Three Improvements We Need in 2014 from Ryan Tannehill

The only problem with this theory is that it's been shown that Tannehill got rid of the ball quicker than almost every other QB in the league. The problem was not that Tannehill held the ball too long, it was that he didn't have long enough to hold the ball.

 

The strip-sack on him in the TB game (pre-season) took under 2 seconds, and he was in the middle of a PA fake when the McCoy got there. Can't put ANY of that on him IMHO.

 

NFL QBs play more poorly the later they throw the ball after the snap. If Tannehill was among the league leaders in how quickly he got rid of the ball, then based on the relationship between time to throw and QB performance, he should've performed better.

The problem was that he needed too much time to judge whether his primary read was an option, which then left his later reads with smaller windows into which to throw. When you hone in on your first read for too long, then when you come off that read, you're likely to find your later reads covered. At that point you're susceptible to either an ill-advised throw (into good coverage) or a sack. Rather than make ill-advised throws, Tannehill took sacks.

Remember that none of the time Tannehill took sacks was his time to throw factored into his average. If you don't throw the ball on a play (and you instead take a sack), then obviously that play doesn't contribute to your average time to throw on the year.

 

I would think that would only be accurate if the length of time is by design or not. If you're running a bunch of slant routes, and your QB has to hold the ball for 4/5 seconds, sure, he might do poorly. If you're running a play action rollout five step drop, and have to throw the ball in under 3 seconds cause the line is a sieve, I wouldn't expect that QB to have great numbers, even though the ball is coming out quickly. The problem seems to have been a combo of bad design and terrible line. Tannehill had to throw it quick, or get sacked, and he rarely had the convenience of letting his guys get deep open. Factor in that defenses could focus on the pass cause we couldn't run, defenses could just cram everyone short to cover. It's amazing that Tannehill had almost 4000 yards last season.

 

Generally QBs need a minimum of time to make their reads. QBs perform best when they get the ball out between 2.5 and 3.5 seconds. RT's problem last year was that too often he never even got 2.0 seconds. That isn't a speed of reading problem. That's a protection problem.

 

I think this accounts for the vast majority of percieved problems, and with improved line play, many will vanquish.
Aside from this, the issues that plague RT are often exasperating because they're generally not regarding basic concepts, fundamental mechanics, or habitual inaccuracies, but rather tend to involve detail oriented missteps that occur all over the board, arising primarily in split second decisions, or hinge upon the most subtle maneuvers of execution. More simply put, they involve areas of performance where most premier QB's simply operate on auto-pilot.
What could be the reason for this?
Purely speculating, I suspect a core lack of trust in either himself, or what he's doing. A problem which reveals itself, only in the most incremental tasks of decision making. A problem that can be traced back to his relationship with Sherman, possibly through a sense of dependancy that Sherman instills into those closest to him, perhaps in order to maintain an insideous form of control (see Joe Philbin).

 

i think his internal clock has to reset, he has to realize that the 5 guys upfront have nothing to do with last years debacle, to me it seemed like sometimes during the preseason he was a little bit rushing it, although he still had time to throw, he needs to put that disaster from last year behind him and recognize so far in preseason these guys have done a helluva job protecting me, this should be something he sees on tape after the game, just relax a little, its a better situation than last year

 

cant watch the pressure, must feel it..I think he's tough, i think he will separate the demons, I just want him to take control of the pocket.

 

That seems like a really long time. Pity the RT trying to keep the Kracken at bay for that long. Shudder.

 

Actually their play, if you measure it by QB rating, diminishes considerably on average after the 2.5-second mark. Moreover, the average time Tannehill took to be sacked wasn't any faster than the league average.

Again, that suggests that he took too long to judge whether his primary read was an option. The increase in performance among QBs when throwing prior to 2.5 seconds suggests that when primary reads are open and thrown to, QBs play better. If you couple that with the fact that Tannehill took no longer than the average QB to be sacked, it suggests that he wasn't able to judge the openness of his primary read as quickly.

Tannehill was viewed as a two- or three-year project coming out of college. It would seem likely that judging the openness of his primary read would be an area in which he performed comparatively slowly. More experienced QBs can likely judge whether their primary read is an option on a play based on very little visual data just after the snap. Tannehill by contrast, due to his inexperience, would need more visual data to make the same judgment. Consequently he's more susceptible to sacks.

 

I'd like to see your evidence for the first two statements. The first one because it interests me and the second one because it flat out contradicts what I have read at sites like PFF and football outsiders.

 

Pro Football Focus is where the data comes from. In 2013 the average NFL QB was sacked in 4.01 seconds. Tannehill was sacked after 3.8 seconds on average, which isn't significantly faster. Peyton Manning by contrast was sacked after 3.4 seconds on average, and Tom Brady after 3.36 seconds.

The average QB rating in 2013 when throwing before 2.5 seconds was 91.6. After 2.5 seconds that number dropped to 82.1.

 

Tannehill's sweet spot was 2.1 - 2.5 seconds. Unfortunately on 210 of his 588 drop backs he was pressured in less than 2.0 seconds approximately 35% of the time. Those <2.0 pressures were a killer for us last year.

