Ryan Tannehill


Ryan Timothy Tannehill III is an American football quarterback for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League. He played college football at Texas A&M, where he transitioned from wide receiver to the team's starting quarterback, and was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the first round in the 2012 NFL Draft.
With the Dolphins, Tannehill spent six of seven years as the primary starting quarterback, the longest time at the position since Dan Marino, before he was traded to Tennessee after the 2018 season. Following a 2-4 start from incumbent starter Marcus Mariota, Tannehill was named the starter for the Titans after Week 6 of the 2019 season and subsequently led the team to the AFC Championship Game, where they ultimately lost to the Kansas City Chiefs. For his play, Tannehill was named to his first career Pro Bowl, as well as was selected as the NFL Comeback Player of the Year.

Early life

Tannehill was born in Lubbock, Texas, but grew up in Big Spring, Texas. He attended Big Spring High School, where he played high school football, high school basketball, and ran on the track and field team. He played 10 games as a defensive back his sophomore season. As a junior, he passed for 2,510 yards and rushed for 922 at quarterback. He took his team to the playoffs as a senior, passing for 5,258 yards and rushing for another 617. He had to miss two games due to a separated shoulder in the second game of his senior year. He also posted three receptions for 62 yards and compiled a 39.2 punt average with a long of 84 yards as a senior. He received second-team District 4-4A honors for both his junior and senior seasons. Ryan Tannehill came out of high school a 3 star recruit according to Rivals.com
In track & field, Tannehill competed in the hurdling and jumping events. At the 2006 District 4-4A Championships, he placed third in the 300m hurdles and earned a second-place finish in the triple jump event.

College career

2007 season

Tannehill redshirted his first season at Texas A&M after turning down offers from the University of Houston, TCU, Tulsa, and UTEP.

2008 season

Before Tannehill's second season, Mike Sherman took over as head coach. In summer camp, Tannehill competed against veteran quarterback Stephen McGee and redshirt sophomore Jerrod Johnson for the starting quarterback position. He finished third in the contest, behind Johnson and then McGee. Sherman, whose offense utilizes true receivers, moved Tannehill to wide receiver.
In his fifth game, he posted a freshman school record of 210 yards on 12 catches. After his six receptions for 78 yards in the Iowa State game, he broke the freshman school record for receptions and receiving yards. Tannehill finished his redshirt freshman season with 844 receiving yards, which was 11 yards shy of breaking Robert Ferguson's record set in 2000. He attempted only one pass at quarterback the whole season.
Tannehill had expressed his desire to become the starting quarterback at A&M: "I still think of myself as a quarterback, I still want to be a quarterback here at A&M. Hopefully that's the way it turns out. But if things don't happen that way, and Coach thinks I can better help being a receiver, then I guess I'm okay with that."

2009 season

During the 2009 offseason, Tannehill and Jerrod Johnson competed for the starting quarterback position; the job was won by Johnson.
Tannehill finished the 2009 season with a team-leading 46 receptions for 609 yards and four touchdowns. About 80% of his 46 catches went for first downs or touchdowns. He picked up All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors for his performance. He only took eight snaps at quarterback the entire season.

2010 season

Tannehill continued to play wide receiver during the first six games of the 2010 season. Over those six games, he made 11 catches for 143 yards. He attempted 4 passes during the season opener.
He saw extensive action at quarterback during the Kansas game, splitting time with starter Jerrod Johnson. Tannehill finished with 12 completions on 16 attempts for 155 yards and three touchdowns. In his first career start at quarterback, Tannehill led the Aggies to a 45–27 victory over Texas Tech. He set a school record with his 449 passing yards. He also made a 33-yard pooch punt, his first career kick.
Tannehill quarterbacked the Aggies to a victory over No. 11 Oklahoma, which moved the team into the top 25. He helped the team maintain the top 25 ranking through victories over Baylor and No. 9 Nebraska. During the Nebraska game, he punted twice since the starter was injured. He and his team defeated Texas to finish off the regular season. Tannehill was recognized with All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors.

