It’s no secret that Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill has struggled overall through the first six weeks of the 2023 campaign.
Tannehill has only thrown two touchdown passes over that span while adding in a total of six interceptions on top of that. To make matters worse, he’s now dealing with another ankle injury that could force him to miss games or further limit hit effectiveness if he plays through it.
The veteran quarterback has shown that his play can largely depend on the personnel and situation in which he’s forced to play. According to Next Gen Stats, Tannehill’s numbers are substantially better when he has star running back Derrick Henry in the game.
Tannehill’s completion percentage is 11.5 points higher, he’s averaging 3.6 more yards per attempt, and his touchdown-to-interception ratio is 2:1, as compared to the 0:5 it is without Henry.
Adding to that, Tannehill’s passer rating decreases by 54.2 points without The King, and his pressure percentage increases by 21.1 points. The veteran has been sacked three times with Henry lining up in the backfield, and 16 times without.
Ryan Tannehill with Derrick Henry on and off the field (per @NextGenStats):
Henry On Field
• 67.3 comp pct
• 9.1 yards/att
• 2 TD
• 1 INT
• 101.4 passer rating
• 25.6 pressure pct
• 3 sacksHenry Off Field
• 55.8 comp pct
• 5.5 yards/att
• 0 TD
• 5 INT
• 47.2…— Tony Holzman-Escareno (@FrontOfficeNFL) October 17, 2023
As eye-popping as those numbers are, they are missing some pretty important context.
Whenever Henry is in the game, he immediately becomes the opposing defense’s main priority. He’s also mainly a two-down running back who doesn’t play much in obvious passing situations.
Also, a lot of the passes that occur when he’s in the game are off play-action, so that’s naturally going to help to neutralize the aggressiveness of an opposing pass rush.
Rookie running back Tyjae Spears doesn’t have that luxury, since he’s mainly in the game when the team is in obvious passing situations and the opposing pass-rush can pin its ears back in order to get after the Titans quarterback.
Tennessee’s offense isn’t built to thrive in the drop-back game at the moment, and those are often the times when Spears is on the field because he’s much more dynamic in that area than Henry is.
Regardless, the Titans have to find a way to get much more efficient quarterback play from whoever the team trots out there after the bye.
Otherwise, this team could be destined for a hopeless back half of the 2023 season.