 

Wow, that's appalling. Amazing that he doesn't have a twitch like that Pink Panther guy.

 

The stars have aligned for Ryan to take next step, he has an improved pass blocking OL, he has a new OC who brought along many of the same concepts that he played in since college, he added another solid WR in Landry.

This is what you want your QB to be working with, not getting sacked 58 times and handicapped by Mike Sherman.

 

http://www.thephinsider.com/2014/4/3/5577942/short-sacks-normal-sacks-and-long-sacks

 

Tanny has really overcome a lot (our line) and never complained. I love that about him.

 

Line more or less did not know their jobs, lots of those sacks were either a combination of missed assignments or just plain ol' softness.

We need to get the FG kicker situation straightened out, St's to my pov is a MESS atm

 

need to see more consistency.

He needs to improve how often he brings his wife to the games and places her on the sidelines.

Not happening consistently enough.

 

Tannehill has a poor interior line, Landry wont play outside of ST and/ or WR injuries, and our OC has been hailed the savior before he's coached a meaningful game.

The stars have hardly aligned.

 

Sacks allowed:
Player Games Sacks allowed
RT Tyson Clabo 16 12
LT Bryant McKinnie 10 11
LT/RT Jonathan Martin 7 6
RG John Jerry 16 6
RB Daniel Thomas 15 5
LG Nate Garner 6 4
LG Richie Incognito 8 4
RB Lamar Miller 16 4
QB Ryan Tannehill 16 4
TE Dion Sims 5 2

 

Was not just sacks on THill, the other issue was running plays that wound up being TFL's, for whatever reason the idea that a Qb sacked for a 4 yd loss is "worse" than a Rb tackled for a 4 yd loss

 

Pro Football Focus indicates that Tannehill dropped back to pass 661 times, with 222 overall pressures (regardless of how quickly they occurred), or 33.6% of the time, in 2013. That percentage of pressure wasn't significantly different from the league average.

 

If Tannehill had experienced the average number of short sacks in the league (34.6%), it would've subtracted 11 from his season total. He would've had 47 instead of 58, or approximately two-thirds of a sack (0.69) fewer per game.

 

I don't think you understand the point.

 

Dude..

Occular Two Ball focus indicates Ryan Tan "He get us over the" Hill...got slobberknocked last season damn near gettin hiself killed. That reference tool I trust more.

 

At some point Ryan needs to be held accountable by a desperate fanbase (me included) who dont want to face reality.

His OL as a whole is better and once Pounce returns it will on paper be upper tier, especially if James plays like he did in the preseason. I believe Landry will see some snaps in some sets at WR, and we have a very good corps 1-5. This isn't Lazor's first meaningful game??? And he has a damn good track record thus far.

He is surrounded by players that will help him succeed, it's now up to him to take the step.

 

I think we can all be easily fooled by the limited vantage point we have while watching games. See the following video starting at the 2:45 mark, for example:

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-playbook/0ap2000000269528/Playbook-Dolphins-vs-Patriots

 

I question whether either of those plays would have worked out well. The one to the back, BEST CASE scenario, would have been a small gain. No way the back makes it up the sideline. The second play I could easily see ending as a pick if he'd thrown it.

 

Agreed. It's easy to stop a frame and scream throw the ball, but watching it in real time, the players were covered and he was attempting to go through his progressions. The problem with cherry picking a play is that it goes both ways.

There is a reason we rebuilt the OLine and replaced Daniel Thomas with Moreno...





Some good info here: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...will-help-ryan-tannehill-make-third-year-leap

 

On the above play we have a limited vantage point. We can't tell whether there was someone similarly open as in the clip analyzed by Sterling Sharpe above.



That play is on Tannehill. The quarterback is responsible for reading and avoiding a lone blitzer.

The problem Tannehill is having in all these clips is that he's unable to multi-task and devote his attention simultaneously downfield to his receivers and to the defensive pass rush occurring around him. He can do only one or the other at a time, rather than both simultaneously. Again, a problem that reflects his inexperience in my opinion.

 

Right... by the time he gets the ball Daniel Thomas has blown the block and allows the sack. Not sure how you have that on Tanny. In the second one, the db disguised the blitz and timed it perfectly. McKinney sees it at the last second, but is too slow in getting over. In both cases, you're blaming the QB for the sack. Nothing he could do in the first one and the second is arguably a great defensive play. That happens too.

 

Tannehill actually had time to set his feet in the first clip, before the pass rusher got by Thomas. Had there been someone open (which we don't know), he could've thrown the ball after setting his feet.

What happened in the second clip happens in the league all the time, and QBs are sacked a good bit of the time because of it. If it happened to Tannehill as often as it did to other QBs, it wouldn't be a problem. The problem is that it happens to him more often, again in my opinion because he isn't as experienced at dividing his attention between his downfield reads and the pass rush happening closer by. He allocates his attention downfield at the expense of paying enough attention to the pass rush and what he needs to do to avoid it, whether that be getting rid of the ball or moving his body.

Couple that with taking more time to judge whether his primary read is an option, and you have someone highly susceptible to sacks.