Tannehill’s evolution, will he be a top QB?
There is a quiet confidence coming from Ryan Tannehill lately.
It’s new, and refreshing.
It serves as an indicator that he’s finally comfortable with his role as the face of the Miami Dolphins franchise, and in coach Adam Gase’s offense.
Some might think six years is a long time to wait for a quarterback to become a winner, to be clutch in late-game situations and to consistently lead his team to the playoffs, but Drew Brees and Alex Smith’s careers prove that’s a reasonable waiting period.
Year Six as a starter is when both of those Pro Bowlers evolved into winning quarterbacks who could carry a franchise. This season will hopefully prove to Dolphins fans that Tannehill, who owns a 38-40 record as an NFL starter, was worth that wait.
“I told him the other day he reminded me a lot of Alex Smith,” said tailback Frank Gore, who played his first few seasons in the NFL with Smith in San Francisco. “When Alex got comfortable, and had the ability to audible into plays he liked his career took off.”
If Tannehill can become the next version of Smith, who owns a 57-28-1 record in starts made since 2012, the Dolphins might be able to get off the franchise’s extended ride on the NFL’s mediocrity merry-goround.
While it is important to point out that two franchises have moved on from Smith, going with younger quarterbacks in Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Mahomes they some felt possessed more upside, it should also be pointed out that another pair of franchises saw enough value in Smith to trade respectable resources for him.
The Kansas City Chiefs and Washington Redskins, who traded a 2018 third-round pick and starting cornerback Kendall Fuller this offseason to acquire Smith, also paid Smith like an upper-echelon quarter-
back ($23.5 million a season and $70 million guaranteed on his extension with the Redskins) because his addition gave each franchise a chance to be competitive.
Smith has completed at least 65 percent of his passes in each of the past five seasons. And since the 2011 season, he’s thrown eight or fewer interceptions each season, and averages a meager 6.1 interceptions a year.
He averaged 20.4 touchdowns a season in his five-year tenure with the Chiefs. While his presence on the field doesn’t make teams cower in fear, Smith consistently puts his team in position to win close games, and annually produced a winning season with the Chiefs.
If Tannehill, who has an 86.5 career passer rating, did that for the next six seasons he would go down in history as the franchise’s best quarterback not named Dan Marino or Bob Griese, who are both Hall of Famers.
He’s not too far off from that distinction now even though he’s never won a playoff game. But maybe this is his year? Maybe this is where the turn comes, the transformation finally occurs?
This is Tannehill’s third season in Gase’s offense, and he had the benefit of watching it last season because of the knee injuries that sidelined him for 20 games.
That means he’s seen the Dolphins succeed with him in 2016 when they made the playoffs, and struggle without him in 2017 when they went 6-10.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and that’s what happened in the 634 days Tannehill wasn’t Miami’s starting quarterback.
This season is about proving he belongs in the top half of NFL quarterbacks and becoming a player who can lead his team to a playoff berth, maybe a postseason victory, and is worth a continued investment.
Gase has spent three years building an offense custom-fitted for Tannehill, who was athletic enough to play receiver at Texas A&M, and intelligent enough to be a premed major in college.
That’s why there was so much more play-action passes, rollouts, and bootlegs and pistol plays featured in the Dolphins’ first game of the season.
And there’s a sense that’s just the tip of the iceberg for Gase’s vision for this offense, which like Tannehill remains a work in progress and has run out of excuses to deliver a favorable return.