NFL MVP stock watch, Week 7: Derrick Henry enters the chat
By Dustin Baker
4. Ryan Tannehill, QB (Tennessee Titans)
Last Week’s Ranking: Unranked
Highest Ranking of Season: Unranked
2020 Stats: 1,368 Passing Yards, 13 Passing TDs, 2 INTs, 69.9% Comp, 113.5 Passer Rating
It’s time. Ryan Tannehill was strategically kept off the Stock Watch for the past handful of weeks. His team was narrowly beating bad teams in circumstances where the opposition probably should have been toppled convincingly. Now, the Titans are 5-0 and one of the NFL’s three undefeated teams after six weeks (Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks).
The whispers in August that Titans were a mirage and hence reminiscent of the 2017 Jacksonville Jaguars can now be called comedic murmurs. That Jaguars team that reached the AFC Championship was led by Blake Bortles — a man that recently cut from his fourth-string quarterback role with the Denver Broncos.
Tannehill is the captain of an offense that is ticking under third-year skipper, Mike Vrabel. Indeed, it helps to have a speedy tractor-trailer like Derrick Henry to hand the ball. Yet, Tannehill is doing much more than merely managing football games. Look at his numbers. They’re outstanding.
His MVP candidacy can no longer be swept under the rug. The Titans are positioning themselves to take another stab at the conference championship.