Ryan Tannehill 2023 Outlook
The Rodney Dangerfield of fantasy QBs (kids, ask your parents), Tannehill has never been able to shake the dreaded "game manager" label despite his on-field success with the Titans. Entering his 12th year at age 35, that isn't likely to change now. Fantasy owners can hardly be expected to make much of an investment considering his own team keeps pushing him toward the exits. Tennessee used a top-100 pick on a QB for the second straight draft in 2023, selecting the big-armed Will Levis in the second round after taking Malik Willis in the third in 2022. Tannehill missed five games with an ankle issue last season and failed to reach 200 yards in six others. And after rushing for 14 scores from 2020-21, he looked more like the Dolphins-era Tannehill on the ground in '22. The Titans also lost WR Robert Woods (Texans) and TE Austin Hooper (Raiders). Tannehill is in the final season of his contract and needs some new highlights for his audition tape.
Ryan Tannehill 2022 Outlook
After the Titans fell to the Bengals in the divisional playoff game, Tannehill faced significant criticism. Nonetheless, head coach Mike Vrabel continues to back his quarterback entering 2022. "Ryan has won too many games for us, been a part of too many huge victories for us, done too much for us, to [view that he's not our guy]," Vrabel said. "He's not the only person out there making mistakes. It will never be about one person because we know how critical the quarterback is to the success of the team." While that's true, after tossing just 13 interceptions in 28 games over the 2019 and 2020 seasons, Tannehill threw 14 of them in 2021. Beyond that, Tannehill had two 300-yard games in 17 starts and had only four games with multiple TD passes. He averaged 219.6 passing yards a game, ranking 20th in that category. In addition, the Titans traded his top downfield threat, A.J. Brown to the Eagles on draft day. They had previously released Julio Jones while acquiring Robert Woods to fill that void. Rookie Treylon Burks will be asked to replace Brown -- no small feat. Also, whether Derrick Henry is on the field or not, as we saw again last year, the conservative nature of the Tennessee offense limits Tannehill's fantasy potential and relegates him to QB2 status. The arrival of third-round pick Malik Willis also limits Tannehill's longer-term value.
Ryan Tannehill 2021 Outlook
Tannehill has spent two years with the Titans, and, as FantasyPros.com noted, during those seasons he's delivered the sixth-best (2019) and the 36th-best (2020) QB Ratings of all-time. SI.com pointed out that Tannehill finished the 2020 regular season ranked seventh in fantasy points among quarterbacks. Since Week 7 of the 2019 campaign, he has scored 19-plus fantasy points 16 times (24 games) and averaged 23.5 points a game. So why don't we love him any more than as a high-end backup for fantasy purposes? For starters, the free-agency departures of Corey Davis, Jonnu Smith and Adam Humphries (a trio that ESPN notes combined for 43 percent of Tannehill's passing yards and 45 percent of his touchdowns last season) are a concern. Also, offensive coordinator Arthur Smith left to become the Falcons' head coach. ESPN’s Matthew Berry notes that in a run-first offense (his 30.1 passing attempts per game were third fewest among qualified starters), Tannehill will need efficiency to be a fantasy factor. "With a bunch of new faces and a new coach," Berry wrote, "I'm afraid he takes a step back this year." A reasonable point, but the presence of Derrick Henry will keep defenses honest and A.J. Brown remains one of the most dangerous playmakers in the league.
