Talleywhacker

[San Jose Bills Fan]

I will say this though.......as a thrower of the football Tannehill is much more natural than EJ. He is smooth and when the ball comes out of his hand you expect it to be on target…

EJ as a passer is scattershot. No denying it. He is anything but smooth.

 

Tannehill has great "arm talent" but I strongly disagree with your assessment of EJ's passing ability.

 

Does EJ have to develop more consistent mechanics?

 

Yes.

 

But when he's on, he throws the ball as well as anyone, delivering the throw with a compact yet smooth release, and with excellent pace and a tight spiral.

 

I think EJ is a very natural thrower with a smooth delivery and effortless zip.

 

I'm very confident that EJ will get his gun sighted in.

 

And people who claim that he hasn't made nice tight window throws or shown elite arm talent are in denial IMO. He's completed some throws this year that we haven't seen a Bills quarterback make in many years.

[purple haze]

I've spoken my piece on this subject as have others and the thought of debating this every week until and beyond April is really more than I can stand.

 

For the record I think EJ's the real deal but I'm not against the concept of taking another first round QB if the circumstances are right.

 

I co-sign your opinion SJBF.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

I co-sign your opinion SJBF.

 

You're a wise person purple haze, although I always preferred orange window pane.

 

Wait, what?!?!

[goldenboy81]

Ej Da Great

[BADOLBILZ]

Tannehill has great "arm talent" but I strongly disagree with your assessment of EJ's passing ability.

 

Does EJ have to develop more consistent mechanics?

 

Yes.

 

But when he's on, he throws the ball as well as anyone, delivering the throw with a compact yet smooth release, and with excellent pace and a tight spiral.

 

I think EJ is a very natural thrower with a smooth delivery and effortless zip.

 

I'm very confident that EJ will get his gun sighted in.

 

And people who claim that he hasn't made nice tight window throws or shown elite arm talent are in denial IMO. He's completed some throws this year that we haven't seen a Bills quarterback make in many years.

 

EJ has a big arm but he has little control over it and as a result I think he short-arms and aims the ball. He has a muted 90 degree arm angle where his elbow is often parallel to his shoulder at release point rather than an over the top release.

 

Of course, when you have the wingspan and long legs of a 7' tall man it is not surprising when you have a hard time putting your mechanics together.

 

I have mentioned the Randy Johnson comparison before. When Randy got to be about 30 he got his mechanics down.

 

EJ has a lot of good attributes. Arm strength, big hands, possibly top intangibles, athleticism. I am just very doubtful about significant mechanics changes. I think when you get to 23-24 years old and have been going to QB camps since HS and played 4 years in college you basically throw the ball the way you are going to throw the ball.

 

One of the more famous attempts at serious mechanical changes that failed was David Carr. When he joined the Texans they tried to break his sidearm release. Just made things worse.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

EJ has a big arm but he has little control over it and as a result I think he short-arms and aims the ball. He has a muted 90 degree arm angle where his elbow is often parallel to his shoulder at release point rather than an over the top release.

 

Of course, when you have the wingspan and long legs of a 7' tall man it is not surprising when you have a hard time putting your mechanics together.

 

I have mentioned the Randy Johnson comparison before. When Randy got to be about 30 he got his mechanics down.

 

EJ has a lot of good attributes. Arm strength, big hands, possibly top intangibles, athleticism. I am just very doubtful about significant mechanics changes. I think when you get to 23-24 years old and have been going to QB camps since HS and played 4 years in college you basically throw the ball the way you are going to throw the ball.

 

One of the more famous attempts at serious mechanical changes that failed was David Carr. When he joined the Texans they tried to break his sidearm release. Just made things worse.

 

We'll see.

 

In one year we'll know all we need to know, provided EJ can stay healthy next year.

[Johnny Hammersticks]

 

 

 

I am not a big fan of Tannehill. But he is smart......he was pre-med and intends to be a surgeon.

 

To me he is Bledsoe-esque. I don't see the competitiveness and I really don't think football is that high of a priority in his life. That pretty much never equates to All Pro status. That's the eyeball test.

 

I will say this though.......as a thrower of the football he is much more natural than EJ. He is smooth and when the ball comes out of his hand you expect it to be on target. He also only played QB in college for his last two seasons.....he was a WR the first two seasons..........so he came into the NFL with considerably less game time at the college level.

 

EJ as a passer is scattershot. No denying it. He is anything but smooth.

 

Bledsoe-esque? What exactly about Tannehill reminds you of Drew Bledsoe?

[OldTimer1960]

Talleywhacker had a good rookie year and was having a nice sophomore year.

 

Until today.

 

He's lucky he doesn't play in Buffalo.

 

People here really have no perspective on young quarterbacks.

 

Well said. Some on this board have absolutely no idea that young players need to learn to play in the NFL - most don't come out of college as Hall of Fame calibre players. It might be fun to put together a list of great QBs who were not great immediately upon arrival to the NFL. That would be a pretty long list and I think that there would be several of them who - horrors - weren't even perfect in their 2nd season!

[vincec]

I wonder who could possibly look good:

 

1) under constant pressure

2) playing with no running game to keep the defense honest

3) with his receivers dropping passes

4) in the freezing rain

5) dealing with the noise of a hostile crowd

 

?

