Ryan Tannehill Better Than Patrick Mahomes? The Statistics Say So
There were a lot of raised eyebrows when the Tennessee Titans locked up quarterback Ryan Tannehill for four years at $118,000,000. Coming into this year, Tannehill had only started 10 games for the Titans. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes inked a deal that could pay him $500,000,000 over his career. Mahomes is coming off a Super Bowl title and his deal was hardly shocking. At $118 million, Tannehill looks like one of the biggest bargains in the NFL.
Ryan Tannehill has turned his game around
Ryan Tannehill came into the league in 2012 as a highly touted quarterback out of Texas A&M. He was selected by the Miami Dolphins with the eighth overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft. He spent six years with the Dolphins, compiling a 42-46 record.
Tannehill had one winning season in Miami, that coming in 2016. He played in 13 games that season and went 8-5. The Dolphins finished the year at 10-6 and qualified for postseason play. In March of 2019, Tannehill was traded, along with a sixth-round pick, to the Tennessee Titans for fourth-round and seventh-round selections.
With the Titans, he replaced Marcus Mariota in Week 6 of the 2019 season. He became the full-time starter in Week 7. In the 10 regular-season games he started, the Titans went 7-3 and made the playoffs. The Titans knocked off both the New England Patriots and top-seeded Baltimore Ravens before falling to the eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
Tannehill inks huge payday with the Titans
Ryan Tannehill had mixed emotions when he was traded from the Miami Dolphins to the Tennessee Titans in March of 2019. He was getting a new lease on life, but he was entering this new phase as a backup. He went from being the starting quarterback of the Miami Dolphins to backing up Marcus Mariota in Tennessee.
“It was really hard. Nobody likes to sit on the bench. I wanted to be playing. I wanted to be competing. Everything is different when you’re not in the starting position,” Tannehill told ESPN in January. “That was a big change for me. There was a lot of biting your tongue and swallowing your pride. It was definitely an adjustment. But I just tried to make the best of the situation I was given, play my role and be a good teammate.”
Tannehill was rewarded this offseason with a four-year deal worth $118 million. In 2019, he threw 22 touchdown passes and just six interceptions and he guided the Titans into the playoffs when he started the final 10 games of the regular season. The deal appears to be paying off as he has the Titans off to a 4-0 start.
Who’s better: Ryan Tannehill or Patrick Mahomes?
Pose the following question to a group of NFL fans and they’ll think you’re nuts: Who’s the better quarterback, Ryan Tannehill or Patrick Mahomes? Mahomes wins most talented by a landslide, but better? The statistics give the slight edge to Tannehill.
Based on the time since Tannehill has been the starter for the Tennessee Titans (14 games), the statistics between the two quarterbacks are very similar. Both Tannehill and Mahomes have gone 11-3 in the regular season and both have thrown six interceptions. Mahomes has the slight edge in passing yardage (3,674 to 3,602).
Tannehill surprisingly has more touchdown passes (31) than Mahomes (28), considering the Chiefs have better weapons. Tannehill’s passer rating is 116.7, while Mahomes’ is 102.3. When it comes to contract, Tannehill might be considered the bigger bargain, but Mahomes still has to be considered the better quarterback despite what the numbers say.
