Because of improved weapons and a potentially improved offensive line, I thought Ryan Tannehill would surprise a lot of people by finishing as a top-five quarterback in 2015 Fantasy Football leagues.
That didn’t happen, but I also included Cam Newton in my prediction. So hopefully, you drafted him instead.
I thought last season was the year that Tannehill was going to put it together. It seemed like it was a now or never type of year, but the hiring of Adam Gase seems to offer Tannehill believers one more season before throwing in the towel.
Embed from Getty ImagesNow as a 13th-round pick, he could seem like a huge bargain.
Before deciding on whether he’s worth taking another chance on, let’s take a look at his performance from last season…
Ryan Tannehill 2015 Fantasy Football Review
One reason that I liked Tannehill last season was because of the sneaky value he added through rushing the ball. He’s not going to rack up rushing yards like Newton, but he’s also more mobile than Ben Roethlisberger and Eli Manning.
He had the fifth-most rushing yards (311) among quarterbacks in 2014, but he only finished with 141 last year.
At the beginning of the 2015 season, it looked like Fantasy players were sleeping on the amount of weapons Tannehill had at his disposal. Jordan Cameron and DeVante Parker were brought in to improve red-zone efficiency, playmaker Jarvis Landry looked ready to take a big leap from his promising 2014 campaign, the team added Kenny Stills as a deep threat, and Greg Jennings served as a veteran receiver.
But this team just wasn’t able to get on the same page. And to make his performance even more confusing, Tannehill set personal bests in several categories while regressing in others.
Tannehill recorded six games with 300 or more passing yards, which were the most of his career. But he also threw 24 touchdowns, which was a regression from the 27 he threw in 2014.
Embed from Getty ImagesTannehill threw for the most yards of his career (4,210), but he also went from a 66.4% completion percentage in 2014 to 62% in 2015. The 27-year old quarterback also had four games in which he didn’t throw any touchdowns.
The offensive line continued to be an issue, ranking 31st for 2015.
But again, this team as a whole did not appear to be on the same page.
Ryan Tannehill: 2016 Fantasy Football Weapons
Tannehill will have most of the same cast of characters back for 2016, but some of the younger players will have more experience this season.
Parker fractured his foot before the start of the 2015 season, and he wasn’t able to be much of a factor in the limited amount of games he played in at the beginning of 2015. But from Weeks 12-17, he averaged 74.16 receiving yards per game.
He’s been sidelined already in 2016 with some injury that is reportedly not related to his foot, but if he can start the season healthy, he should hopefully pick right up where he left off from Weeks 12-17 last season.
Parker doesn’t necessarily excel in one particular area, but he has a good combination of size (6-foot-3, 218 pounds), speed, and great hands.
Embed from Getty ImagesTannehill will also have Landry to target once again, who was a PPR beast in 2015 with 111 receptions. Landry is extremely athletic, and hauled in four touchdown receptions, one rushing touchdown, and scored on a punt return.
He will have a hard time catching as many passes as last season if Parker is more involved, though, so just keep that in mind.
Tannehill’s arm strength has always been questioned, which limits Still’s production (4.38 40-yard dash time) as a deep threat. Speedster Mike Wallace was never able to crack 1,000 receiving yards in a season with Tannehill running the offense.
But it’s still worth noting that Tannehill does still have a speedy receiver to target.
Cameron (6-foot-5, 260 pounds) is a huge target for Tannehill, but he only caught three touchdowns last season. The 27-year old tight end posted an 80-917 stat line in 2014 with the Cleveland Browns, and as a 14th-round draft pick, there is little downside into taking a chance on him in 2016 Fantasy Football drafts.
If he underperforms again, just cut him loose.
Tannehill won’t have Lamar Miller this season, but Gase is hoping second-year back Jay Ajayi can take his place. In his final season at Boise State University, Ajayi caught 50 passes for 535 receiving yards. He also caught four touchdown passes.
Ryan Tannehill 2016 Fantasy Football Outlook
Sometimes in Fantasy Football, you are going to be a year early picking Fantasy Football studs.
Other times, the player you think is ready for a breakout season will just never reach the level you are hoping for…
Embed from Getty ImagesIt’s difficult to take a firm stance on Tannehill. A lot of the reasons why I thought he was ready for a breakout last year are the same reasons this year.
But the key difference between last year and this year is that it won’t cost you as much to find out how Tannehill will perform. In 2015 Fantasy Football drafts, Tannehill was an eighth-round pick. Today on FantasyFootballCalculator.com, he’s being selected in Round 13.
Compared to last year, you could have drafted Eli Manning, Cam Newton, and Carson Palmer after Tannehill. Manning, Newton, and Palmer were all top-10 quarterbacks in standard scoring leagues last year.
Tannehill finished in 17th.
This year, only some of the players left after Tannehill are: Alex Smith, Joe Flacco, Teddy Bridgewater, Colin Kaepernick, RG3, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Brock Osweiler.
Unless Fitzpatrick can play a whole season and Osweiler becomes a surprise start, I don’t see a case for any of those other players listed for finishing in the top 10.
Maybe I was a year early on Tannehill. Or maybe, I’m just completely wrong.
But as a 13th-round pick, I think I can give him one more year to get it together before I give up on him…
Categories: 2016 Fantasy Football, 2016 Fantasy Football Quarterbacks, Fantasy Football
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