Edited December 24, 2013 by vincec

[Gray Beard]

I wonder who could possibly look good:

 

1) under constant pressure

2) playing with no running game to keep the defense honest

3) with his receivers dropping passes

4) in the freezing rain

5) dealing with the noise of a hostile crowd

 

?

+1

A shut-out impies the D was playing very well, but there were a lot of bad throws and dropped passes. How much of that was because the Bills D was that good, and how much was because the Miami offense was that bad?

[prissythecat]

I wonder who could possibly look good:

 

1) under constant pressure

2) playing with no running game to keep the defense honest

3) with his receivers dropping passes

4) in the freezing rain

5) dealing with the noise of a hostile crowd

 

?

 

I find it quite interesting how a number folks like to make these excuses for their QB of the month / year. Yet, when the same problems plague other QBs (e.g., Fitz) ,they just go out and say "he sucks. lets get rid of him" . I'm not a Fitz fan mind you. But seems like we have some double standards.

[thewildrabbit]

I wonder who could possibly look good:

 

1) under constant pressure

2) playing with no running game to keep the defense honest

3) with his receivers dropping passes

4) in the freezing rain

5) dealing with the noise of a hostile crowd

 

?

It was great wasn't it

[Buftex]

Normally I agree w/you... BUT the Bills have missed the playoffs for 14 years... We don't have the luxury! Constant pressure must be applied to finding that elusive franchise Qb... "Give it another year" is a sure disaster if we go solo w/one dude in the pipeline.

 

By the same token, you can't hold the current team responsible for the transgressions of the previous 13 teams. If you do, you will never get anywhere...look at the Raiders.

[Coastie]

We'll see.

 

In one year we'll know all we need to know, provided EJ can stay healthy next year.

 

This is the nagging fear in my brain. Missing half the preseason, a third of the season with multiple injuries. I pray they are just flukes because I see a lot of potential in EJ if he can get a full year of play.

[BADOLBILZ]

Bledsoe-esque? What exactly about Tannehill reminds you of Drew Bledsoe?

 

I explained it. He is a big guy with a big arm.....he even looks like him with his expressionless face and demeanor and he even has 3/4 release like Bledsoe..........but like Bledsoe I don't think he is very competitive and it seems like football is not a huge priority to him. He is by all accounts a very smart guy but last year in camp he couldn't name the teams in his own division. One of the things that most sticks in my head about Bledsoe was how he came out at the beginning of his Bills career playing like his hair was on fire..........motivated by being dumped by the Patriots. He was fired up. As time wore on.......the fire went back out. The guy was a competitive dud. You need a QB who lives football and I don't think Tannehill is that guy.

[Maury Ballstein]

Only Tannenhill has great footwork and athleticism unlike stone shoes Bledsoe.

 

Haven't heard the knocks on his will to win yet. Lebron is expressionless as well if that means anything.

[vincec]

I find it quite interesting how a number folks like to make these excuses for their QB of the month / year. Yet, when the same problems plague other QBs (e.g., Fitz) ,they just go out and say "he sucks. lets get rid of him" . I'm not a Fitz fan mind you. But seems like we have some double standards.

So Fitz played most of his time in Buffalo with no running game and under constant pressure? I guess I need to go back and look at the film. I seem to remember that he was one of the least sacked QBs in the league with one of the most explosive running attacks. I love hove people constantly look for excuses for Fitz in every post they see, even when the thread or the post wasn't about him.

[FireChan]

So Fitz played most of his time in Buffalo with no running game and under constant pressure? I guess I need to go back and look at the film. I seem to remember that he was one of the least sacked QBs in the league with one of the most explosive running attacks. I love hove people constantly look for excuses for Fitz in every post they see, even when the thread or the post wasn't about him.

 

I think we can all agree Gailey's scheme and our old QB's pre-snap adjustments masked a lot of our O-line deficiencies. But our offense was chugging along until we had to put up +30 points a game in order to win.

 

But make no mistake, our O-line was mediocre to bad last year and is still mediocre to bad this year. I made several topics about it in 2012.

Edited December 24, 2013 by FireChan

[prissythecat]

So Fitz played most of his time in Buffalo with no running game and under constant pressure? I guess I need to go back and look at the film. I seem to remember that he was one of the least sacked QBs in the league with one of the most explosive running attacks. I love hove people constantly look for excuses for Fitz in every post they see, even when the thread or the post wasn't about him.

 

Yes. If you watch the film, you should see that Fitz was getting rid of the ball pretty quickly because the protection wasn't that good.

[BADOLBILZ]

Only Tannenhill has great footwork and athleticism unlike stone shoes Bledsoe.

 

Haven't heard the knocks on his will to win yet. Lebron is expressionless as well if that means anything.

 

Yeah, he is a great athlete, it's not so much a physical comparison as Bledsoe also had a significantly stronger arm.....his arm was the class of the NFL early in his career. But as dave mcbride pointed out Bledsoe at one time was one of the toughest QB's in the NFL to sack so he wasn't always the statue you may remember. It's actually a compliment to Tannehill to compare him to Bledsoe early in his career......Drew looked like a HOF lock after a few seasons.

 

But I gotta' say, I don't know if he is the Lebron of the NFL. That might be a stretch on your part, IMO.

 

I will say this much, for a guy who only played QB for 2 years at A&M he is light years ahead of a similarly seasoned EJ Manuel in terms of footwork and natural accuracy. No doubt about it. When he throws the ball you expect it to be on the mark. It looks natural. When EJ throws, it's more of a *hope* situation.