One ready Dolphin
Hyde: Breakout year could come for QB Tannehill.
“There are no more checkpoints I have to hit at this point. Everything looks good.” Ryan Tannehill
DAVIE— The Dolphins have this photograph, blown up to larger-than-life size, hanging among several others in a big meeting room. Ryan Tannehill is calling signals behind Mike Pouncey in a classic quarterback-center pose, a cathedral to concentration on the next play.
The photo, of course, wasn’t taken at the end of last season. Both playerswere out with serious injuries by then, meaning concentration on their next play is the off-season’s top story and that picture is a symbol of crossed-fingered hope for this franchise.
Therewas Pouncey, walking around Thursday’s practice field on his latest hip repair and doing little more thanwatching the proceedings, just as he will for much of this off-season. Understandably so, too. The only concern with him on the field is keeping him there.
And therewas Tannehill, in a new knee brace, running every drill, throwing any pass, lecturing teammates in between some plays and doing anything he might on a normal practice day. That’s howhe framed it, too.
“I’m back in100 percent,” he said as the Dolphins finished their firstweek of organized team activities. “I feel totally normal. There are no more checkpoints I have to hit at this point. Everything looks good. Just go play.”
Tannehill said his sprained anterior
cruciate ligament has healed, though a biology majorwith premed designs like him knowsACL tears never really heal without surgery. They fill in with scar tissue. They’re supported by surrounding muscles. They’re helped by a knee brace.
There’s risk toTannehill not having surgery— just as therewould have been with corrective knee surgery. It wasn’t just the Dolphins’ doctors, but others sought out byTannehill who said bypassing surgery made better sense. His research also led him to stem cell treatment, which… well, let him tell it.
“Your blood stream is carrying stem cells to the injuries you have throughout your body,” Tannehill said. “YouACL never completely heals because of lack of blood flowand, so they’re just artificially becoming the blood stream to carry the stem cells to the location.” Football translation? “He looks the same to me,” coachAdam Gase said.
That’s been echoed up and down the roster. The media’s first viewing of an off-seasonworkout on Thursday sawTannehill moving fine. But it’s also within the realm of reason to think another layer of observation is coming when he takes some hits or rolls out under pressure in a game. Stay tuned.
The overriding point in May is there’s enthusiasm inside the Dolphins for whereTannehill is, for what this off-seasonwork means, and for the development his game can have these quietmonths before a second season with Gase.
There’s just enough in Tannehill’s portfolio to believe he canmove into the top10 quarterbacks (raisingmy hand) and enough to believe he never will. Again, stay tuned. But there’s a direct comparison if you believe his best times are ahead.
In 2015, Atlanta’sMatt Ryanwas the 20th rated quarterback with an 89 passer rating, whichwas just slightly belowhis career average. Tannehill ranked 21st that year at 88.7.
Last season, Ryan’s second in a system built around him by offensive coordinatorKyle Shanahan, Ryan led the league with a 117.1 rating.
CanTannehill make a similarly big leap in his second seasonwith Gase? If so, May matters.
“This is such a growth period for everyone— quarterbacks, everyone who steps foot on the field,” Tannehill said. “This is a big period that you canwork on the little things that go into playing the position. Year 2 in this offense, everyone is detailing things I think more than ever.
“Last year, itwas grasping big concepts, understanding schemes andwhat we’re trying to do this time of the year. Sincewe have a year under our belt now, we’re able to understand the concepts as our foundation and nowwe’re finetuning things [and] getting details a lot more exact wheremaybewe missed a few plays a game last year because of details.”
The details matter, he says. The players matter before that. Therewas PounceywatchingTannehill on Thursday. One big question remained on the shelf while the other comes with as much an answer as May provides. Their photo on thewall isn’t ready for an update just yet. But it looks halfway there.