5 Reasons Titans QB Ryan Tannehill deserves more credit than he’s gotten
By Brady Akins
![Ryan Tannehill #17, Tennessee Titans (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) Ryan Tannehill #17, Tennessee Titans (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/https-3A-2F-2Ftitansized-com-2Fwp-content-2Fuploads-2Fgetty-images-2F2018-2F08-2F1285380099-850x560-c5f8e08ba142cd8b422c6e3ce34ed5af0d5b821e07a8b9414301c43969c95c20.jpg)
This is the hero the Titans need.
To be clear, none of this is to say that Ryan Tannehill is a better quarterback than either Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady. For as nice a 26-game stretch as he’s had, Tannehill’s achievements don’t make him look like a Canton-bound legend like those of Brady and Rodgers.
Even though both players are well over the age of 37, they still proved to be vital pieces to their respective teams in 2020. Rodgers would go on to win his third MVP award in the midst of a 13-3 regular season, while Brady would be found by the end of the year hoisting his seventh Lombardi Trophy in just his first year with the Buccaneers.
Clearly, the two future Hall of Famers possess generational resumes in a way that Tannehill cannot match, but for the Tennessee Titans, he doesn’t have to. For everything that Ryan Tannehill is, and everything he has been with the franchise, the 32-year old can be the hero that the Tennessee Titans need, and has been for those 26 regular-season starts.
Even in what has been a limited stint with the Titans, Tannehill’s name is already etched alongside good company in the franchise record books. His 6,561 passing yards and 55 passing touchdowns are both top ten for the franchise since 1960, and nobody above him on the list did so in as few games as Tannehill.
This isn’t the only Titans history for Tannehill, however. He also owns the record for best passer rating for a starting quarterback with the franchise, as well as coming in third for single-season records in passing yards and passing touchdowns with his effort in 2020, doing so with a higher completion percentage and fewer interceptions than the seasons that ranked ahead of him in both metrics.