If nothing else, Colin Cowherd is really good at having a controversial opinion that goes against the grain and pisses people off. It’s what he gets paid to do.
The latest example of that comes from his leaving Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill out of his top-10 AFC quarterback rankings.
That’s right, the FS1 host believes that there are 10 other quarterbacks in the conference who are better than Tannehill. Let’s see who they are, and beneath that is the video of Cowherd explaining his choices.
1. Patrick Mahomes | Kansas City Chiefs
2. Lamar Jackson | Baltimore Ravens
3. Deshaun Watson | Houston Texans
4. Ben Roethlisberger | Pittsburgh Steelers
5. Josh Allen | Buffalo Bills
6. Cam Newton | New England Patriots
7. Baker Mayfield | Cleveland Browns
8. Sam Darnold | New York Jets
9. Philip Rivers | Indianapolis Colts
10. Drew Lock | Denver Broncos
If we take the “what have you done for me lately” approach, Tannehill should go anywhere from No. 4 to No. 6 on this list. At the very least, he should easily be in the top 10.
After all, Tannehill was the highest-graded quarterback in the NFL last season, per Pro Football Focus, led the NFL in passer rating and yards per attempt and completion, and finished third in completion percentage.
And, Tannehill proved he was much more than just the guy who hands the ball off to Derrick Henry, as he excelled in every situation and with every type of throw imaginable.
There’s simply no other way to say it: Tannehill was one of the best quarterbacks in the league in 2019 and leaving him off this list just doesn’t make sense, especially when you consider who is in front of him.
While the top three are spot-on, it’s kind of a mess after that. We can give Roethlisberger and Newton the benefit of the doubt based on their history even though both only played in two games last season.
However, Rivers is coming off arguably his worst season as a pro, and Mayfield, Darnold, Allen and Lock have never produced the kind of season that Tannehill did in 2019, leaving them as unproven at best.
Of course, Tannehill isn’t exactly the model of consistency during his career, but at least he has posted multiple solid seasons dating back to his days with the Miami Dolphins, although 2019 was certainly his best.
Not only should Tannehill be in the top 10 of AFC quarterbacks going into 2020, he deserves a spot in or near the top 10 of signal-callers in the entire NFL, much like he was in Chris Simms’ QB rankings.
