Mayock: Franchise is at ‘a crossroads’
Mike Mayock classified Ryan Tannehill as a disappointing first-round pick for the Miami Dolphins on Monday, and the NFL Network’s lead draft analyst hinted that the decision the franchise makes regarding the quarterback position this offseason could determine the fate of its leadership.
During a national conference call leading into the start of this week’s NFL scouting combine, Mayock pointed out that the Dolphins had one successful season, qualifying for the playoffs in 2016, and one disappointing season, producing a 6-10 record in 2017, in this regime’s two seasons together. He then asked “what’s next?”
The way Mayock views it, that answer will likely be determined by how the franchise’s decision makers — executive vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum, general manager Chris Grier, and head coach Adam Gase — feel about Tannehill, the Dolphins first-round pick in 2012, coming off his second serious knee injury, which forced him to miss all of the 2017 season.
“They have a quarterback coming off an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament injury) who is 30 years old and has not lived up to his first-round expectations,” Mayock said. “Are you going to hang your hat on Tannehill and say ‘that’s our guy?’ Or are they going to be bold and go in a different direction?”
A different direction would require the Dolphins to either trade for a veteran quarterback like Washington is expected to do with Kansas City for Alex Smith, whom the Chiefs are sending to the Redskins for a third-round pick and veteran cornerback Kendall Fuller, sign a free-agent quarterback (like Sam Bradford, Case Keenum or Teddy Bridgewater in March), or select a quarterback early in the NFL draft.
“I’m not sure what the right answer is,” Mayock said. “I think it would be easier in that building to talk yourself into, ‘We’re not that bad. We’re not that far away. We can get in [the playoffs] if Tannehill plays well. Adam Gase is a very good quarterback coach, bah, blah, blah.”
Tannehill, who had a 93.5 passer rating in 2016, was beginning to peak in Gase’s offense before suffering his first knee injury that November. He worked his way back to the practice field without undergoing a surgical procedure to repair ligaments in his left knee, but re-injured his knee while running during a training camp practice last summer.
Tannehill had reconstructive surgery, which led to the signing of Jay Cutler, who turned in one of his most disappointing seasons as an NFL starter.
“You can talk yourself into that conversation that if Tannehill is your guy it’s not a rebuild and what we need to do is fill in around them,” Mayock said. “My gut tells me they are going to go in that direction.”
That’s why Mayock doesn’t feel the Dolphins are leaning toward selecting a quarterback with pick No. 11 in the first round. He says Miami’s decision makers would need to be “in love” with Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield, or Louisville’s Lamar Jackson to go that route.
Most draft analyst feel there will be an early run on the top-rated quarterbacks — USC’s Sam Darnold, UCLA’s Josh Rosen, Wyoming’s Josh Allen and Oklahoma State’s Mason Rudolph — possibly leaving Mayfield and Jackson there for the Dolphins.
“It comes down to off the field, face to face with decision makers if you’re going to buy into his character, and him being the face of the franchise,” Mayock said of Mayfield, the Heisman Trophy winner whose practices impressed Mayock at the Senior Bowl. “He still sparks that conversation with every team . ... [The questions are] less physically, and more with how he presents.”
Mayock suspects the Dolphins might select the best player available in the first round, and address quarterback on the second day of the draft.
“Another way to handle this is take a quarterback in the second or third round,” Mayock said, specifically mentioning Western Kentucky’s Mike White, a former University School standout, and Washington State’s Luke Falk by name. “If they like any of those guys I think it’s an insurance policy to back up Tannehill. … I’m not sure what the right answer is but my gut tells me they are going to hang with Tannehill.”
okelly@sunsentinel.com or Twitter @omarkelly