How a washed-up quarterback in Miami became a shining star in Nashville
Former Aggie Ryan Tannehill reinvents himself with the Titans
Dec 5, 2019, 6:55 am
Former Texas A & M Quarterback Ryan Tannehill is having a miraculous season for the Tennessee Titans through his first six starts. He has rejuvenated his career and saved the Titans playoff chances after they got off to a sluggish 2-4 start.
After being traded from the Dolphins to the Titans during the 2019 offseason, Tannehill didn't know where his career would go from there. His tenure in Miami was arguably a failure due to constant injuries, and underperforming at pivotal times of the season. Tennessee got him on a one-year deal to be an insurance policy for the also injury-prone Marcus Mariota. For the first six weeks of the season, the Titans were inconsistent finishing with a record of 2-4 which included an embarrassing a 16-0 loss to the at the time last-place Denver Broncos.
Titans' Head Coach Mike Vrabel knew that a change at to be made to turn their season around. Enter Tannehill. The former No. 8 overall pick was named the team's starter in Week 7 and lead them to a 23-20 victory over the Chargers. Since then, Tannehill and the Titans have gone 5-1 and he lead a comeback victory over the heavily favored Kansas City Chiefs.
As it currently stands, the Titans are now two games above .500 with a 7-5 record and only one game behind the Texans in the AFC South standings. The former Aggie is on pace to post single-season career-highs in a multitude of statistics including passer rating and completion percentage.
But how did an expendable backup quarterback become such a hot commodity in the NFL? Mike Vrabel's coaching system has a lot to do with it, but I think he went into a perfect QB situation as well.
At the start of the 2019 season, the Titans knew that Marcus Mariota was going to be their number one quarterback. He was a good not great quarterback in three of his first four years in Tennessee. His best year came when he led the Titans to the playoffs in 2018 where he defeated the Chiefs in the Wild-Card Round but ultimately lost to the Patriots in the Divisional Round.
Mariota was at his finest when he was a pocket passer. As defenses started to figure him out he resorted to what he did best, scrambling. Although that may have worked at Oregon, the NFL is a totally different animal, and you can't always rely on your legs to get you out of trouble as you could in college. Mariota started to regress under Vrabel's first year as the Titan's head coach, which ultimately lead to the Titans finishing with a 9-7 record missing the playoffs on the last game of the season. That and he couldn't stay healthy which forced Blaine Gabbert into the starting quarterback position at the end of the 2018 season.
So enter the 2019 season. The Titans are starting to have questions about Mariota's durability, and what is their answer? An equally injury-riddled Ryan Tannehill. An odd strategy at first glance to have two weekly questionable quarterbacks under center, but the Titans thought process must have been one of these quarterbacks has to be healthy every week of the regular season.
It is a similar situation to that of Case Keenum in Minnesota. Both Sam Bradford and Teddy Bridgewater were coming off injury plagued seasons, and Keenum ending up starting for the remainder of the year and lead the Vikings to the NFC Championship.
Mariota started the year with an impressive victory over the Browns in Week 1, but since then his numbers regressed and he was untimely benched in favor of Tannehill in their loss to the Broncos. The next week Tannehill was announced as the starter to try and mix things up and ended up working in favor with the Titans. Vrabel's call to change starters after Week 6 has not only saved the Titans season but also showcased that Tannehill is still a starting-caliber quarterback in the NFL. He changed for the better when he became the new QB for the Titans and reinvigorated his career thanks to Vrabel.
Vrabel knows how to use Tannehill better than any of his coaches did in Miami. With the exception of Adam Gase's first year as the Dolphins coach, Tannehill has never had a good head coach. Joe Philbin was never a confident coach, and Dave Campbell's short tenure was mediocre at best. Now Tannehill is playing with a confident coach who knows how to utilize him perfectly.
His offense is heavily predicated on the run game with Derek Henry being the focal point. Essentially, Tannehill just has to be a game manager to succeed. He is not only managing, he is also thriving under Vrabel's system. He is leading comebacks against big teams like the Chiefs, and as previously mentioned, and earning career-high in passing stats across the board. He is becoming the dual-threat quarterback he was always meant to be when he was drafted out of Texas A&M.
The biggest change between Tannehill's time in Miami and his time in Tennessee is that he is more willing to make throws outside to his receivers instead of quick slants to his tight ends. This subtle change is forcing defenses to stretch their coverages, and he has given defensive coordinators pause for concern when he throws his above-average deep ball.
So where does this leave Tannehill next year? He is a free agent after this season and could be one of if not the most sought after quarterbacks this offseason. Early reports indicate that he could make as much as $27 million if the Titans franchise tag him. Other reports suggest he could test the free-agent market and get a Nick Foles level contract with a team needing a new quarterback such as the Chargers, Bengals and Bears. Oh my. That is an absurd about of money considering where he started this season.
Tannehill went from being a washed-up quarterback in Miami to a shining star in Nashville, with an even brighter and greener future this offseason.
How latest reports abruptly shift Houston Astros rotation x-factors
Mar 18, 2024, 7:23 pm
Bruce Bochy doesn’t ever want the Texas Rangers to let go of those memories of their first World Series title.
“We just don’t want to lean on them,” said Bochy, whose first season with the Rangers ended with the first World Series championship for the 63-year-old franchise, and his fourth as a big league manager.
