How will Dolphins coaching change effect Ryan Tannehill

Miami Dolphins starting quarterback, er franchise quarterback, Ryan Tannehill is going to face his toughest challenge yet of his NFL career. Transitioning to a new coach and eventually a new system. For every Ryan Tannehill supporter there is at least one more detractor. One more person who views Tannehill’s as the biggest problem and not the solution.

More from Dolphins News

• 4 offensive tackles Miami Dolphins could draft at 51
• Miami Dolphins don’t need CB help but these 5 could be available at 51
• 4 players that could replace Wilkins if Miami Dolphins don’t re-sign him
• Miami Dolphins have a starting point with Wilkins after Simmons deal
• The Miami Dolphins should not take a running back in the draft

I can almost guarantee you that if you want clarification on that point, you can scroll down to the comments below once they start coming it. I’m not a detractor but I’m not 100% sure that Tannehill is the right quarterback either. I do however lean more towards thinking that he is. Or at least can be.

Fans want what Tannehill can’t deliver. They want the long deep pass or the Tom Brady decisions but Tannehill isn’t that type of quarterback. He is more like Russel Wilson in the sense that his most dangerous asset is his ability to run. Some will say that Wilson is far better than Tannehill and I would argue that Wilson has a much better coaching staff and a much better supporting cast than anything Tannehill has had since he arrived. Swap them out and Wilson is looking like a bust right now.

Tannehill has been saddled with very poor coaching. Mike Sherman coached him in college and his first two years in Miami. Last season he was coached by Bill Lazor and had his best statistical season thus far. The common threat however has always been Joe Philbin. We know now that Philbin was not a good coach for the Dolphins.

This is what Tannehill has seen, what he has learned, what he was coached to be. Cautious. Repetitive. Safe. The Dolphins coaches have taken the best part of his game away from him, the ability to run the ball. I have to imagine this is more Joe Philbin than Bill Lazor.

Next season could see a new head coach and a new offensive system brought to Miami which will likely stall Tannehill’s growth. In 2017 his contract becomes more favorable to the Dolphins which could mean that he may find himself the subject of release talk if he doesn’t improve or if the new staff wants to go in another direction.

Dan Campbell could change a lot of this. Allowing Ryan Tannehill to develop is simply a case of letting him go. The Dolphins need to stop pressing down on him and let him play. Let him read, react, and make mistakes. Joe Philbin has played it so safe with Tannehill that he tends to play small ball and he rarely if ever takes a risk and makes a throw that he shouldn’t be attempting. Sometimes you have to attempt that throw.

Tannehill needs to be able to run as well. Not off the read option but when the pressure comes to the pocket. He needs to move outside where he is more dangerous and more accurate. How well Tannehill adjusts to the new coaching could affect his entire career in the NFL.

Tannehill is a smart quarterback who has been coached to over think. He needs to become more instinctual and if Campbell and Lazor with the help of Al Saunders and Ken O’Keefe can bring him to that level that we may finally see what Ryan Tannehill can be. If not, we will be talking about his future with the team for the next few years and waiting to see who replaces him.

In 2012 I wrote an article about how all of the changes were connected. Jeff Ireland’s career was in the hands of Joe Philbin’s, Joe Philbin’s was in the hands of Ryan Tannehill, and Tannehill’s was in the hands of Philbin’s as well. Ireland is gone, Philbin is gone, and Tannehill is left. If he can’t start becoming a more aggressive leader then perhaps down the road, he too will be gone.