Since being drafted in the first round in 2012, the Miami Dolphins have held moderate expectations for quarterback Ryan Tannehill. In his first four seasons, while Tannehill played fairly well, the Dolphins have never won more than eight games in a season. Despite multiple offseason moves to bring in Pro Bowlers like Ndamukong Suh and Mike Wallace, Tannehill has been unable to lead the Dolphins into the playoffs. Now entering his fifth season, no more excuses can be made for the former Texas A&M star. He is no longer an unexperienced player, and surrounded with several offensive weapons, he must be able to produce for Miami in 2016.
No More Excuses for Ryan Tannehill in 2016
When it comes to individual stats, Ryan Tannehill has been pretty solid throughout his first four years in the NFL. He has a career completion percentage above 60 percent and has improved his touchdown to interception ratio every season he has been in the NFL. His best season came in 2014, when he had a completion percentage over 66 percent and a Passer Rating of 92.8. While he took a slight step back last season in both categories, he did throw for more yards and averaged more yards per pass in 2015.
The one thing that has held Tannehill back in his career is the lack of faith in his play calling by his coaches. He has been unable to audible at the line of scrimmage throughout his first four seasons and has rarely called the plays for his offense. Due to this, Tannehill has constantly been under pressure from opposing defenses and has been unable to do anything to help protect himself and give himself more time in the pocket.
Throughout the offseason, the Dolphins organization have been making moves to change how their offense will run. With the hiring of new head coach Adam Gase, who is known league-wide as a “quarterback whisperer”, Tannehill should gain new responsibilities within his offense. In 2016, the Dolphins offense should finally belong to Ryan Tannehill and not to the Dolphins’ head coach.
Mismanaged Weapons
Ever since being drafted in the 2012 NFL Draft, the Dolphins have done well at providing Tannehill with a multitude of offensive weapons. Unfortunately, many of such weapons were managed extremely poorly by the coaching staff.
New Houston Texans running back Lamar Miller is the perfect example of a mismanaged weapon. Miller, an explosive runner with big-play capability, was used far too little within the Dolphins offense. If given a large amount of carries, Miller could have been a 1,000 yard rusher in 2015. In 2014, Miller was given 216 carries and racked up 1,099 yards. However, he was only given 194 carries in 2015 and as a result rushed for 872 yards. This is certainly one of the biggest examples of mismanagement of weapons by the Dolphins coaching staff, as when Miller was given enough of a chance to shine, he did not disappoint at all.
Other examples of mismanagement can be seen with Mike Wallace’s underwhelming stint in Miami and the inconsistent usage of wide receiver Kenny Stills in 2015.
Can Tannehill Lead the Dolphins to Contention in 2016?
When it comes down to it, the only thing holding Ryan Tannehill back from leading the Dolphins to contention is his coaching staff. With a seemingly healthy DeVante Parker in 2016 to pair with former Pro Bowlers Jarvis Landry and Jordan Cameron , the weapons are there for Tannehill.
As long as Adam Gase gives Tannehill the keys to the Dolphins’ offense, it is very likely that Miami finds itself in the playoff picture in 2016.
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