So far so good Rook

Ryan Tannehill was the 8th pick of the 2012 draft and the third QB taken in the draft, and many sports gambling fans, including myself believed this was a reach for a player who had only played the quarterback position for a year and half. Then many NFL pundits believed that he would spend this season sitting on the bench behind either Matt Moore or David Garrard. Then when Tannehill won the starting QB job, most sports gambling fans were betting that he was going to have a tough time. Well after the first 5 games of the season, RT has proved all the naysayers wrong, because he has played well above everyone’s expectations.

For a rookie QB, who has started the first 5 games, he has thrown for 1269 passing yards, which is 2nd most of all time, behind only Cam Newton’s 1610. However he is the first rookie to have that many passing yards and record at least 2 wins. He has thrown 19 passes of 20 or more yards, which only 5 other QB’s have done this season, and his yards per throw is 7.5, which ranks him at 13th. The two areas where he needs improvement, is in throwing touchdowns, where he only has 2 so far, which is the fewest by a starting QB this season. Also his QB rating is 70.4 which ranks him 30th among QB’s.

However, if you want to look past all the numbers, the most encouraging thing about RT this season has been his composure and his response to pressure. He said “he thinks the pressure is fun,” and his ability to handle it has been impressive. When the pressure is on late in the game, and the Dolphins desperately need an offensive play, he appears to become more focused and has often come through late in games. That is the “IT” factor that all the great QB’s have. When the game is on the line and the pressure is mounting, they perform at their best. The next step for RT in this process is for him to led his team from a 4th quarter deficit and throw a game winning touchdown. I would wager that we will see such a feat in the next few games.