2011 season

In 2011, Tannehill started all 13 games at quarterback for the Aggies and served as team captain. He threw for 3,744 yards and 29 touchdowns, with 15 interceptions. He completed 61.6% of his passes and posted a quarterback rating of 133.2. He also ran for 3 touchdowns. Tannehill lost the final game of the regular season to Texas A&M's rival, the University of Texas, on Thanksgiving Day, the last time the teams would play to date.
Tannehill concluded his quarterback career at Texas A&M with a total of 5,450 passing yards 42 touchdown passes and 21 interceptions.

College statistics

Source.

Professional career

Tannehill ran the 40-yard dash in 4.58 seconds at his pro day. He was considered the #3 quarterback prospect in the 2012 NFL Draft class behind Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III.

Miami Dolphins

In the 2012 NFL Draft, the Miami Dolphins selected Tannehill with the 8th overall pick. He was the first quarterback selected by the Dolphins in the first round since Dan Marino went 27th overall in 1983. He became the 17th starting quarterback by the Dolphins since Marino and only the third quarterback taken in the first round in franchise history, after Hall of Famers Bob Griese and Marino.

2012 season: Rookie year

On July 28, 2012, Tannehill signed his four-year rookie contract with the Dolphins worth approximately $12.688 million, with a 5th-year option.
On August 20, 2012, Tannehill was named the starting quarterback for the season opener against the Houston Texans. He finished with 219 yards, no touchdowns, and three interceptions in the 30–10 loss. Two of his three interceptions were tipped at the line of scrimmage by defensive end J. J. Watt. In response to Tannehill's performance, Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin stated "We've got to do a better job in protection, and at times the receivers have to protect the throw from the quarterback. So I would say, as is usually the case, there is a little bit of culpability across the board."
During Week 2, Tannehill improved dramatically in a 35–13 win over the Oakland Raiders. He passed for 200 yards, a touchdown, and no interceptions, as well as 14 yards on the ground to go along with a rushing score. Tannehill seemed to fix his tipped ball problem by having zero passes batted down in week 2. By the end of week 3, Tannehill had completed less than 53% of his passes, and also had only 1 touchdown to four interceptions.
Two weeks later against the Arizona Cardinals, Tannehill threw for 431 yards, surpassing the Dolphins' single-game record for most passing yards by a rookie quarterback, set by Dan Marino in 1983. Tannehill's mark was one yard shy of the NFL's single-game passing-yard record by a rookie quarterback, set by Panthers quarterback Cam Newton in 2011. He threw a touchdown and two interceptions in the 24–21 overtime loss to the Cardinals. In Week 16, Tannehill set a franchise record for longest run by a quarterback by rushing 31 yards in a single play. The previous record was set by Pat White who had a 30-yard run in 2009. During that game against the Buffalo Bills, Tannehill also became the fifth quarterback in team history to surpass 3,000 passing yards in a season.
Tannehill went on to set franchise rookie records for passing yards, attempts, and completions.

2013 season

In Week 1, Tannehill started his second season on the road against the Cleveland Browns. He went 24 of 38 for 272 yards a touchdown, an interception, and was sacked 4 times in the 23–10 win. In the next game, Tannehill went 23 of 34 for 319 yards for a touchdown, but he was sacked five times and lost a fumble in the 24–20 road victory against the Indianapolis Colts. In Week 3, he went home for the first time, taking on the Atlanta Falcons. He went 24 of 35 for 236 yards for two touchdowns, an interception, got sacked 5 times and lost a fumble in the 27–23 victory and led his team to a 3–0 start for the first time since 2002. Tannehill struggled in Week 4 against the New Orleans Saints, going 22 of 35 for 249 yards and a touchdown, but also committed 4 team turnovers as he was intercepted thrice and lost a fumble. He was sacked four times in the 38–17 road loss.
During Week 5 against the Baltimore Ravens, Tannehill went 21 of 40 for 307 yards and a touchdown, but he was sacked 6 times in the 26–23 loss. Two weeks later against the Buffalo Bills, Tannehill went 19 of 37 for 194 yards and threw three touchdowns and two interceptions while losing a fumble and being sacked twice in the 23–21 loss. In the next game against the New England Patriots, he went 22 of 42 for 192 yards and two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also lost a fumble and was sacked 6 times in the 27–17 road loss. In the next game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Tannehill went 20 of 28 for 208 yards along with a 1-yard touchdown run despite being sacked 6 times due to the tottering offensive line in the 22–20 overtime victory.
During Week 10 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tannehill went 27 of 42 for 229 yards while throwing two touchdowns, one interception, and two sacks in the 22–19 road loss. In the next game against the San Diego Chargers, Tannehill completed 22 of 35 pass attempts for 268 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in a 20–16 win, despite being sacked 4 times.
During Week 14 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tannehill completed 20 of his 33 attempts with three touchdowns, one interception, and two sacks in a 34–28 road victory. In the next game against the Patriots, Tannehill had his best game of the year, going 25 of 37 for 312 yards with 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. He was sacked 4 times in the 24–20 win. During Week 16 against the Bills, Tannehill followed up his best game with a lackluster performance going 10 of 27 for a paltry 82 yards and was sacked 7 times in the 19–0 road loss. In the regular-season finale against the New York Jets, Tannehill went 20 of 40 for 204 yards and one touchdown and three interceptions in the 20–7 loss. This was the only regular season game in which Tannehill was not sacked.

