With their regular season finale this coming Sunday on the road against the longtime rival Buffalo Bills, could this be the last time fans see QB Ryan Tannehill in a Miami Dolphins uniform?
Tannehill, picked eighth overall in the 2012 NFL Draft out of Texas A&M, has had a rocky up-and-down career in trying to follow in the large footsteps of Hall of Fame icon, Dan Marino, has a career record of 42-45, winning close to half of his starts in compiling a .483 winning percentage.
In his seven seasons, he never won more than eight games in a season while passing for 20,287 yards, 123 touchdowns and 73 interceptions for a passer rating of 87.5.
Some can make a valid argument that if not for injuries, which caused the 30-year-old, 6’4, 207-pound native of Lubbock, Texas to miss 24 of his last 47 games including the entire 2017 season with a torn ACL, after not missing a game from 2012-15.
The one knock–perhaps another unfair one, depending on your view–is his inconsistency. One week he can look Line he’ll rival Tom Brady, the next week, he will look like Eli Manning–the bad version–which only frustrates in infuriates Dolphins fans ever more.
Football is a production-based business, and based on his body of work, Miami appears ready to move forward next season without Tannehill. While the Dolphins’ hopes of landing a possible replacement in top QB prospect such as Justin Herbert took a hit, as decided to return for his senior year at Oregon, possible veteran targets could be Blake Bortles, Teddy Bridgewater, Case Keenum, Tyrod Taylor and Brock Osweiler–who is his current backup.
Third string QB in rookie Luke Falk could also warrant a look, depending on what changes are made by the Dolphins front office during the offseason, if head coach Adam Gase is also retained.
If the Dolphins decide to consider taking a QB in the draft, names like West Virginia’s Will Grier, North Carolina State’s Ryan Lindley and Duke’s Daniel Jones may be available.
Whatever the Dolphins decide, Sunday could very well be the last one in the Tannehill era and of him in Miami’s storied tortoise and orange, which sadly never lived up to to its promise.