Malcolm Jenkins Is Benching Ryan Tannehill: 'Interceptions Are Negative Points In Fantasy'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Entering his fourth NFL season, running what was expected to be an ascending Miami Dolphins offense, Ryan Tannehill was a trendy quarterback selection around fantasy football drafts this summer.
However, Tannehill and the 3-5 Dolphins have struggled early on, as the former first-round pick out of Texas A&M has just 13 touchdowns to nine interceptions this season.
Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins fell for the Tannehill-preseason hype and drafted him for his fantasy football team.
"I have him as my fantasy quarterback," Jenkins said Monday of Tannehill on 94WIP's Locker Room Show with Eagles center Jason Kelce, Merrill Reese, Howard Eskin, and Jon Runyan. "He's obviously not gonna start this week."
"Yeah, you're benching him this week?" Kelce joked.
"Yeah, he's not gonna start this week." Jenkins reiterated. "I plan on playing well. Interceptions are negative points in fantasy, so I plan on getting my hands on a couple. Gotta sit [him] on my bench this week."
Still, Jenkins understands what Tannehill, Lamar Miller, Jarvis Landry, and the Dolphins' offense is capable of. After all, just three games ago, Tannehill was 18-19 for 282 yards and four touchdowns in a 44-26 win over the Houston Texans.
"If you allow him, he's a really good quarterback," Jenkins said of Tannehill. "He has a lot of production, he's athletic enough, and he has weapons. When they get that run game going and they're balanced, he does quite well. And when they don't have the balance and you get to him, and you put bodies on him---just like any other quarterback---he doesn't look as good."
While Jenkins has proved to be the Eagles' defensive leader on and off the field, Kelce continues to be one of the team's leaders on the other side of the ball. And coming off their big overtime win against the Cowboys, Kelce understands Sunday's matchup against the Dolphins can't be a let-down game.
"Obviously, going into last night we were 3-4 in division game against a team that we had just got our tails crushed, especially offensively, the first time," Kelce said. "That was a huge game for us, but that doesn't take anything away from Miami this week. Right now, we're still only 4-4 and this is a huge game and I don't think anybody is taking it lightly or anything less than the way we just took Dallas."