Tanney did clear waivers though, and spent time on their practice squad, until the Browns came calling and signed him away.
This wasn’t the first time the Browns went looking for another team’s practice squad quarterback, as they attempted to poach Scott Tolzien from the Packers earlier in the year, but were rebuffed.
When researching Tanney, I came across this interview with NFL Draft Analyst Thomas Melton, who mentioned Tanney has “the size, arm talent and accuracy to stick on a NFL roster,” and if Tanney were to receive the proper teaching and studied enough film could stick as practice squad quarterback.
That’s been the case so far in Tanney’s short NFL career.
There are always reasons why any college draft prospect goes undrafted, and according to Melton, Tanney needs to improve on his footwork.
One other thing that Melton said about Tanney was that, “He seems to take coaching well so that helps.”
I found that last quote intriguing because in Cleveland, Tanney would have two offensive minds teaching him in Head Coach Chudzinski, and offensive coordinator Norv Turner.
Cowboys Head Coach Jason Garret also mentioned how Tanney, “seemed to get better and better and it seems like a good opportunity for him“, when talking about the Browns signing Tanney.
During the off-season I wrote about how Weeden could be a sneaky QB2 option in 2-QB leagues, and part of that was due to playing under Chud and Turner.
During their NFL coaching careers, as either a head coach or offensive co-ordinator, Chud and Turner have coached a number of quarterbacks, both high and low profiled, who have produced fantasy relevant seasons in 2-QB leagues.
The numbers from that article show there were only five seasons, out of an eligible 26, where a Chud/Turner coached quarterback didn’t finish the season at least in the QB2 discussion.
I mentioned in the Weeden article quarterbacks like Troy Aikman or Cam Newton could be coached by anybody, but Derek Anderson and Brad Johnson also had QB1 seasons playing for Chud/Turner.
If Tanney were to start this week, and that’s a big if, he has a couple of things going for him.
One is the one-on-one coaching he would receive, where the Browns coaching staff would prepare him for the Patriots, and create a game plan centred around Tanney’s strengths and weaknesses.
Second, there’s not much NFL game tape on an undrafted quarterback out of Monmouth College, and that gives the Browns an advantage, as teams won’t be able to scheme so easily to shut down Tanney.
We’ve seen it this year already, when the likes of Keenum, Tolzien, and McGloin were able to come in without much fanfare, and produce right away.
We also can’t forget the week quarterback fantasy numbers Weeden, Hoyer, and Campbell have put up this year.
The trio have combined for six QB1 finishes this year, and in relief of Hoyer in Week 5, Weeden finished the week as QB19.
With seven out of 12 games ending with QB2 minimum numbers, Browns quarterbacks have been useful in 2-QB fantasy football leagues this year. Maybe Tanney can be next.
One other thing going for Tanney is he would get to throw to Josh Gordon, and when you have a talent like Gordon, 95-yard catch and run touchdowns are always a possibility. Just ask Brandon Weeden.
I would say weirder things have happened in fantasy football, but when Scott Tolzien, Case Keenum, and Matt McGloin are putting up fantasy relevant numbers can the NFL and fantasy football season get any weirder?
In 2-QB fantasy football leagues you sometimes have to embrace the weirdness, and Tanney could be the next in line of what has turned out to be a ‘Freaky Friday’ type of season.
*Stats used in this article from PFF, ESPN, FantasyData, and NFLDraftScout.
