Time to raise the bar for Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill
The Dolphins have only produced one losing record in 12 seasons the team had a starting quarterback produce an 85-plus passer rating the past three decades
DAVIE — The ball was firing out Ryan Tannehill's hands as if he were playing a game of hot potato.
The decisions made during the one OTA practice the media watched this week were quick, and the passes were more precise.
A dig to Dustin Keller delivered right on the back shoulder of a linebacker.
A quick hitch to Mike Wallace arrived swiftly.
Tannehill noticed Brian Hartline had gotten behind the starting safeties during 11-on-11 drills and floated a deep ball to last year's leading receiver, allowing him to catch it in stride, putting Hartline in a foot race to the end zone just like the one they teamed up for in last year's record-setting performance against the Cardinals.
Tannehill was sharp in that game. He looked like a franchise quarterback, right up to his final snap — a game-sealing fumble in overtime.
During this week's practice, the first where the offense faced the defense, Tannehill looked like a quarterback ready to take that next step. And it was refreshing, exciting to witness.
It is clear Tannehill feels comfortable in year two. This is his offense. These are his new weapons.
The Miami Dolphins are his team. And now he's no longer a green, inexperienced rookie.
Tannehill has turned the page from this time last year, when Miami's 2012 first-round pick looked like he needed a diaper during OTA sessions.
Back then he was being sacked every fourth throw, and was spraying the ball all over the field to long shot receivers he wasn't familiar with. He wasn't Pat White bad, but after watching him in OTA last year few of his teammates felt he was in David Garrard's league, despite running an offense he knew the best.
"Last year at this time my head was spinning. I was just trying to figure out how things worked. I didn't really know how the day went, how the offseason went, how practices went," Tannehill said. "So being in it a year, I am completely comfortable. Now I can go out and focus on all the little things that go into the game."
The biggest question is how far can he take the Dolphins?
We've been on this road before. The Dolphins were supposed to be Chad Henne's team in 2010. Management got him a Pro Bowl receiver in Brandon Marshall and he was expected to take a drastic step forward.
He never did.
The next offseason they got him Reggie Bush, a better center in first-round pick Mike Pouncey and a new offensive coordinator.
But he was still a dud woodbooger.
The organization propped Henne up as a new and improved leader. Problem was few on the team truly believed in him, and fewer followed.
By now we should know what fabricated hope sounds like.
"One way to describe him is he's a gym rat. He loves football. He's been here an awful lot," coach Joe Philbin said of Tannehill, the quarterback whom he's attached his wagon to.
"He's been working out with the guys on their own, nothing orchestrated by us, well before the offseason program began. Those are all good indicators that somebody wants to be good. That's kind of step one.
"If you don't have players that want to be great, it's hard for them to keep climbing and keep accelerating their development. That's point number one that we're excited about."
Tannehill needs to show us what real hope looks like, and he needs to present it to South Florida by leading the Dolphins to a winning record for the first time since 2008, which means nine or more victories.
This second-year starter can get there by improving his completion percentage, throwing more touchdowns than interceptions, and performing better in the fourth quarter, when wins and losses are typically decided in professional sports.
Fourth-quarter performances are what separates the mediocre from the average, average from good, and good from great.
Last year Tannehill was mediocre in that department (finished 23rd with a 83.0 fourth-quarter passer rating), and as a result he produced just one fourth-quarter victory is six tries.
If he improves in those areas Tannehill should produce an 85-plus passer rating, and during the past three decades when the Dolphins have a starting quarterback behind center with that type of efficient, solid play the franchise has produced just one losing season in 12 years.
An 85-passer rating would have made Tannehill the NFL's 17th best quarterback last season.
Is that really too much to ask for from a player we all hope shows signs he's a franchise quarterback?