Tannehill again takes command
So many positive signs as Dolphins rally behind their quarterback again.
Editor’s note: This continues a series spotlighting members of the Dolphins individually. In addition to reliving highlights and lowlights of the past season, we’ll provide analysis and criticism, plus take a look at how each player fits — or doesn’t fit — into the team’s plans for 2018. DAVIE — If you didn’t know something was terribly wrong with Ryan Tannehill about a year ago, you wouldn’t have known it by watching him this spring.
That, in one sentence, answers the question I hear most often about the Dolphins.
Jason Taylor likes to call spring workouts “the underwear Olympics.” Wthout pads, hitting or tackling, only so much can be gleaned from it. Sort of like watching curling.
Nonetheless, Tannehill came out determined to make a statement from the start. It couldn’t have been happenstance that the Dolphins planted a camera at the door to get that shot for social media of Tannehill jogging out of the building and onto the practice field for the first time — most notably, without either a brace or a trace of a limp.
From there, positive signs. His arm: Tannehill was on the money this spring, showing no signs of rust. That point can’t be emphasized enough, because his most trusted target and outlet, Jarvis Landry, wasn’t also jogging out of that same door. Tannehill had to work his way back while growing accustomed to new receivers Danny Amendola and Albert Wilson, plus two tight ends drafted in the first four rounds. That’s enough to throw at any quarterback, let alone one who, assuming he starts the opener, will be taking a snap that matters for the first time in 637 days, or 1¾ calendar years.
“You could tell he has a total grip of the offense,” coach Adam Gase said. “Everything just moves smoother. That’s just experience, whether it’s in this offense or just football in general. He’s been in the league for a little bit. When the defense throws something different at him, he has
a way to solve the problem faster than probably what he did three or four years ago.”
His legs: Gase likes to point out that Tannehill’s original injury came when he was hit in the pocket against Arizona late in the 2016 season. It can happen at any time and you can’t play scared, in other words. So Tannehill will have the green light to run as necessary.
“He’s going to play his game,” Gase said. “I don’t think he ever really put himself in harm’s way to begin with. I thought he was always smart.”
Don’t forget that before the injury, Tannehill was quick and elusive enough to rush for as many as 311 yards in a season. And he survived some brutal beatings — as many as 58 sacks in a season — his first several years in the league as the Dolphins couldn’t find anybody better than Dallas Thomas and Billy Turner to play guard.
He’s tough, in other words. And he plans to wear a brace during games.
His leadership: Completing the picture are the intangibles. The Dolphins, and Gase in particular, never wasted a chance to toss lavish praise on Tannehill for the leadership he’s showing now. “Tannehill is our guy and he’s our leader,” tight end MarQueis Gray said.
Prospects for 2018: The Dolphins made it clear from Day 1 that Tannehill was their starter. Now it’s up to him and good fortune to make sure his knee holds up and he stays that way.
Tannehill is due $51 million over the next two years. He was drafted six years ago and is turning 30 this year. How strange is it, then, that the Dolphins still don’t know exactly what they have?
Is he the quarterback who still hasn’t won more than eight games in a season? The Dolphins would like to think he’s the guy who started to peak in his first season under Gase, recording a career-best 93.5 passer rating in 2016.
Gase seems confident we’ll see a better Tannehill than ever before. Call it coincidence, call it a subtle dig, but on the day the Dolphins completed their offseason program, Gase was asked for his general impressions of Tannehill this spring. Only a day earlier, it was reported that Landry had taken a swipe at Tannehill, saying they didn’t have the best of relationships and didn’t get together on their own for offseason workouts like Landry is doing with his new Browns teammates.
Gase’s response to the Tannehill question: “You see that he jumped right back in there and guys were rallying around him and ready to go. He’s got good rapport with those skill guys.”