While Texas has the opportunity to be the first team in a quarter-century to win back-to-back world championships — the New York Yankees were the last, with three in a row from 1998-2000 — the Rangers aren’t even defending champs in their own division.
And they aren’t favored to win the AL West this season.
Houston is again the odds-on favorite in the division it has won each of the last six full MLB seasons since the Rangers finished on top in 2016. The Astros won their regular season finale last Oct. 1, matched Texas at 90-72 and won the AL West since they were 9-4 head-to-head.
The Astros have made the AL Championship Series the past seven seasons, even when not division champs in the 2020 season shortened to 60 games because of the pandemic. They made four trips to the Fall Classic and won two titles in that span.
Dusty Baker retired days after Houston lost ALCS Game 7 at home to the Rangers last fall, finishing with 2,183 wins over 26 seasons as a big league manager with five teams.
New Astros manager Joe Espada, their bench coach for six seasons, is certainly familiar with a lineup that has big hitters Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker, and a loaded starting rotation.
Espada isn't the division's only new manager. Ron Washington, who took the Rangers to their previous World Series in 2010 and 2011, was hired by the Angels, who still have Mike Trout but not two-way star Shohei Ohtani, now with the other team in Los Angeles.
Seattle again revamped its roster without big spending in free agency and hopes for a quicker return to the playoffs. The Mariners missed by one game last season, a year after its first postseason appearance since 2001.
And just like last year, the Athletics go into another season not knowing if it will be their last in Oakland.
HOW THEY PROJECT1. Houston Astros. Three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander, reacquired in a deadline trade last July, will start this season on the injured list. But the 41-year-old’s IL stint is expected to be a short one. The Astros still have lefty Framber Valdez (12-11, 2.45 ERA, 200 strikeouts and a no-hitter) and right-hander Cristian Javier. Eight-time All-Star second baseman Altuve signed a new $125 million, five-year contract that goes through 2029. But two-time All-Star third baseman Bregman, the only other position player to make all seven ALCS trips, is at the end of a $100 million deal.
2. Texas Rangers. After going from six losing seasons in a row to a World Series title, the Rangers should be playoff contenders again. They return ALCS MVP Adolis García and most of the lineup that hit 233 homers and scored an AL-high 5.4 runs per game. But World Series MVP and AL MVP runner-up shortstop Corey Seager (sports hernia), Gold Glove first baseman Nathaniel Lowe (oblique strain) and All-Star third baseman Josh Jung (calf) missed significant time in the spring. All-Star right-hander Nathan Eovaldi tops a rotation still missing injured multiple Cy Young Award winners Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom.
3. Seattle Mariners. The front office put together a roster that might be better than last year, but everybody has to stay healthy. Seattle should be better offensively with the additions of Mitch Garver, Mitch Haniger, Jorge Polanco and Luke Raley to go with young superstar Julio Rodriguez. If J.P. Crawford can replicate last season at the plate and Ty France returns to his 2021-22 form, the lineup will be deeper. Couple a better offense with one of the best rotations in baseball led by Luis Castillo, George Kirby and Logan Gilbert, the Mariners should once again contend in the division.
4. Los Angeles Angels. They feel like they’re starting over yet again and still haven't been to the playoffs since 2014. Ohtani left after six seasons for a record $700 million with the perennially contending Dodgers. The Halos added almost nothing in free agency, only revamping their bullpen again and taking low-cost flyers on Aaron Hicks and Miguel Sano. Trout and Anthony Rendon are back, and an open DH spot will allow them to rest their injury-prone bodies more regularly. Their rotation is last year’s group minus Ohtani. The 71-year-old Washington brings a unique blend of expertise and enthusiasm, which should benefit an exciting crop of young talent ready to break through in the majors.
5. Oakland Athletics. This could be the final season playing at the Coliseum with a lease set to expire. So the A's are still trying to figure out where they will play beyond this year with a new ballpark and move to Las Vegas scheduled for 2028. Manager Mark Kotsay has been committed to keeping his team focused on what it can do to be better on the field after two years with a combined 214 losses (112 last season). The A’s acquired Ross Stripling from the San Francisco Giants and added Alex Wood to the rotation.
OLD SKIPPERSWhen the 74-year-old Baker retired, Bochy became the oldest manager in the majors. That lasted only a few weeks until the Angels hired Washington. Bochy will turn 69 on April 16, just 13 days before Washington turns 72. Bochy, with 2,093 wins going into his 27th season, is one of six managers with four World Series titles, his first three coming in San Francisco (2010, 2012 and 2014). Washington won a franchise-record 664 games in eight seasons with Texas from 2007-14. He was on Atlanta's staff the past seven years, and part of the Braves' 2021 World Series title.
RELIEF HELPSeveral new relievers are in the AL West, including hard-throwing lefty Josh Hader with the Astros, veteran right-hander David Robertson and former All-Star closer Kirby Yates in Texas, Gregory Santos and Ryne Stanek in Seattle and Robert Stephenson with the Angels.
Hader's $95 million, five-year deal was the biggest after becoming a first-time free agent. The 29-year-old, once in the Astros' minor league system, turned down a $20,325,000 qualifying offer from San Diego.