Guys. I’m always willing to admit when I was wrong. I think I might’ve been wrong about how certain it was that Ryan Tannehill would be back, at starting quarterback, for the Tennessee Titans in 2020.
First, there was the video from the NFL Awards that I’m too lazy to scroll through Twitter to find. The one in which Tannehill’s wife makes an “EEK” face when they’re discussing the possibility in staying in Nashville. Now, we got Jon Robinson out at the NFL Combine talking about the free agent situation, and boy, does it sound like he’s a lot hotter on Derrick Henry than Tannehill.
Jon Robinson sounded a lot hotter on @KingHenry_2 than @ryantannehill1 at the #NFLCombine. May not have been intentional or mean a great deal. #Titans pic.twitter.com/Awjgdul5hB
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) February 25, 2020
“…everything we can to try to keep him around” hits a whole hell of a lot different than “we’ll see how it goes.”
Tannehill was the highest rated passer in the NFL this season. Once he took over at quarterback, the Titans offense looked completely different. A lot of people nationally probably weren’t watching the Titans throughout the regular season. During the playoffs, when more eyes were on the team, it was all about Henry and the defense. On a larger scale, people probably don’t see what all the fuss is about with Tannehill.
But, he just looked like the perfect guy suited for this offense. I figured they’d want to keep some sort of continuity between him and Arthur Smith. And, sure, it would unreasonable to expect 2019 Tannehill for the rest of his career. But, even if he does come back down to Earth a little bit, it’s damn sure better than the other options. Are they going to draft a guy at #29 that’s going to come in right away and play better? Is it really a good idea to change your entire offense for a 42 year old quarterback coming off of what was arguably his worst year as a pro? Even if he is the greatest quarterback of all time?
That’s why I thought it was a lock that he’d be back. But, reading the tea leaves….I’m not so certain. It sure sounds to me like Henry is very clearly the priority, but they might not want to fork over the cash Tannehill is going to ask for. JRob was also on NFL Network yesterday, saying the 2020 Titans were going to look a lot different than the 2019 Titans. So, who knows?
Free agency will begin here in a few weeks (March 18th, to be exact)…so we’ll see how the dominoes fall soon enough.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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