Tannehill Set Up To Be Yet Another Dolphins Blemish

Say what you want about Jeff Ireland. Formulate whatever opinion you want of owner Stephen Ross. Whichever side of the fence you sit on you have your reasons. I sit on the side of patience and understanding. Thus, I’m not a favorite read of many of our readers and that’s perfectly fine with me. When it comes to seeing the Miami Dolphins I don’t look through rose colored glasses and I don’t pretend to let emotion dictate my opinion.

Yes, both of these men have made mistakes. Ireland has an ego and Ross is viewed as a celebrity whore. Neither of that matters in the real world outside of the mainstream national media who use every word to further hang the duo. It’s as simple as running mouths dictating to the masses what they believe to be truths and many many followers believing everything that they say.

So is it any surprise that Ryan Tannehill will be the next black eye on this franchise? Hear me out, it’s true and you can listen to the national media blow their horn shortly after the 8th selection is made. I will lay this out for you very very simply.

Late last night ProFootballTalk.com ran a report that a high ranking Dolphins official said owner Stephen Ross was ordering (for lack of a better word) Jeff Ireland to draft Ryan Tannehill. This morning, Armando Salguero supposedly citing another high ranking source claims the team is denying it. That was followed by SI’s Peter King who reported that the PFT report of Sunday night was indeed correct. Stephen Ross was demanding Tannehill.

Earlier today on PFT’s Mike Florio webcast, Jeff Ireland was on during the second section of the cast. Florio asked Ireland about the issue and Ireland said that while Ross is very engaging in the process, will be at his side during the draft, and bouncing ideas off each other, Ross in no way is pressuring Ireland to draft anyone that he doesn’t feel is a fit for this team. Ross himself followed up the phone call interview with an Email to Florio making it clear that he is not pushing for Tannehill and that the draft is Ireland’s to run.

Florio points out that the Dolphins are trying way too hard to deny this and that it almost seems like they are covering to paraphrase my interpretation of what Florio was saying. While the national media has been bludgeoning the Dolphins GM and owner for months this continued onslaught is about to get front page news.

See the issue here is Ryan Tannehill. If the Dolphins do in fact select Tannehill at pick number 8 then those like King and Florio will thump their chests and say, “see, told you Ross was pushing for the pick!” If the Dolphins pass on Tannehill then you can bet that a vast majority of the remaining media will criticize the GM for once again passing on a possible franchise QB. It has created a no win situation for the Dolphins.

There is always the possibility that the Dolphins will opt to trade out of the 8th pick and move down. This option would at least save some face for both sides of the management structure and perhaps teams like the K.C. Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks would possibly pass over Tannehill as well. Maybe he drops to the Dolphins a second time. While the reality is that the option of moving down is remote given there is three more days until the draft, the best outcome for Ross and Ireland to save face is if Tannehill is picked before the 8th selection.

The crux of all this grows harder to understand daily. The Dolphins have been a rumored landing spot since they passed on Flynn and honestly some speculated that even Flynn’s arrival in Miami could still keep the door open for Tannehill. As the weeks passed the Dolphins VIA that same national media were the right fit for Tannehill and the perfect option for the Dolphins QB troubles. Now, members of that same media have made it such that the Dolphins can’t win regardless of what they do.

Ryan Tannehill may or may not be a Miami Dolphin come Thursday night but you can bet there will be a slew of articles blasting the Dolphins regardless of what they choose to do and a divided fan base as well. It seems that most fans who don’t do their own research tend to formulate their opinions based on the authors, reporters, and media personalities that they tend to follow closer for their information. While there is nothing wrong with that approach, it’s often the national media who gets the most attention from the average fans. When news like Ross telling Ireland he has to take Tannehill jumps on the airwaves, it immediately ignites another wildfire.

Regardless of whether the reports are true or not true are irrelevant. Someone is going to believe they were right and many more are going to believe it as well. Even if they were wrong. Ryan Tannehill is already Miami’s headache and he hasn’t even been drafted yet.