Ryan Tannehill's Adidas Deal Proves ESPN's Draft Hype Machine Is out of Control

Ryan Tannehill should send ESPN royalty checks from his new deal with Adidas. 

All of a sudden, Tannehill is getting the star treatment reserved for elite NFL prospects. This much became crystal clear when it was announced that the former Texas A&M receiver turned QB was inked to a deal with sporting apparel giant Adidas. 

The odd thing about all of this is that Tannehill is not an elite prospect. In fact, at the end of last college football season, Tannehill wasn't even a first-round selection in most mock drafts and the average football fan would likely only have a vague recognition of his name.

That is not the kind of player that typically gets endorsement deals from huge companies. But something happened between the end of the season and this deal. ESPN began to talk him up. 

Draft expert Todd McShay has been driving the Tannehill hype machine. He loves this kid. He likes the potential, the tools and the work ethic. He thinks being drafted at No. 4 overall is a solid and wise selection of Tannehill. 

And it isn't just McShay. Tannehill has become a daily topic on ESPN. Employees of ESPN are certainly not unanimous in singing his praises, like Mel Kiper, who tells us in the above video that he thinks Tannehill is overrated. 

But what they are doing unanimously is raising Tannehill's star power. He is now destined to be the name most closely followed as the draft begins. 

Will he be a Jake Locker type of selection and sneak into the top 10, or will he be more of a Brady Quinn and slip down the draft board? 

Adidas didn't care when he got drafted. They were obviously content just to know that people cared, and for that, Tannehill can thank ESPN.