Ryan Tannehill and the Aggies are walking a tightrope.
Tannehill wears two helmets for the Aggies, one as the backup quarterback to Jerrod Johnson and the other as one of Johnson's favorite targets. How often Tannehill gets the opportunity to play the second role has been one of the major dilemmas of the Aggies' 3-3 season.
"That's a difficult one, but it's hard to keep him on the sidelines," A&M coach Mike Sherman said. "He wants to be a part of it, so it's very difficult. At the same time, I have to be smart and protect him as best I can, so if we need to go with him [at quarterback], he's ready to go. It's a fine line I'm walking."
Sherman doesn't want to flirt with Tannehill getting hurt. That the quandary exists at all comes because Tannehill is tied for second on the team with 21 receptions.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound sophomore from Big Spring knows what he's risking when he lines up at receiver.
"I got banged up a little bit last year, and every game it seemed like I was banging up something," Tannehill said. "[Sherman] said he didn't want that to happen this year, because Jerrod is one play from going down and I'm going to have to step in and play quarterback. If I'm banged up, too, it puts us in a tough situation."
Tannehill established A&M freshmen records for receptions (55) and receiving yards (844) last season while teaming with fellow freshman Jeff Fuller to make a formidable pass-catching duo for Johnson.
Now Tannehill is splitting his focus between catching passes on Saturday and practicing as the team's No. 2 quarterback during the week.
"[Sherman] wants me to be the backup quarterback and concentrate on that," said Tannehill, who attends the quarterbacks' meetings and takes more reps at quarterback than at receiver in practice. "He doesn't want me playing too much receiver and not focusing on quarterback. We haven't really discussed where that line is. You just kind of get a feel for that."
Tannehill has primarily played on third downs, averaging 15.1 yards per catch. But he admits he'd rather be playing every down under center.
"I want to be a quarterback, and I think this season definitely proves I'm a quarterback," he said. "I'm trying to focus on quarterback and wide receiver while being ready to go in at quarterback at any time. I definitely want to stay at quarterback and compete with Jerrod in the spring."
Tannehill has only thrown one pass this season, an 8-yard completion, but he showed the coaching staff enough during camp to warrant a longer look from Sherman.
"Ryan knew going in that it would take a knockout punch to unseat a returning starter at that position who also went through spring ball," Sherman said. "Ryan competed very favorably, and it was neck-and-neck until the end. He's going to play for a long time I believe. He's a very good quarterback."
For now, his role as quarterback is to learn and help from the sideline. When not in the game as a receiver, Tannehill watches how defenses react to different schemes and relays what he sees to Johnson.
"I know the play call when it goes in, so I try to look at it as Jerrod would, not necessarily watch him," Tannehill said. "I look at the defense and see the read. Sometimes you miss stuff out on the field. You are in the heat of the moment. Bullets are flying and you don't see stuff, and it's my job as backup quarterback to help him out as much as I can."
Tannehill's one appearance at quarterback was a brief one, a couple of series against Alabama-Birmingham. Even though it was a short stint, it reassured Tannehill that directing most of his attention toward the quarterback position was the right move.
"I was kind of itching for awhile to be out there under center," he said. "It definitely felt good even if it was just basically two drives. It definitely makes me want to be out there more and makes me want to fight for the position."
A&M has had other chances to use Tannehill under center, but Sherman went with third-stringer Tommy Dorman.
Tannehill has put a bug in Sherman's ear about it, but he says he doesn't press it, especially during the game.
"I definitely tell him I want to get in there at QB, but I believe he has the best interest for me in mind," Tannehill said. "He told me he doesn't want me going in and getting hurt during trash time at the end of the game. It would be dumb for me to take a shot at that point."
Depending on the circumstances, Tannehill would especially love an opportunity to play quarterback Saturday when the Aggies face Texas Tech in Lubbock. Tannehill played high school football about 100 miles south of Jones AT&T Stadium.
"It's a little bit like going home," said Tannehill, who grew up attending Red Raider games. "It's the team I grew up watching, and it's the closest team to my home town, so it's definitely exciting to go back and play. I looked at them, but they weren't really interested in me too much because, I'm not sure about this, but because we ran the Wing-T and they aren't really into the Wing-T at Tech. I'm not sorry about it now. I'd rather be here."
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