Ryan Tannehill gets praise from Bill Belichick
Ryan Tannehill has enjoyed some moderate success as a rookie quarterback for the Miami Dolphins, and there is optimism that he can be a franchise quarterback once better pieces are assembled around him. The low completion percentage is concerning, but Tannehill has played better than the raw numbers suggest. He hasn’t exactly been good, but he’s been decent and he has shown plenty of potential. I mean, he played a terrific game yesterday against the Seattle Seahawks. In my mind, he’s been the fourth best rookie QB this season (as we saw yesterday, Russell Wilson has been a bit better).
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Bill Belichick has taken notice and has lofted praise onto Tannehill’s shoulders heading into Sunday’s rivalry game against the Miami Dolphins, “He’s obviously a very athletic player. They run a number of plays where they move the pocket with him. There are plays where they don’t move the pocket, but he of course has the skill to run and escape — different but similar to what we talked about with (Jake) Locker, going back to the Tennessee game, that kind of fast and athletic. A guy that played another position in college, I think that speaks to his athleticism. He’s shown a lot of poise throughout the whole season.”
Tannehill has plenty of athleticism, and the poise that Belichick has mentioned is the reason why many Dolphins fans love this guy. I don’t blame them, and I really wonder how things can shake out for him if the Dolphins can add another legitimate receiver to help him out. Davone Bess and Brian Hartline are solid, but there is obviously something missing in the ‘Fins passing attack.
In addition to praising his athleticism, Belichick is also impressed with Tannehill’s intelligence, “Obviously, Tannehill is a smart kid that can pick up things. You can see that because they change some of the things they’re doing game plan-wise or formation-wise. Again, he handles things at the line of scrimmage frequently during the game — checks, or audibles or adjustments in protection. You can see him doing those things. He definitely has a good command of the offense, no question about that.”
Not bad for a guy who came into the league not knowing which division certain teams played in. It also helps that his college coach in the offensive coordinator for the team, but that isn’t to take away from the job Tannehill has done. He’s done a good job of transitioning to the NFL, but there is no doubt that being in Mike Sherman’s offense at Texas A&M helped him out as well.
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