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After a sensational season in 2019, Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill is getting some respect from Bleacher Report.
According to B/R’s Brad Gagnon, Tannehill lands in the top 10 of his quarterback rankings going into the 2020 season, coming in at No. 8.
Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill is proof of just how quickly a quarterback can rise on a list like this. One year ago, he was Marcus Mariota’s backup and wouldn’t have been included here, but even if he were the starter, he likely would have been in the bottom 10 as an inconsistent seven-year veteran coming off a lost season due to injury in Miami.
Now, that pre-2019 track record is the only reason Tannehill doesn’t rank closer to the top five. He led the NFL in passer rating and yards per attempt while posting a completion percentage above 70 in 12 games, 10 of which were starts, last year for Tennessee.
It helped that teammate Derrick Henry was the league’s best running back, but maybe some stellar support was what the 2012 top-10 pick needed to finally bloom. Tannehill still posted a 107.8 passer rating on deep attempts, led the AFC in intended air yards per attempt and recorded the fifth-highest DVOA among qualified quarterbacks.
Here’s a look at the seven quarterbacks ranked ahead of Tannehill.
- Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
- Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks
- Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
- Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans
- Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
- Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints
- Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings
A lot of experts are expecting regression from Tannehill in 2020 after he posted elite numbers in 2019, but clearly Gagnon isn’t one of them.
And that’s not crazy. After all, Tannehill is still in a quarterback-friendly offense that feeds off of the running game to set things up through the air, particularly through play-action, where Tannehill thrived last season.
One of the biggest differences going into 2020 is that Tannehill will have a new right tackle. Dennis Kelly figures to take the job left vacant by Jack Conklin, who wasn’t great in pass protection anyway.
Perhaps more importantly, Tannehill is now more familiar with the offense and has had time to improve chemistry with his pass-catchers, something he had to do on the fly in 2019.
On the surface, it would seem that Tannehill is setup to have yet another impressive season with the Titans — and this time he gets to play a full 16-game slate after taking over in Week 7 last year.
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