2014 season

was the Dolphins' offensive coordinator in Tannehill's first two NFL seasons, and was the head coach at Texas A&M when Tannehill played there. However, during the 2014 offseason, the Dolphins hired new offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, giving Tannehill a new playbook to learn for the first time since high school.
In the season opener against the New England Patriots, Tannehill threw for 178 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception in the 33–20 victory. The Dolphins then went 6–7 over their next 13 games. In the penultimate game of the regular season against the Minnesota Vikings, Tannehill had a season-high 396 passing yards, four touchdowns, and one interception in the 37–35 victory. The Dolphins lost the regular season finale to the New York Jets to finish 8–8 and miss the playoffs.

2015 season

On May 18, 2015, Tannehill signed a six-year, $96 million contract extension with the Dolphins through the 2020 season, making him an unrestricted free agent in 2021.
During a Week 7 victory over the Houston Texans, Tannehill became the 64th quarterback in NFL history to post a perfect 158.3 passer rating. In the same game, Tannehill set the all-time NFL record for consecutive completed passes with 25, completing his first 18 passes of the game and the final 7 of his previous game. Tannehill then had a rough spell during a Thursday Night game against the New England Patriots, throwing no touchdowns and 2 interceptions in a 36–7 loss. and in three successive games against the Patriots, Buffalo Bills and Eagles fumbled one ball in the end zone for an opposition safety.
On December 6, Tannehill became the fourth quarterback in NFL history to throw for over 3,000 yards in each of his first four seasons in the league. On December 15, he threw for 236 yards and one touchdown in the Dolphins' 31–24 loss to the New York Giants on Monday Night Football. The loss eliminated the Dolphins from the playoff contention for the seventh consecutive year.
Tannehill finished the 2015 season with 4,208 passing yards, 24 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.

2016 season

In 2016, after a 1–4 start, the Dolphins won six straight games, and finished the season on a 9–2 run and an overall record of 10–6. Tannehill played in 13 games, missing three due to injury. With their Week 16 win over the Buffalo Bills, the Dolphins clinched a winning record and a playoff berth for the first time since 2008. Tannehill finished the season with a career-high 67.1 completion percentage, 2,995 yards, 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

2017 season

On August 3, 2017, Tannehill suffered an injury to his left leg in the team's first non-contact 11-on-11 practice of season. After limping off the field, it was reported that the team feared he tore his ACL and would require season-ending surgery. On August 6, the team signed recently retired quarterback Jay Cutler to act as Tannehill's replacement. On August 11, Tannehill agreed to have surgery to repair the torn ACL, officially keeping him out of the 2017 season. He was placed on injured reserve the following day.

