Titans QB Ryan Tannehill is struggling vs. zone, thriving against man

Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill has severely struggled through the first half of the 2023 season, which has only exacerbated all the problems around him.

The veteran quarterback has thrown just two touchdown passes and six interceptions over six games, while only averaging 188 passing yards per contest on the year. Tannehill also ranks 31st in quarterback rating at the moment, posting a ridiculously underwhelming QBR of 33.1, per ESPN.

Keep in mind that there’s only 32 starting quarterbacks in the NFL.

That’s just one of the many reasons why several fans are clamoring for the team to make a switch to one of the younger quarterbacks on their roster, something that may happen by default with Tannehill unlikely to play in Week 8 due to a high-ankle sprain.

Tannehill is especially struggling against zone coverages, according to data analyst Arjun Menon, who used Pro Football Focus’ EPA per play metric.

Tannehill’s lowest EPA per play numbers all come against zone coverages where defenders are allowed to read and react to his eyes and break on balls instead of having to focus on mirroring a man downfield.

He surprisingly has done very well against man coverages, posting positive EPA’s when facing those types of defensive looks on the back end.

Let’s take a closer look at how the Titans’ quarterback is performing against each of the seven major coverages that are most commonly used by opposing defenses in some variation.

Cover 0 (man coverage, AKA all-out blitz)

• EPA per play: 0.414

Cover 1 (man coverage, one deep safety)

• EPA per play: 0.169

Cover 2 (zone coverage, two deep safeties)

• EPA per play: -0.150

Cover 3 (Zone coverage, three deep defenders)

• EPA per play: -0.137

Cover 4 (zone coverage, quarters coverage)

• EPA per play: 0.060

Cover 5 (man coverage, two deep, man underneath)

• EPA per play: 0.833

Cover 6 (zone coverage, quarter-quarter-half)

• EPA per play: 0.833

Tannehill’s numbers in comparison to rest of league

Story originally appeared on Titans Wire