Miami Dolphins’ Ryan Tannehill Lacks One Thing

Miami Dolphins fans see it every weekend. It’s the one thing that franchise quarterback Ryan Tannehill seems to lack and the one thing that might just be holding the team back. When Matt Moore is on the field the team has it. When Chad Pennington was on the field the team had it. Can’t really say the same thing about Chad Henne but in a minute you will get where I am going with this.

There is no question that Ryan Tannehill can not hit the deep ball. There is no question that his accuracy could improve as well. Unfortunately those issues are not what is keeping Tannehill from taking this team to the next level. Ryan Tannehill lacks a killer instinct. He lacks the role of leader when he is on the field.  The team can win in spite of his fallacies but they can’t win without his leadership.

Tannehill is his own worst enemy at this stage of his career. The Dolphins offensive system is designed to be fast paced. It’s designed to be quarterback friendly as evidenced by the transformation last season of Nick Foles in Philadelphia. What the Dolphins lack is speed and confidence from the man who is supposed to lead them to victory.

Looking over the game tape the one consistency is the way Tannehill approaches the game. He doesn’t lead with the enthusiasm you see from other quarterbacks. Case in point, Tannehill throws an interception and he doesn’t get with the receiver coming off the field who may have turned the wrong way. He doesn’t get mad at himself or the receiver. A player drops a pass on third down and well shucks that drive is over. The team is not driven by Tannehill to get to the line quickly in what is supposed to be a fast paced offense even when in a two minute drill. Tannehill needs show that urgency and poise at the same time. If he gets to the line quicker so will the rest of the team.

Tannehill is very methodical in his approach and there would be nothing wrong with that if it worked. Unfortunately it isn’t. His play on the field tends to have the same feel and approach that his head coach seems to take with his style of coaching. It is again an “awe shucks” let’s get ’em next time attitude. He learned that from Mike Sherman and he is swimming in it under Joe Philbin.

To put it simply Tannehill lacks fire in his actions. He doesn’t need to run down the field and head but his receiver after a touchdown like Tom Brady did with Rob Gronkowski and he doesn’t need to flail his arms around fist pumping like Phillip Rivers but he needs to show more emotion than a smile and a high five. His offense emulates him and sorry to say it but Ryan Tannehill is boring.

There was a noticeable difference in feel to the game this past Sunday. In week one the team played with a fever, an undeniable desire to win at any cost in the 2nd half. It was driven by the desire to knock the Patriots out and then keep them down. The offensive line played with physicality and a tenacious drive to keep the Patriots out of the back-field. So what was so different in week two? In week one the leadership role was taken on by Knowshon Moreno. It lifted the team to another level. Each offensive player fed off his energy, off his desire to win. Knowshon Moreno took control of the 2nd half of week one’s game and the Dolphins rose with him. He didn’t play in the Buffalo game.

It’s that drive that Tannehill lacks. It’s that “I’m going to shoulder this team and win” attitude that we don’t see. Ryan Tannehill isn’t lifting the players around him. Moreno did and the team won and in that process Tannehill was a far better quarterback as well. If you look back over seasons past you will see that same fight and drive in Matt Moore when he took the reigns after Tony Sparano was let go. It was the same fight that Chad Pennington brought to the team and the same fight that lacked in Chad Henne that made him nothing more than a 2nd round back-up.

This is not something that can’t  be coached. Bill Lazor can try and build that confidence in Tannehill but if it’s not there it never will be. Tannehill has to find it himself. He has to will it into his body and soul. Had that leadership and drive been in existence last season it’s likely the Jonathan Martin situation would never have escalated. Leaders stop that before it happens.

To be honest, I like Tannehill and I like the potential that he has but he is allowing his own shadow to stand in the way of becoming great. He is keeping himself from becoming a reaction quarterback because he is allowing his actions to dictate a more educational approach. In other words go out and play the game on game day and dissect the game on Monday. Play the game on the field with the same fervor and drive that he puts into the film study. Tannehill could be one of the best quarterbacks in the league if he would simply allow himself to lead and then show it. Convince his players that he can. It’s the one thing that all great quarterbacks have and the one thing that Ryan Tannehill doesn’t.