2018 season

On March 1, 2018, head coach Adam Gase announced that Tannehill would remain the starting quarterback for the Dolphins.
During the season-opener against the Tennessee Titans, the game was delayed twice due to lightning storms. In his return from injury, Tannehill finished with 230 passing yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions as the Dolphins won 27–20. In Week 3, he recorded a 155.3 passer rating and had 289 passing yards and three passing touchdowns in the 28–20 victory over the Oakland Raiders. Tannehill was inactive during the Week 6 game against the Chicago Bears due to a shoulder injury. Brock Osweiler started in Tannehill's place until Week 12. In Week 14, Tannehill was part of the Miracle in Miami 34–33 victory against the New England Patriots. Trailing by five points with seven seconds left, the Dolphins had the ball at their own 31-yard line. Tannehill threw a pass over the middle that was caught by wide receiver Kenny Stills, who lateraled the ball to the right side of the field that was caught by DeVante Parker at midfield. Parker then tossed the ball to running back Kenyan Drake, who ran the ball 52 yards for a touchdown to win the game. Over the last three games of the regular season, Tannehill struggled with one touchdown and three interceptions total in the three losses.
Tannehill finished the 2018 season with 1,979 passing yards, 17 touchdowns, and nine interceptions.

Tennessee Titans

On March 15, 2019, the Dolphins traded Tannehill and a sixth-round selection in the 2019 NFL Draft to the Tennessee Titans in exchange for a fourth-round selection in the 2020 draft and a seventh-round selection in the 2019 draft. Following the trade, Tannehill signed a one-year deal with the Titans worth $7 million with up to $12 million in incentives.

2019 season: Comeback Player of the Year

During Week 6 against the Denver Broncos, he replaced Marcus Mariota at quarterback in the second half. He went 13-of-16 with 144 passing yards and an interception in the 16–0 road loss. Tannehill was named as the Titans' starting quarterback for the Week 7 game against the Los Angeles Chargers. He finished the Week 7 contest with 312 passing yards, two touchdowns, and an interception as the Titans won 23–20. In Week 12, against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he was 14-of-18 for 259 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. In addition, he had seven carries for 40 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the 42–20 victory. In Week 14, against the Oakland Raiders, he passed for 391 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception in the 42–21 victory, earning him AFC Offensive Player of the Week. During Week 16 against the New Orleans Saints, Tannehill threw for 272 yards and three touchdowns in the 38–28 loss. In the regular-season finale against the Houston Texans, he threw for 198 yards and two touchdowns in the 35-14 road victory, taking the Titans to the playoffs as a Wild Card. Tannehill finished the 2019 season with 2,742 passing yards, 22 passing touchdowns, and six interceptions to go along with 43 carries for 185 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns in 12 games. Tannehill also led the league and set franchise-records with a 117.5 quarterback rating and 9.6 yards per attempt.
at the 2020 Pro Bowl
In the Wild Card Game against the defending Super Bowl LIII champion New England Patriots, Tannehill completed 8 passes on 15 attempts for 72 yards, with a touchdown and interception and rushed for 11 yards as the Titans upset the Patriots 20–13. It was the fewest completions and yards by a winning postseason quarterback since Joe Flacco's 4 of 10 for 34 yard performance in 2010. In the Divisional Round against the Baltimore Ravens, Tannehill completed 7 passes on 14 attempts for 88 yards and 2 touchdowns and rushed 6 times for 13 yards and a rushing touchdown as the Titans upset the heavily favored Ravens 28–12. Tannehill joined Terry Bradshaw as only player in the Super Bowl era to win consecutive playoff games with one or more touchdown passes and fewer than 100 yards passing. In the AFC Championship Game, Tannehill completed 21 passes on 31 attempts, threw for 209 yards and 2 touchdown passes and rushed for 11 yards as the Titans lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs 35–24. Tannehill was named to his first career Pro Bowl on January 20, 2020, replacing the Super Bowl-bound Patrick Mahomes.
On February 1, 2020, Tannehill was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year.

2020 season

On March 17, 2020, Tannehill signed a four-year extension with the Titans worth $118 million featuring $62 million guaranteed.

NFL statistics

Regular season

Postseason

NFL records

Tannehill graduated with a bachelor's degree in biology in May 2011 and had planned to become an orthopedic surgeon specializing in knee injuries. Tannehill and his wife, Lauren, whom he met in Panama City, Florida in 2009, married in January 2012. They have two children.