Last week, I wrote an article ranking the ten worst starting quarterbacks in the NFL. I put Ryan Tannehill at ten on that list (making him the 23^rd best starting quarterback in the league). I’ve been hearing complaints from Dolphins fans all week, including some kids from Type One who I shall not name (cough cough Carter Helschien). Although I have received negative backlash, I do stand by my rankings. Here’s why:

As many know, Tannehill started college as a wide receiver after losing the Texas A&M quarterback battle his freshman year. This shows his obvious talent, skill, and athleticism at the QB position. His rushing stats are rarely talked about, but he was very strong on the ground last season with 211 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. He also had the longest rush by any quarterback in Dolphins’ history. In addition, he claims that his receiver days help him create a better connection with his own receivers. His athleticism combined with great arm strength give him a solid foundation moving forward as a quarterback.

However, his problems have been his inconsistency in identifying pressure, as well as his failure to expose different types of defenses, giving him a huge problem on third down. He was ranked 26^th in the league last year in short yardage third down conversions. While some fans may say the blame should be put on the offensive weapons around him, the fact still stands that Tannehill has converted a very small percentages of these types of plays in his tenure. To move up the chains, you generally have to convert on third down. If you look at the statistics, almost all winning teams are in the top ten in third down conversion rankings.

I believe Tannehill is currently dead even when compared to the “Sam Bradfords” and “Carson Palmers” of the world; with such a smaller sample size of great quarterback play (he only has three career multi-touchdown games), I am not yet ready to move him past that tier of quarterbacks.

All this being said, I truly believe Tannehill will show us even more as the season goes progresses. He is off to a hot start that should push him through the rest of the season. In my opinion, he will pass the “Matt Schaub Tier” of quarterbacks by the end of this year, while also becoming a part of the discussion as a solid top fifteen quarterback in the league.