Ryan Tannehill Said Nothing Wrong
Image via @PaulKuharskyNFL on Twitter
Ryan Tannehill has caught a mountain of shit this week for saying it was not his job to mentor Malik Willis, and you know what? He’s absolutely right.
Everyone from my GTD podcast co-host to Kurt Warner has lamented his comment. I’m not sure people watched the entire clip because right after he said that he said, “If he learns from me that’s great.”
I don’t know why the comment has gotten so much hate because so many quarterbacks have said similar things. Eli Manning said it about Daniel Jones, Brett Farve said it about Aaron Rodgers, Rodgers said it about Jordan Love, Big Ben said it about Mason Rudolph, there’s many more but you get the point.
Tannehill didn’t say he was pissed by the selection, or that he didn’t want to have him as a teammate. He just said it’s not his job to hold Malik’s hand through practice, which is true because it’s not his job. It’s the coaching staff’s job.
Tannehill’s job is to win football games, not be a teacher. He’s paid like a franchise guy, so I wouldn’t see any reason why he should look behind his shoulder for the starting job, especially to a rookie 3rd round pick.
The Titans haven’t commented about Malik being the future, or said there was going to be a competition. The kid was considered the second best prospect in the draft and was passed up multiple times by multiple teams who needed a quarterback. So why would Tannehill concern himself with Malik’s development?
And why the hate? I guess it's because the other guys mentioned earlier are all legends and Tannehill’s coming off a terrible playoff game. Still, the guy is a top 12 quarterback. He has the right to have this kind of energy. It’s not like he’s Ryan Fitzpatrick going to teams where he is the obvious bridge starter for a young QB, he’s an established NFL starter.
Plus, this whole mentor quarterback narrative that we all love so much is completely oversold. If it was up to the starter to teach the backup, then QB coaches across the league would be out of a job. Most young guys just learn by observing, which Tannehill said would be great.
So everyone put down your twitter fingers and let this one go because Tannehill has said nothing wrong.