Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill has been a prospect long considered the No. 3 overall player at his position, but no one could be entirely sure until he recovered from an offseason foot injury and worked out in front of NFL scouts.
On Thursday, Tannehill got that chance. According to a wide consensus of draft analysts, Tannehill nailed his personal workout and solidified himself as the third-best quarterback available next April and a potential top-10 pick.
Gil Brandt, a former NFL personnel man for the Dallas Cowboys and longtime draft analyst, said Tannehill "put on a show":
The skill set that he showed was really, really good. He had an outstanding workout. He moves around well, he’s got accuracy and he’s got good velocity on the ball. It’s just going to be how people see him, as to where he’s going to get drafted. He has excellent ability and skills. He put on a show Thursday.
Dane Brugler of CBS Sports points to Tannehill's "official time" of 4.62 seconds in his one 40-yard dash as a testament to his athleticism. He was also highly impressed with the way Tannehill threw the football:
He started his passing session with rollouts, bootlegs and several drop-back motions that required him to maneuver inside and outside the pocket. It became evident quickly that his foot was healed. Tannehill displayed his strong arm with very good technique, using his hips and follow-through to establish top velocity on difficult passes. He showed very good ball placement, especially on the run.
NFL Network's Mike Mayock, who widely commands the respect of other NFL talent evaluators, was impressed with the wide array of throws he made on Thursday. His thoughts, via Doug Farrar of Yahoo! Sports:
Athletically, he passes all the tests. More importantly, they moved to the throwing portion. Nine spot throws, then 50 throws in the field, and nine red-zone throws. My take was, it was a high-level workout. It was a franchise-type workout. Three-step drop, five, five with a hitch, seven ... every throw an NFL quarterback has to make -- both statutory and on the move. From an accuracy perspective, here's my take after watching every throw this kid made on tape all year. All the out-breaking routes were beautiful -- the kid can make every throw outside ... but they're the easier throws to make. Single-high safety, one-on-one coverage, you can trust it and rip it.
Mayock wasn't all roses about what he has seen on tape, however, and there are still a few concerns on Tannehill:
Where he struggles on tape are on the in-breaking throws, and let's face it -- there's a lot more traffic on the inside. I never thought he trusted it, and that's where I thought he got in trouble, staring down receivers.
Given the positive response to his official workout Thursday, where should Tannehill land in next month's draft? The Miami Dolphins and Cleveland Browns have both been rumored teams that could take the raw quarterback.
If Cleveland doesn’t take him at four, I have to believe Miami does at eight. This kid has a big arm. He’s a heck of an athlete. Like Jake Locker, he’s not ready yet. He still has a lot to learn.
The top boys over at ESPN had their own thoughts on where Tannehill should go, and as you'd expect, Todd McShay and Mel Kiper couldn't agree on the ideal landing spot.
I would say the Browns, because they are a better team. They have better parts around the quarterback position. Miami, I'm not sure what the plan is when I look at the Miami organization. While they have Matt Moore and they brought in [David] Garrard, I just don't know if you want to bring in a young quarterback with everything else that’s going on in Miami.
Kiper wasn't as sold on Cleveland for Tannehill:
I can see Cleveland taking [Tannehill], but I disagree with them being the best fit. I think it's Miami. When you have [offensive coordinator] Mike Sherman there, you have familiarity, and there's some personnel. I think you're [McShay] underrating that personnel base a little bit. Granted they have to do some work in the draft, no question about that.
There is a lot of information to digest, but it's clear that Tannehill has put himself in a position to be drafted in the top 10 next April. Quarterback is obviously the one position in the NFL that every team needs to have an answer at. With teams, including the Browns and Dolphins, still looking for a long-term option at quarterback, expect Tannehill to be off the board in the first eight picks.
