Ryan Tannehill seems ready to push himself to the QB1 conversation
I know it’s only preseason, but Ryan Tannehill is looking like one of the best young QBs in the league. He’s completed 80% of his throws for 303 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions in three games.
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“Well, it’s a good start,” said Tannehill when asked about his three games this preseason. “I think guys are getting open and making plays for me down the field and I’m making good decisions getting the ball out in the right spot. Obviously there are plays that I don’t do perfectly and I want to complete, but I feel like we’re trending in the right direction right now and we have to build on what we’ve done in this preseason.”
His ADP is steadily climbing (currently the 13th QB taken) and you should get QB1 production out of a QB who is being drafted as a QB2. Tannehill has everything in place for him to succeed. The Dolphins added new offensive talent this off-season with rookie WR DeVante Parker, WR Kenny Stills, rookie RB Jay Ajayi and TE Jordan Cameron. They are also bringing back breakout candidate WR Jarvis Landry, RB Lamar Miller and the much improved WR Rishard Matthews, who could push Stills out of the starting WR2 role for the Dolphins. Throw in a solid offensive line and a top defense with key addition Ndamukong Suh and you could be looking at a Dolphins team that has a realistic shot to challenge the Patriots for the AFC East division title.
This will be Tannehill’s second year in Bill Lazor’s offense, and he should build upon a career year in passing yards, touchdowns and rushing yards. It’s hard to believe a guy could do better than last season’s 4,045 passing yards, 28 total touchdowns and 311 yards rushing yards. This is even more so when you consider he only began playing quarterback full-time during the middle of his junior season at Texas A&M in 2010. But he has improved in almost every statistical category each year and has been steady in his fantasy production. He is one of a few fantasy QBs to score double digit points or higher EACH week of the season. Andrew Luck, Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning all had a week below 10 fantasy points.
The consistency, the yearly improvement, the team surrounding him and the big, new contract all point to Tannehill having the kind of year that can produce a fantasy championship. Don’t forget that Tannehill is a top rushing QB in the NFL. Only running QBs like Russell Wilson, Colin Kaepernick and Cam Newton were better at rushing the ball than Tannehill. Feel comfortable making Tannehill the first QB off your list when you get to the QB10 range. He won’t disappoint!
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Hilton Guidry is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Hilton, check out his archive and follow him @fantasygumbo.
