Tennessee Titans: Is Ryan Tannehill a top 10 quarterback?

Chris Simms has ranked the top 40 quarterbacks in the NFL, and Tennessee Titans QB Ryan Tannehill just misses the top ten.

During the first half of the 2019 season, it looked like the Tennessee Titans had no hope of having a successful season. Then, head coach Mike Vrabel started Ryan Tannehill at quarterback, and the Titans’ offense sparked like we hadn’t seen in at least a couple of years when Marcus Mariota did the same thing early in his career.

Now the Titans are in the post-Mariota era, and their focus is now on Tannehill, or Tannethrill as some like to call him. Whichever name you prefer, he led the Titans to a 9-7 record after the Titans started the season 2-4.

That was good enough to get the Titans into the playoffs, but their chances of advancing past the Wild Card Round were slim. The Titans’ first playoff opponent was the defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots.

If the Titans survived that game, they had to beat the AFC-best 13-3 Baltimore Ravens. No one thought the Titans could beat one of those teams, much less two, but they did, and they advanced to the AFC Championship Game, where they played the Kansas City Chiefs for a chance to go to the Super Bowl.

The Titans didn’t have quite as much success in that game as the Chiefs defense shut down both Tannehill and Derrick Henry, which minimized their offensive production.

Even though Tannehill didn’t show up like Titans fans were hoping, he still helped lead the Titans to the AFC Championship making the Titans one of four teams remaining in the postseason. He just had the best season of his career, and he was playing arguably the best team in the NFL.

After the 2019 season, with the success on paper and on the field, is Ryan Tannehill a top-ten quarterback? Well, I think it’s fair to say he is, and he should have the opportunity to prove that he is such this fall with another great season.

CBS Sports’ Chris Simms released his top 40 quarterbacks in the NFL, and although Tannehill was given a pretty good ranking, with the player directly in front of him, I think he should be a top-ten quarterback.

Tannehill sits just beyond the top-ten mark at No. 11 with Cam Newton holding down the No. 10 spot. If we’re looking at what each quarterback has done for their team lately and each individual performance, there’s an argument for Tannehill to be in the top-ten, not so much for Newton.

Last season, Tannehill had everything to lose. If he failed to have a successful season, then his NFL career could be over. He didn’t fail, and now he’s being rewarded with a long-term contract and big money.

One could argue that there could be more pressure on Tannehill’s shoulders than in 2019 because if he fails to live up to the hype this fall, then he could quickly fall in the bad grace of Titans fans.

I don’t think that will happen to Tannehill, though. Will he have a better season than 2019? I couldn’t tell you quite yet, but I can tell you that if he can stay healthy, then the Titans will be competing for the AFC South title.