5 Reasons Titans QB Ryan Tannehill deserves more credit than he’s gotten
By Brady Akins
The Tennessee Titans are now an offensive powerhouse since his arrival.
The Tennessee Titans have been a juggernaut on offense since around the time of Week 7 in the 2019 season, the first game Tannehill took the field as a Titans starter.
Over the past two seasons combined, Tennessee has been among elite company for team offense. They’ve been the fifth-best scoring offense over the two-year span, have gained the fifth-most total yards, and trail only the Kansas City Chiefs in average yards per play. Think about that for a second.
These are the Tennessee Titans, the very same team that’s ranked as a below-average offense just about every season before Tannehill’s arrival for the last two decades. In those same metrics over the course of the 2006 to 2018 seasons, the Titans ranked 20th in yards per play, 22nd in points per game, and 25th in total yards gained.
The Titans are the NFL’s ultimate ‘rags to riches’ story. The Titans are the football equivalent of Annie.
And yes, Tennessee does have a noteworthy offensive star alongside Tannehill in Derrick Henry, but over the course of his career, Henry has struggled to be consistently dominant but seemed to have put those issues aside once the offense opened up a bit with Tannehill taking snaps.
Henry was a borderline average running back in his first three seasons as a pro, before Tannehill joining the roster. His 22 rushing touchdowns in that span were tied for ninth in the league, but 2,293 rushing yards had him ranked just 14th, while his 4.58 rushing yards were just 23rd.
None of that to say that Henry can’t succeed without Tannehill, but with two stellar seasons following the Titans’ quarterback swap, Henry has played by far his best ball with the former Miami Dolphin taking snaps.