Ryan Tannehill had a good first day of rookie minicamp. That should not be surprising to anyone. He's the first-round pick. He said he knows approximately "80 to 85 percent" of the offense because it's similar to the one he ran at Texas A&M although "some of the concepts have changed."
So the rook is off to a good start.
Tannehill throws a very impressive ball on out patterns and comebacks. He also connected on a couple of deep passes that caught the coaching staff's collective eye. He threw what looked like a nine route to Rishard Matthews that was perhaps the play of the practice. He had another connection with UDFA A.J. Guyton that also went deep.
"He threw a couple of double-moves and deep routes well," coach Joe Philbin said.
Tannehill did throw an interception but it happened on his first pass in team drills when he hit B.J. Cunningham in the hands and the receiver couldn't come up with the football. The loose ball popped in the air and was intercepted by Vincent Agnew. Agnew had a nice practice today as he also had another notable PD later in the practice.
There were more than a couple of drops today. Free agent Derek Moye dropped one, prompting a coach to yell, "Catch the ball!"
Third-round pick Michael Egnew also suffered a drop although he was able to catch a couple also. Egnew, by the way, is Tannehill's roommate at the team hotel where players are staying.
Tannehill is obviously more familiar than any of these rookies with the offense, save receiver Jeff Fuller, because both have been in the Aggies offense. He can press his advantage here, but Philbin said he wouldn't say he'll be ahead of veterans Matt Moore and David Garrard in knowing the system.
"We've thrown a lot at those guys," Philbin said cautiously.
Second-round pick Jonathan Martin today began his indoctrination to the right tackle spot. "It's a little strange," Martin said, "but I'm getting it."
It was clear that some of these kids are out of shape. Seriously, it is 80 degrees out. There is a pleasant breeze. There is very little humidity. But some guys were "gassed," Philbin noticed.
Wait until it's July and training camp opens and they're in pads and the sauna is on full sweat mode. Some big boys better be in shape by then.
Former University of Miami quarterback Jacory Harris is here. He was running third-team behind Tannehill and Pat Devlin. He's a good kid. But he's not NFL caliber, in my opinion. I cannot fault him for chasing his dream, however, and he said next weekend he will attend the Philadelphia Eagles rookie minicamp as a tryout player. It was previously reported Harris would attend the Arizona rookie camp instead.
