Ryan Tannehill Ryan Tannehill ( born July 28 , 1988 ) is an American football quarterback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League ( NFL ) . He played college football at Texas A & M . The Miami Dolphins selected him with the eighth overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft . Early years . Tannehill was born in Big Spring , Texas . He attended Big Spring High School , where he played high school football . He played 10 games at defensive back his sophomore season . As a junior , he passed for 1 , 410 yards and rushed for 822 at quarterback . He took his team to the playoffs as a senior , passing for 1 , 258 yards and rushing for another 617 . He had to miss two games due to a separated shoulder in the second game of his senior year . He also posted three receptions for 62 yards and compiled a 39 . 2 punt average with a long of 84 yards as a senior . He received second - team District 4 - 4A honors for both his junior and senior seasons . College career . 2007 season . Tannehill redshirted his first season ( 2007 ) at A & M . 2008 season . Prior to Tannehill ' s second season , Mike Sherman took over as head coach . In summer camp , Tannehill competed against veteran quarterback Stephen McGee and redshirt sophomore Jerrod Johnson for the starting quarterback position . He finished third in the contest , behind Johnson and then McGee . Sherman , whose offense utilizes true receivers , moved him to wide receiver . In his fifth game , he posted freshman school records of 210 yards on 12 catches . After his six receptions for 78 yards in the Iowa State game , he broke the freshman school records for receptions and receiving yards . Tannehill finished his redshirt freshman season with 844 receiving yards , which was 11 yards shy of breaking Robert Ferguson ' s record set in 2000 . He attempted only one pass at quarterback the whole season . Tannehill had expressed his desire to become the starting quarterback at A & M : " I still think of myself as a quarterback , I still want to be a quarterback here at A & M . Hopefully that ’ s the way it turns out . But if things don ’ t happen that way , and Coach thinks I can better help being a receiver , then I guess I ’ m okay with that . " 2009 season . During the 2009 offseason , Tannehill and Jerrod Johnson competed for the starting quarterback position ; the job went to Johnson . Tannehill finished the 2009 season with a team - leading 46 receptions for 609 yards and four touchdowns . About 80 % of his 46 catches went for first downs or touchdowns . He picked up All - Big 12 Honorable Mention honors for his performance . He only took eight snaps at quarterback the entire season . 2010 season . Tannehill continued to play receiver during the first six games of the 2010 season . Over those six games , he made 11 catches for 143 yards . He attempted 4 passes during the season opener . He saw extensive action at quarterback during the Kansas game , splitting time with starter Jerrod Johnson . Tannehill finished with 12 - for - 16 passes for 155 yards and three touchdowns . In his first career start at quarterback , Tannehill led the Aggies to a 45 – 27 victory over Texas Tech . He set a school record with his 449 passing yards . He also made a 33 - yard pooch punt , his first career kick . Tannehill quarterbacked the Aggies to a victory over No . 11 Oklahoma , which moved the team into the top 25 . He helped the team maintain the top 25 ranking through victories over Baylor and No . 9 Nebraska . During the Nebraska game , he punted twice since the starter was injured . He and his team defeated Texas to finish off the regular season . He picked up All - Big 12 Honorable Mention honors . 2011 season . In 2011 , Tannehill started all 13 games ( including the bowl game ) at quarterback for the Aggies and served as team captain . He threw for 3 , 744 yards and 29 touchdowns , with 15 interceptions . He completed 61 . 6 % of his passes and posted a quarterback rating of 133 . 2 . He also ran for 4 touchdowns . Tannehill concluded his quarterback career at Texas A & M with a total of 5 , 450 passing yards and 42 touchdown passes . College statistics . " Through the completion of the 2011 season " . Professional career . Tannehill ran the 40 - yard dash in 4 . 62 seconds at his pro day . He was considered the # 3 quarterback prospect in the 2012 NFL Draft class behind Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III . In the 2012 NFL Draft , the Miami Dolphins selected Tannehill with the 8th overall pick . He was the first quarterback selected by the Dolphins in the first round since Dan Marino in 1983 . He became the 13th starting quarterback by the Miami Dolphins since Dan Marino and only the 3rd quarterback taken 1st round in franchise history following Hall of famers Bob Griese and Dan Marino . On July 28 , 2012 , Tannehill signed a four - year contract with the Dolphins worth approximately $ 12 . 684 million , with an option for a 5th year , as reported by the Miami Herald . On August 20 , 2012 , Tannehill was named the starting quarterback for the season opener against the Houston Texans . He will be the 17th starting quarterback since Dan Marino retired . 2012 season . In week 1 of the 2012 NFL season , Tannehill started his first career regular season game which ended in a 30 - 10 loss . He finished with 219 yards , zero touchdowns and three interceptions . Two of his three interceptions were tipped at the line of scrimmage by defensive end J . J . Watt of the Houston Texans . In response to Tannehill ' s performance , Joe Philbin stated “ We ’ ve ( also ) got to do a better job in ( pass ) protection , and at times the receivers have to protect the throw from the quarterback . So I would say , as is usually the case , there is a little bit of culpability across the board . ” In week 2 of the 2012 NFL season , Tannehill improved dramatically in a 35 - 13 win over the Oakland Raiders . Tannehill passed for an even 200 yards , with one touchdown and zero interceptions , as well as 14 yards on the ground to go along with one rushing score . Tannehill seemed to fix his tipped ball problem by having zero passes batted down in week 2 . By the end of week 3 , Tannehill had completed less than than 53 % of his passes , and also had only 1 touchdown to four interceptions . In week 4 against the Arizona Cardinals , Tannehill threw for 431 yards , surpassing the Dolphins ' single - game record for most passing yards by a rookie quarterback , set by Dan Marino in 1983 . Tannehill ' s mark was 1 yard shy of the NFL ' s single - game passing - yard record by a rookie quarterback , set by Carolina ' s Cam Newton in 2011 . He threw for 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions in the 24 - 21 OT loss to the Cardinals . In week 16 , Tannehill set a franchise record for longest run by a quarterback by rushing 31 yards in a single play . The previous record was set by Pat White who had a 30 - yard run during the 2009 season . During that week 16 game against Buffalo , Tannehill also became the fifth quarterback in team history to surpass 3 , 000 passing yards in a season . Tannehill went on to set franchise rookie records for passing yards , attempts , and completions . Personal life . Tannehill graduated with a bachelor ' s degree in biology in May 2011 and had planned to become an orthopedic surgeon . Ryan and his wife Lauren Tannehill , whom he met at Texas A & M , were engaged in May 2011 and were married in Mexico in January 2012 .