M offense uses a lot of West Coast offense passing routes, so the WCO will not be a big challenge.  He shows good touch on his short passes.  He is also fairly accurate on long passes and very accurate with his medium throws.

He throws overhand with good velocity, but you can see the difference between the speed of the ball from him and from Griffin.  He has a decent but not above-average arm.  While his arm is better than Colt McCoy’s, it is not nearly as strong as Griffin or Luck. 

His upper-body mechanics are pretty sound.  He squares his shoulders to throw, which helps his accuracy.  He seems to need to think about his footwork.  Given his limited experience, that is not surprising.  It is also something that will become automatic as he continues to develop.

Running

Tannehill does not run as much as most college QBs.  When he does run, he has good vision and is quicker than fast.  He is not a one-read-and-run QB.  He will stand in the pocket and look for targets downfield. 

He does have good ball skills and carries out fakes well.  He uses his blockers well and plans his move ahead running the ball.  He is athletic but is not as shifty as Griffin.  He anticipates angles of tacklers well and avoids contact when possible.

Mental Aspects of His Game

This young man is smart and coachable.  He was a potential top WR until the team needed him to move to QB.  He did so with great focus and intensity.  He is a tough kid physically and mentally.  He has had issues with his offensive line but has hung in and done his best.  He took a lot of hits but was durable.

Bottom Line

Tannehill is a good college QB now.  Given his lack of college experience, he has both a big upside and a significant chance to be a bust.  Early in the 2011 season he was considered a middle second-round pick.  Because of the need for QB prospects and his performance, he has risen to the middle of the first round. 

I am not a big believer in most QBs who have only a year of experience starting.  But in this case I do like Tannehill’s potential.  The Browns will have to trade up from No. 22 or down from the fourth overall pick to get him at a good value.  I like him better than either Jake Locker who was taken with the eighth pick or Christian Ponder who was taken with the 12th pick in the 2011 draft.

I do not expect to see the Browns draft a QB other than Griffin in the first round.  If they pass on him, I expect to see them take a QB in the third or fourth round.

That is what I think.  Tell us what you think.

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Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He edits http://fryingpansports.com.